I Am Finally, Finally French: My Accidental Life in Brittany
Autor Mark Greensideen Limba Engleză Hardback – 18 dec 2025
Thirty years ago, Mark Greenside arrived in Brittany with a girlfriend and left with something unexpected: a lifelong love affair with a village, its people, and its way of life. When a series of impulsive, improbable decisions landed him the keys to a 120-year-old farmhouse in Plobien, Mark began a bumbling, hilarious journey through the trials and triumphs of adapting to life in rural France. From navigating unwritten rules about touching tomatoes at the market to hosting dinners for discerning locals, every mishap and cultural misunderstanding became a lesson in resilience, humility, and humor.
Now, decades later, Mark reflects on the unforeseen joys and challenges of growing older in the place he calls home every summer. With his trademark wit and self-awareness, he reveals how his life in Plobien—and his neighbors’ enduring patience—have shaped him into something he never thought he’d become: truly, deeply, finally French.
Both a love letter to Brittany and a meditation on life’s unpredictability, Bonjour, Au Revoir (I'm Finally Finally French) is an invitation to laugh, learn, and savor the beauty of embracing change—no matter how daunting it seems.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9781510783973
ISBN-10: 1510783970
Pagini: 276
Ilustrații: 4 illustrations throughout
Dimensiuni: 140 x 210 mm
Greutate: 0.39 kg
Editura: Skyhorse
Colecția Skyhorse
ISBN-10: 1510783970
Pagini: 276
Ilustrații: 4 illustrations throughout
Dimensiuni: 140 x 210 mm
Greutate: 0.39 kg
Editura: Skyhorse
Colecția Skyhorse
Notă biografică
Mark Greenside has been a civil rights activist, Vietnam War protestor, anti-draft counselor, VISTA Volunteer, union leader, and college professor. His stories have appeared in the Sun, the Literary Review, Cimarron Review, the Nebraska Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, the New Laurel Review, Crosscurrents, Five Fingers Review, and the Long Story, as well as other journals and magazines, and he is the author of a short story collection, I Saw a Man Hit His Wife. and two previous memoirs about life in France, I’ll Never Be French (No Matter What I Do), and (Not Quite) Mastering the Art of French Living. He resides in Alameda, CA, and Brittany, France.
Recenzii
Praise for Mark Greenside's books:
“A bicontinental life with more pratfalls than a Jerry Lewis movie.”—Christine Muhlke, New York Times
"Failure to speak French has never been so funny! Greenside may never master the gender of French nouns, but he sees straight through the French. A smart, delicious memoir of life off the beaten track in France."—Julie Barlow, author of The Bonjour Effect
"Learning how to shop, drive, and eat in France have their own sets of rules, and (not quite) Mastering the Art of French Living tackles them with a soupçon of humor. From buying a lamp to mastering mollusks (oysters), and learning the right--and wrong ways--things are done in France, Mark Greenside perseveres . . .and succeeds."—David Lebovitz, author of My Paris Kitchen
"Mark Greenside recounts hilarious experiences only a foreigner can have in France, for they're the ordinary things of French life that go unnoticed by the locals yet the funniest of things for someone from the 'outside!'"—Susan Herrmann Loomis, author of On Rue Tatin
"Mark Greenside does an exceptional job of describing the many fish-out-of-water moments of life abroad. He also writes movingly about how his experiences in a new land have changed him. This is a book not to be missed!"—myfrenchlife.org
"Surely the funniest American to land in France since Jerry Lewis, Greenside ‘masters’ the baffling rules of French life in principle, while mangling them—to hilarious effect—in practice. A delightful pas de deux of humor and wisdom.”—William Alexander, author of Flirting with French
"You cannot read this book, without thinking about spending a delicious slice of life in France."—Aileen Bordman, author of Monet’s Palate Cookbook
"Hilarious . . . Reminds me of Stephen Clarke's books with its astute observations, wit, and affection for France."—Ann Mah, author of Mastering the Art of French Eating and The Lost Vintage
“A hilarious look at trying to navigate life in France, literally and figuratively.”—Michelle Richmond, author of The Year of Fog, The Marriage Pact, and Golden State
“Thoughtful, heartfelt, and really, really funny.”—Keith Van Sickle, author of One Sip at a Time: Learning to Live in Provence
"One of the nicest of the trillions of books about France." -- Diane Johnson, author of L'Affaire, Le Mariage, and Le Divorce
"This tale of how one man accidentally becomes a thoroughly integrated member of a French village is funny, insightful, and winningly self-deprecatory. (My favorite character may be the nervous insurance agent.) And Mark Greenside's version of rudimentary spoken French is actually a good demonstration of how to communicate in a language you don't know!" -- Lydia Davis, author of Varieties of Disturbance: Stories and translator of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
"A light, lighthearted, occasionally very funny romp through a region of France not well represented in the travel literature. With his fresh eye and self-deprecating wit, Greenside sketches a wry, cautionary tale for all those of us who are tempted by adventures in foreign real estate." -- Michael Sanders, author of From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant
"Mark Greenside has written a sweet, evocative book about the pleasures and perplexities of buying and owning a house in a small town in France. It's a funny, enlightening journey. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip." -- Richard Goodman, author of French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France
“A bicontinental life with more pratfalls than a Jerry Lewis movie.”—Christine Muhlke, New York Times
"Failure to speak French has never been so funny! Greenside may never master the gender of French nouns, but he sees straight through the French. A smart, delicious memoir of life off the beaten track in France."—Julie Barlow, author of The Bonjour Effect
"Learning how to shop, drive, and eat in France have their own sets of rules, and (not quite) Mastering the Art of French Living tackles them with a soupçon of humor. From buying a lamp to mastering mollusks (oysters), and learning the right--and wrong ways--things are done in France, Mark Greenside perseveres . . .and succeeds."—David Lebovitz, author of My Paris Kitchen
"Mark Greenside recounts hilarious experiences only a foreigner can have in France, for they're the ordinary things of French life that go unnoticed by the locals yet the funniest of things for someone from the 'outside!'"—Susan Herrmann Loomis, author of On Rue Tatin
"Mark Greenside does an exceptional job of describing the many fish-out-of-water moments of life abroad. He also writes movingly about how his experiences in a new land have changed him. This is a book not to be missed!"—myfrenchlife.org
"Surely the funniest American to land in France since Jerry Lewis, Greenside ‘masters’ the baffling rules of French life in principle, while mangling them—to hilarious effect—in practice. A delightful pas de deux of humor and wisdom.”—William Alexander, author of Flirting with French
"You cannot read this book, without thinking about spending a delicious slice of life in France."—Aileen Bordman, author of Monet’s Palate Cookbook
"Hilarious . . . Reminds me of Stephen Clarke's books with its astute observations, wit, and affection for France."—Ann Mah, author of Mastering the Art of French Eating and The Lost Vintage
“A hilarious look at trying to navigate life in France, literally and figuratively.”—Michelle Richmond, author of The Year of Fog, The Marriage Pact, and Golden State
“Thoughtful, heartfelt, and really, really funny.”—Keith Van Sickle, author of One Sip at a Time: Learning to Live in Provence
"One of the nicest of the trillions of books about France." -- Diane Johnson, author of L'Affaire, Le Mariage, and Le Divorce
"This tale of how one man accidentally becomes a thoroughly integrated member of a French village is funny, insightful, and winningly self-deprecatory. (My favorite character may be the nervous insurance agent.) And Mark Greenside's version of rudimentary spoken French is actually a good demonstration of how to communicate in a language you don't know!" -- Lydia Davis, author of Varieties of Disturbance: Stories and translator of In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
"A light, lighthearted, occasionally very funny romp through a region of France not well represented in the travel literature. With his fresh eye and self-deprecating wit, Greenside sketches a wry, cautionary tale for all those of us who are tempted by adventures in foreign real estate." -- Michael Sanders, author of From Here, You Can't See Paris: Seasons of a French Village and Its Restaurant
"Mark Greenside has written a sweet, evocative book about the pleasures and perplexities of buying and owning a house in a small town in France. It's a funny, enlightening journey. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the trip." -- Richard Goodman, author of French Dirt: The Story of a Garden in the South of France