{"product_id":"monsieur-mediocre-one-american-learns-the-high-art-of-being-everyday-french-9780735224858","title":"Monsieur Mediocre: One American Learns the High Art of Being Everyday French","description":"\u003cb\u003eA hilarious, candid account of what life in France is \u003ci\u003eactually\u003c\/i\u003e like, from a writer for \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eGQ\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAmericans love to love Paris. We buy books about how the French parent, why French women don't get fat, and how to be Parisian wherever you are. While our work hours increase every year, we think longingly of the six weeks of vacation the French enjoy, imagining them at the seaside in stripes with plates of \u003ci\u003efruits de mer.\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eJohn von Sothen fell in love with Paris through the stories his mother told of her year spent there as a student. And then, after falling for and marrying a French waitress he met in New York, von Sothen moved to Paris. But fifteen years in, he's finally ready to admit his mother's Paris is mostly a fantasy. In this hilarious and delightful collection of essays, von Sothen walks us through real life in Paris--not only myth-busting our Parisian daydreams but also revealing the inimitable and too often invisible pleasures of family life abroad. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eRelentlessly funny and full of incisive observations, \u003ci\u003eMonsieur Mediocre\u003c\/i\u003e is ultimately a love letter to France--to its absurdities, its history, its ideals--but it's a very \u003ci\u003eFrench\u003c\/i\u003e love letter: frank, smoky, unsentimental. It is a clear-eyed ode to a beautiful, complex, contradictory country from someone who both eagerly and grudgingly calls it home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=AUTH-12056737\"\u003eJohn Von Sothen\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Books\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 08\/25\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.48lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.40w x 0.90d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780735224858\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0735224854\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBISAC Categories:\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-BIO\"\u003eBiography \u0026amp; Autobiography\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-BIO026000\"\u003ePersonal Memoirs\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-TRV\"\u003eTravel\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-TRV009050\"\u003eEurope | France\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e- \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=CAT-SOC\"\u003eSocial Science\u003c\/a\u003e | \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/sureshotbooks-com.myshopify.com\/search?type=product%2Carticle%2Cpage\u0026amp;q=BISAC-SOC005000\"\u003eCustoms \u0026amp; Traditions\u003c\/a\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJohn von Sothen is an American columnist living in Paris, where he covers entertainment and society issues for French \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair\u003c\/i\u003e. Von Sothen has written for both the American and French \u003ci\u003eGQ, Slate, Technikart, Libération, \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe New York Observer\u003c\/i\u003e; he has written for TV at Canal+ and MTV; and he is now penning a column for the political site \u003ci\u003eMediapart.\u003c\/i\u003e Von Sothen often does voice-overs in English for French perfumes and luxury brands, occasionally performs stand-up comedy at The New York Comedy Night in the SoGymnase Comedy Club in Paris (in French and English), and is a routine guest on the French radio station Europe 1 discussing all things US related.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42697752477933,"sku":"9780735224858","price":25.6,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0550\/8097\/6621\/products\/img_438c5842-767c-43b5-bef4-3d6c2202ed1e.jpg?v=1649889029","url":"https:\/\/sureshotbooks.com\/products\/monsieur-mediocre-one-american-learns-the-high-art-of-being-everyday-french-9780735224858","provider":"SureShot Books Publishing LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}