Clarke, Stephen 1958–

PERSONAL: Born 1958.

ADDRESSES: Home—Paris, France. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Bantam Books, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Rd., London SW1V 2SA, England.

CAREER: Writer, journalist, and magazine editor.

WRITINGS:

A Year in the Merde (autobiographical fiction), Bloomsbury (New York, NY), 2005.

Also author of two self-published books, Who Killed Beano and Beam Me up, and of a film script, The First Red Phone Box in Space.

SIDELIGHTS: British writer Stephen Clarke went to live in Paris in 2002, keeping a journal of his experiences and impressions of life in the French capital. He transformed this journal into a novel, A Year in the Merde. The book was initially self-published by Clarke in Paris, where it was a local bestseller. Word-of-mouth praise led to such demand for the book that Clarke was approached by a major publisher. His humorous book has been frequently compared to Peter Mayle's bestseller A Year in Provence.

In the book, Clarke's alter ego is Paul West, a young Englishman sent to France to market a chain of British tearooms. He comically describes the frustrations of doing business with the French, and his dismissal from his job in the spring of 2003, in part because of anti-British sentiment following the invasion of Iraq. Library Journal reviewer Ravi Shenoy noted that "this laugh-out-loud yarn about West's colleagues … his romantic escapades, and French culture in general, will win Clarke many fans."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Kirkus Reviews, February 15, 2005, review of A Year in the Merde, p. 207.

Library Journal, April 1, 2005, Ravi Shenoy, review of A Year in the Merde, p. 115.

Publishers Weekly, March 28, 2005, review of A Year in the Merde, p. 66.

ONLINE

Fantastic Fiction, http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/ (July 7, 2005), review of A Year in the Merde.

Stephen Clarke Home Page, http://www.redgaragebooks.com (July 7, 2005).

Write Words Web site, http://www.writewords.org.uk/ (July 7, 2005), interview with Stephen Clarke.