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Bottom of the pile
14
/100
I Index Overall Rating
Readers
11/100Critics
17/100Scholars
Author:
Scott Dominic Carpenter
Publisher:
Travelers' Tales
Date:
July 7, 2020
When Scott Carpenter moves from Minnesota to Paris, little does he suspect the dramas that await: scheming neighbors, police denunciations, surly demonstrators, cooking disasters, medical mishapsânot to mention all those lectures about cheese! It turns out that nothing in the City of Light can be taken for granted, where even trips to the grocery store lead to adventure.
What The Reviewers Say
French Like Moi, Carpenter’s droll take on his sabbatical year in Paris, keeps the reader chuckling and occasionally cringing. While largely a collection of essays published elsewhere, the pieces coalesce into a respectable memoir.
In this entertaining memoir, Carpenter, who teaches French in Minnesota, tries to adapt his midwestern mores to the ways of the Parisians. Although he’s fluent in the language, he soon finds that nuance plays a big part in his conversations. As he stumbles through interactions and relationships, he shares hilarious faux-pas and cultural differences. The author reads with a deadpan, self-deprecating, understated tone that allows the situations to play out drily for the listener. The result is an affectionate, insider’s look at French culture..
No stranger to the French but a relative newcomer to their daily routines, the author highlights the captivating contrasts between his Midwestern home and his adopted city in 18 essays.
