30 January 2008
Merde Happens - Stephen Clarke
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A couple of years after arriving in Paris, 27-year-old English lad Paul West is still coming to terms with some of the fundamental cultural differences between the English and the 'Frogs' -- and is still searching for the perfect French mademoiselle.
Paul West is the creation of Stephen Clarke, a British novelist living in France whose Brit-in-Paris adventures have been immortalised in the novel A Year In The Merde and its follow-ups, Merde Actually and Merde Happens.
Clarke has also published a 'survival guide' for expats living in France: Talk To The Snail, which he divided into 'ten commandments' or chapters that include 'Thou Shalt Not Work', 'Thou Shalt Not Love They Neighbour' and 'Thy Shalt not Be Served'.
Rhiannon Brown met up with Stephen Clarke at the Cafe Zimmer in Paris.
She asked where the character of Paul West came from and whether he resembled Stephen Clarke when he first came to Paris?
Publications
Title: Merde Happens
Author: Stephen Clarke
Publisher: Random House, 2007
ISBN-13 9781-7416-6480-5
Title: Talk To The Snail
Author: Stephen Clarke
Publisher: Random House, 2006
ISBN-13 9781-7416-6537-6
Presenter
Rhiannon Brown
Producer
Sarah L'Estrange
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