I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do) by Mark Greenside

In a playful, headlong style, and with enormous affection for the Bretons, Greenside shares how he makes a life for himself in a country where he doesn't speak the language or understand the culture.

For a guy who likes to think he knows what he’s doing, it’s been an unexpectedly bumpy ride.In a story that stands above the throngs of travel memoirs, full of gorgeous descriptions of Brittany and at times hysterical encounters with the locals, Mark Greenside describes his initially reluctant travels in this 'e heartwarming story'e (San Francisco Chronicle) where he discovers a second life.When Mark Greensidea native New Yorker living in California, political lefty, writer, and lifelong skepticis dragged by his girlfriend to a tiny Celtic village in Brittany at the westernmost edge of France in Finistre, or what he describes as 'e the end of the world,'e his life begins to change. I’ve been coming to France-Brittany-for more than twenty years now, and I’m still trying to master the art of French living. “This is my world, the Old World that is constantly new to me. Through some hits and lots of misses, he learns the rules of engagement, how he gets what he needs-which is not necessarily what he thinks he wants-and how to be grateful and thankful when (especially when) he fails, which is more often than he can believe. Continuing the journey begun in his 2009 memoir about beginning life in France, (Not Quite) Mastering the Art of French Living details Greenside’s daily adventures in his adopted French home, where the simplest tasks are never straightforward but always end in a great story. Mellowed and humbled, but not daunted (OK, slightly daunted), he faces imminent concerns: What does he cook for a French person? Who has the right-of-way when entering or exiting a roundabout? Where does he pay for a parking ticket? And most dauntingly of all, when can he touch the tomatoes?ĭespite the two decades that have passed since Greenside’s snap decision to buy a house in Brittany and begin a bi-continental life, the quirks of French living still manage to confound him.

In the tradition of Peter Mayle’s A Year in Provence, it will entice you into a world of color and flavor that most of us only fantasize about.Įxperienced Francophiles and armchair travelers alike will delight in Greenside’s exploring the practical and philosophical questions of French life, vividly brought to life by his humor and affection for his community.Įvery year upon arriving in Plobien, the small Breton town where he spends his summers, American writer Mark Greenside picks back up where he left off with his faux-pas–filled Francophile life. A Wall Street Journal Bestseller! Let Mark Greenside, the author of I’ll Never Be French introduce you to the region of Brittany.

I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do) by Mark Greenside