Review, A Year in the Merde

Stephen Clarke's first book on living in Paris, France and stepping way too often into Merde was a wonderful reading experience.
If I had to describe this book with three words, I'd definitively choose: hilarious, short and realistic.
It is hilarious because it made me laugh uncountable times – jokes which, I suppose, are hard to understand for someone who does not speak a word of French and/or has never been to Paris or at least France before. For all those who understand the French and French the 383 pages are a humorous introduction into cultural differences and cultural misunderstandings.
My second word, “short”, is not describing its actual length nor am I talking about the size or format of the book. The aspect I’m referring to is its readability. Clarke’s style of writing, using very few long and boring descriptions, instead using dialogues and “unspoken” comments to explain the situations, make his book very lively. Furthermore, most of the descriptions you actually get are either about girls (sex related) or about food, which makes reading them enjoyable. The language in general is quite easy, however, there are still a few words per page which I don’t know and actually seem useful. Basically, the context makes it possible to understand and grasp the idea of every sentence although not every single word might be clear. A rather obvious exception are the “Frenchenglish” dialogues, Clarke provides us with. Please try to decipher this one (post your thoughts as a comment please): “Ah’em ed of hah tee”.
The third adjective I chose is realistic. The misunderstandings, his learning by doing attitude followed by many faux pas, the ups and downs in his private life and job are reasonably measured. By the end of the book the character more or less knows how to handle the French (in particular the Parisian girls). However, when returning to London he does not feel at home anymore, he has adapted to the French culture in one way or another.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book to everyone who loves to have a laugh from time to time and needs relief from the heavy pages of Jaywalking with the Irish (not that I don’t like the book, actually I think it is very interesting. However, it contains way more cultural information and words I’ve never heard of, than A Year in the Merde.)