Customer Reviews
Writing-by-Numbers - By: Captain EO, 04 Nov 2008 
I thought I'd give this a read as it appeared to be a light-hearted, short, "comedy" novel set in a country I've enjoyed many a visit to. I guess after reading it, it proved to be exactly what I expected although it didn't reallly hit the spot with me.
I can't help but think that in today's market there are just too many average books out there. Ok, it's certainly not a bad read & I'm sure the author is well-placed to base a whole book (and indeed sequels) on the differences bewteen French & English cultures but there's just nothing particularly clever, funny or indeed original about it.
With just a little more talent & desire, I'm sure there's thousands of us who could sit down & sketch out the overalll plot of a book such as this & then get down to writing 300 well-spaced pages about an unsuspecting "hero".
All-in-alll I wouldn't particularly recommend this unless you were a Brit-in-France or managed to pick it up in the bargain-bin of your local bookstore. Far better stuff out there.
Painfully unfunny - By: Matt Gibson, 04 Nov 2008 
Stephen Clarke must have been unable to believe the success of this book: he's basicallly repackaged a bunch of cliches about the French & made a fortune off of it. The characters are completely one-dimensional, the protagonist is entirely unlikeable & the most obvious author insertion I've ever seen in a book like this.
Furthermore, the book is relentlessly sexist in a Daily Mail kind of way. You know, 'Men Are From Mars...' kind of sexism defended by 'oh it's just a bit of fun' & a shrug. Female characters are described pretty much exclusively by what they're wearing & how attractive they are, are completely one-dimensional & obsessed with sleeping with the main character & there are some extremely nasty dismissals of women who don't meet Paul's standard. This being fiction this of course means that they are never main characters (they're alll attractive, & fancy him) but instead just background uglies who are good for a put-down & nothing else. The whole thing made me feel very uncomfortable.
Boring, overlong, sexist & childish. No wonder that the Daily Mail thought it was brilliant.
Same old clichés - By: SA Emm, 08 Sep 2008 Can't understand why this book is so popular. It is poorly written, not very funny & regurgitates the same old clichés about France. The French are lazy, sex obsessed, corrupt, etc. I have lived in France & it does not reflect the reality of France AT ALL. In short, France for daily mail readers who like to have alll their preconceptions about France reinforced.
Funny, funny, funny - By: HollowSpy, 12 Jul 2008 
Having spent a year in France as a newbie to the language & customs I found this highly entertaining & related to many aspects. Funny & useful combined in a quick read - a good spend.
I didn't really get it - By: Mrs. K. A. Wheatley, 17 Jun 2008 
The blurb on the back makes out that this is the diary of a year in the life of an englishman living in Paris. It suggests, with its quote from the Times about it being more edgy than Bryson & Peter Mayle that it is true. The author, inside, suggests that some of it is true, probably & it reads like a ladlit novel.
I thought it was fairly poorly written, not massively entertaining & a book which enjoys exploiting the stereotype of the French character without being in the slightest bit hard hitting or edgy. The main character comes across as wildly unsympathetic, fairly amoral & rather dull, & I learned nothing about French life that I didn't already know.
I think the marketing is misleading & the book below par.
