America: An Anthology of France and the United States by François Busnel

America: An Anthology of France and the United States Reviews

• 
  Mélanie

  Articles très intéressants, à lire et relire, à offrir et à prêter (à des amis de confiance bien évidemment). Vivement le prochain numéro!
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  Erika Hope Spencer

  I took my time with this, reading the short stories slowly while also reading other books. But don't let that give you the wrong impression- it was a very engaging read, especially as an American. It's always interesting to see how others interpret things. In an interview with Louise Erdrich I managed to learn more about Native and indigenous cultures than I have from many longer sources. But most of the essays are not as direct-not interviews either.
  
  "Among the Amish" by Phillipe Claudel was one that I particularly enjoyed. A visiting French professor meets a variety of characters in Pennsylvania: among them the students who are utterly uninterested in his lectures about French culture and mistake his lecture on Monet to be one about Money. They are disappointed when his first slide shows a painting of Water Lilies. One expat has this to say about Americans "Americans are always smiling, everywhere, at everything, at everybody, all the time. But behind the smile, there's no sincerity. No joy. No emotion. Nothing. The smile is social veneer. It's the facade. The convention. They hide everything behind it. Truth. Sorrow. Questions. Revolts. Resentments. Problems. Hatreds. It's the same with the ketchup they put on their grub. Everything's hiding behind it: tastes, flavors, subtleties, bitterness. Nothing gets through anymore. It all disappears behind the sugar and the agreeable but totally false sensation." The same gentleman, Serge, later starts to talk about the Amish. Anyway, the story is good. It's a bit unexpected. Most stories are about NYC or LA. Predictable, but since I don't know those cities ALL that well I was interested to see their take on the American Dream, Hollywood etc. Not many overt opinions, mostly observations. Philippe Besson does go from Chicago to New Orleans at least.
  
  "The Yellowstone Chronicles" by Joël Dicker- is kind of the outlier of the collection...hiking in the wilderness and encountering a bear. He knows a lot about the wildlife there and surprised me by talking about how wolves changed the entire ecosystem of the park-a phenomenal fact that I did not expect to learn in an anthology about America written by French-speakers. Seems this guy is an award-wining Swiss novelist and also a brave, outdoorsy type. Impressive! An amusing story involving Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese (apparently the only two well-known Republican novelists in NYC). Wolfe has a little aside about Balzac's "infinite variety of manners between rich and poor, the ambitious and the social climbers (nouveaux riches and losers). He says America hasn't finished with what was at the heart of the 19th century in France. America is the battlefield. Leïla Slimani always has interesting things to say about sex and gender politics and she comments about university youth and the #metoo climate on college campuses. Alain Mabanckou (some call him the Samuel Beckett of Africa, the Congo in particular) and François Busnel (host of La Grande Librairie) both have insightful additions. I enjoyed this a lot. I never read the magazine (it only ran for a couple of years I think-starting as a response of sorts to Trump's election) but I ordered the full run for the Library of Congress so I will take a look once they are processed. Highly recommend this entertaining and thought-provoking anthology.
• 
  Nuha

  Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
  
  Now available!
  
  When I started reading America 2, I wasn't really sure what the concept was or who the audience was. After all, it seems like a kaleidoscope in reverse - French authors in America writing about America presumably for an American French audience? Regardless, I enjoyed delving into this diverse collection. From coast to coast, from the Evangelical Midwest to the Native American reservation to the Mexican-American borderlands, "America 2" offers slice of life pieces on life in modern day America under the Trump administration. Entertaining and thoughtful, it was almost anthropological in its benevolent gaze.An enjoyable read!
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  Anthony Zielinski

  Excellent collection of essays on contemporary Trump America. Insightful, hilarious and horrifying!! A must read for those who want to venture off the mainstream journalism of today. Among the Amish and Hitchhiking Along the Border are standouts.
• 
  Nuha

  Thank you to Grove Atlantic and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader's Copy!
  
  Now available!
  
  When I started reading America 2, I wasn't really sure what the concept was or who the audience was. After all, it seems like a kaleidoscope in reverse - French authors in America writing about America presumably for an American French audience? Regardless, I enjoyed delving into this diverse collection. From coast to coast, from the Evangelical Midwest to the Native American reservation to the Mexican-American borderlands, "America 2" offers slice of life pieces on life in modern day America under the Trump administration. Entertaining and thoughtful, it was almost anthropological in its benevolent gaze.An enjoyable read!
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  Marie S.

  Je préfère pas donner de note, parce que j'ai commencé par lire l'article sur Martin Eden et il spoile plus ou moins toutes les parties du livre. Du coup ça m'a beaucoup énervé et je n'ai pas pu profiter de ma lecture tranquillement. Chaque fois que je le reprenais j'en avais marre.