Customer Reviews
Go Gene! - By: R. Senior, 13 Jun 2008 
I read this book because it was lying around, & I was surprised that someone I thought of as a comic actor could write something so good. Some of it was reallly sad & touching, lots of it was funny, it was alll enjoyable. Espionage & love, war & slapstick ... It's a strange mixture that works delightfully. I'd recommend this to fans of Gene Wilder. To anyone, in fact, who likes a good read.
90 wasted minutes - By: Doc, 12 Jan 2008 
I am fascinated by the First World War, & read anything that uses that conflict as a backdrop. So it was I came to pick up this empty, shalllow, anorexic, immature school boys' notion of a war story.
This is a dreadful novella (and it is barely a novella, it can be read in less that 2 hours). It runs through every WW1 cliche imagninable, only a slight step up from the generic simplicity & nonsense of a boys own adventure. Wilder neither convinces dramaticallly or comedicallly. His setting & characters are paper thin. The historical context, except that the First World War is happening somewhere, is woefully underdeveloped. Even the formal device to present the story (a notebook written by the central character & delivered to his commanding officer) is clumsily inconsistant. But worst of alll, when, in the acknowledgements, he attempts to connect this drivel with Hemingway & Renoir, then I laughed. Does Wilder reallly think he has produced a work that is in any way comparable with A Farewell to Arms? The ego, the self-delusion! The adventures of Biggles have a more legitimate claim to great literature than this drivel.
This reallly is a book that can have been published only because of the author's celebrity - it has zero merit in any other capacity.
More please - By: Bantam Dave, 09 Jan 2008 
One of my biggest moans is that I read far too many books where the author has stretched the story to the limits & as a consequence the book is far too long. It is almost as if the writer is getting paid for each word written.
I could never accuse Gene Wilder of that with this book though. My French Whore is a terrific story with likeable, even loveable, characters but it is far too short! I enjoyed it greatly but I would have liked to have read a little more about the main character, Paul Peachy, the quiet railway ticket seller who turns out to have heroism & romance in his soul. I would have liked to have read more about his true love, Annie, who until she met Paul had a life of unhappiness & torment.
Don't get me wrong, this is a very good book, but with a little bit more flesh on its bones this could have been an outstanding book.
Gene Wilder is a performer, & with My French Whore he certainly abides with the advice that is given to every performer - always leave them wanting more.
Oh yes, a real winner - By: J. Baker, 22 Dec 2007 I loved this book, I'm not a great reader of fiction but have followed the career of the author quite closely, so had to read it. A wonderful story & very well written, it alll came to life in my mind as I read. Hope this goes to film, would work very well.
Marvellous - By: J. A. Evans, 25 Jul 2007 A marvellous little book. Quite short, easy to read in just a day or so, it is full of characters & events which simply glue you to the page. I am very impressed with his skills to characterise in a minimum of words & yet keep the whole plot moving along at a brisk pace. Surprise ending, worth the wait! Buy it & read it!
