EPISODE 11: Stephen Clarke has been writing books about France for almost 15 years.
His first novel A Year in the Merde has become a point of reference for anyone who wants to get an entertaining view of life in Paris. The sequel, Merde Actually, even topped Harry Potter in the UK charts.
He’s here on the Earful Tower to tell us about how it all started and we discuss his latest book Merde in Europe.
Visit Stephen Clarke’s website at StephenClarkewriter.com
Further listening:
If you liked this episode, you might just like to hear more authors talking about France and their books. Here’s the Books about Paris section
Stephen Clark is such a great author! His book A year in the merde was the first book I read in english. Back then I didn’t speak english and only had my very little knowledge of english from school and I thought it would be good as it would be something I could relate to and indeed what a good book! I’m french but love knowing what other nationalities think of my country and culture and Stephen Clark is able to describe and highlight things in the best way. This is funny, accurate and so well written!
He is the best example of french bashing (with Paul Taylor) because yes he criticizes and makes fun of the french but you can feel that behind that there is a deep love for the french culture and people and that makes it awesome. Stephen Clark is not complaining about the french, he just makes the most out of our little tendencies but at the end of the day, you only do that with things you love. Nobody would spend so much time studying the french if he wasn’t loving them.
Thank you for bringing him on your podcast!