An Englishman in Paris, by Michael Sadler
Food Obsessed Writer Gets a Continental Education
Mar 20, 2009
Michael Sadler was born in Lewes, in southern England. This was a mistake. As writer Peter Mayle of A Year in Provence fame notes in his preface, Sadler was supposed to have been born in Paris. An Englishman in Paris tells the story of his eventful year in the city of light trying to set matters right.
Michael Sadler Is An Englishman in Paris
An Englishman in Paris recounts how the young Michael Sadler arrived in Paris to research how people forget their mother tongue – English, in this case – while living abroad. At least, that was his research proposal to the University of Swindon. In reality, Sadler was discovering his latent Parisianness, and the wonders of cholesterol. As Mayle puts it: “Sadler shares with the French a deep and abiding concern with the stomach.”
Culinary Adventures in the French Capital
As a linguist and aspiring gourmand Sadler approaches his new home through its language and its food. The book begins with a loving, if rather alarming, description of an encounter with a pungent Livarot cheese, a salutary lesson in Frenchness. As Sadler notes, “Buying a Livarot is one thing; living with one is another kettle of fish.” In danger of suffocation in his car, he ends up strapping the Livarot to the roof-rack.
Sadler’s culinary adventures continue throughout the book, in between the daunting experiences of renting a flat, negotiating the terrors of crossing the Place de l’Etoile and figuring out the etiquette of Parisian dinner parties. Food is central to the book, to the extent that the reader is occasionally left with the feeling of not being able to take another bite.
The French language proves to be as challenging as the cuisine. French terms are scattered throughout the book to a sometimes distracting degree.
Entertaining Look at French Life
An Englishman in Paris is a short and entertaining read, full of wry English wit and French priorities – namely food and wine. The book’s culinary emphasis is clear from the beginning, as is the comic approach. Sometimes laugh out loud funny, there are times when the humor in An Englishman in Paris seems a little forced.
An easy read, it is possible to devour An Englishman in Paris at one sitting, preferably with a good wine on hand. However, it is advisable to read it in private, as it has been known to produce a giggle or two.
An Englishman in Paris: L’Education Continentale, by Michael Sadler, preface by Peter Mayle, (Simon & Schuster, 2002), 193 pages, ISBN: 9780743440462.
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