Description
Paris, 1959. As dusk settles over the immigrant quarter, 12-year-old Michel Marini - amateur photographer and compulsive reader - is drawn to the hum of the local bistro. From his usual position at the football table, he has a vantage point on a grown-up world - of rock 'n' roll and of the Algerian War. But as the sun sinks and the plastic players spin, Michel's concentration is not on the game, but on the huddle of men gathered in the shadows of a back room...
Past the bar, behind a partly drawn curtain, a group of eastern European men gather, where under a cirrus of smoke and over the squares of chess boards, they tell of their lives before France - of lovers and wives, children and ambitions, all exiled behind the Iron Curtain. Listening to this band of survivors and raconteurs, Michel is introduced to a world beyond the boundaries of his childhood experience, a world of men made formidable in the face of history, ideas and politics: the world of the Incorrigible Optimists Club.
The European bestseller (over 650,000 copies sold), The Incorrigible Optimists Club is a truly lovable novel of growing up and of idealism and disappointment
About the Author
Jean-Michel Guenassia was born in Algeria, 1950. He is a prolific screenwriter and he lives in France.
Reviews
Extraordinary... The Incorrigible Optimists Club feels as if you are witnessing the birth of a true, great novelist * Lire *
A debut, a door-stopper, a masterpiece * La Parisienne *
Powerful, deep, sad and joyful... A debut novel of staggering mastery * L'Express *
Masterful... By turns comical, sad and genuine. It captured our hearts. * L'Humanite *
A magnificent generational portrait... A novel that occasionally makes you cry and often makes you laugh
Book Information
ISBN 9781848875425
Author Jean-Michel Guenassia
Format Paperback
Page Count 640
Imprint Atlantic Books
Publisher Atlantic Books
Weight(grams) 437g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 37mm
