Merde Happens by Stephen Clarke
Merde hits the US!
In the third volume of his escapades, Paul West is driving across the USA in a Mini, and feeling just as foreign as he ever did in France. He has accepted a job promoting the UK as a tourist destination. His tiny car is supposed to symbolise Britain's image - self-deprecating, fun, stylish but not snobbish. But to Americans it looks plain cramped.
The car feels even more cramped than normal because Paul is sharing it with his French girlfriend Alexa, who has come along to make an on-the-road documentary about American cultural colonialism and similar French preconceptions. The Mini will get even more overloaded when Paul and Alexa are joined by Paul's American friend Jake (whose English has now become so gallicised that only the Cajuns can understand him), and a waitress on the way to Las Vegas to begin her MA in cheerleading.
Paul has to drive coast-to-coast to a tight deadline, putting on "typically British" publicity stunts in certain key cities. Finally, he is to deliver the plucky little car to Hollywood as the centrepiece of Britain's bid to be voted Tourist Destination of the Year and host the next World Tourism Fair. With France, China and the USA also in the running, national pride is at stake, as is Paul's bonus.
Merde Happens is an Anglo-Franco-American melange of such classic travel romps as The Italian Job (with only one Mini but several more cities), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (with fewer drugs and no actual loathing) and On the Road (without all that tedious free jazz). More importantly, it has a unique extra ingredient that none of the above could offer - lashings of Paul West's merde.
Format: Paperback | 384 pages
Dimensions (cm): 20.1 x 13.2 x 2.8 | 262g
Publication Date: 01 Aug 2007
Publisher: Random House Australia
Publication City/Country: North Sydney, Australia
Language: English
Illustrations note: b&w illustrations
Edition Number: 1
ISBN10: 1741664802
ISBN13: 9781741664805
Condition: Good
A book that has been read but is in good condition. Some minor, but obvious, damage to the cover including very minor scuff marks and scratching, and some minor, but obvious creasing, but no holes or tears. All pages are undamaged with no creasing or tearing, no pencil underlining of text, no highlighting of text, no writing in margins. No missing pages. An old and slightly worn, but still a clean, solid, and readable copy.