A #1 bestseller in France, this is a nostalgic portrait of a French scholarship student’s discovery of America during the academic year of 1954–1955.
I wanted to fit in. I wanted to be American, like any ordinary student, because I figured that was my only chance to survive the immense loneliness looming ahead of me. I was elated to be there, in that remote Virginia alley, on that college campus. I was elated because back there, far away in France, my brothers would never experience this. And the school friends I left behind—they too were missing out on this tremendous adventure.
Soon the young freshman becomes seduced by American culture and the popular icons of the mid-fifties: Jack Kerouac, Elvis Presley, James Dean, Fats Domino . . . a green Buick convertible, drive-in movies, and pretty Grace Kelly lookalikes in tight cardigans.
Praise for
The Foreign Student
“One of those books that is beyond criticism . . . a vivid portrait of life, American style.”
—
L’Express
“A love affair with America . . . told with precision, clarity, and warmth.”
France-Soir
“A
Sentimental Education
of the American South.”
Lu
“A grand risk, successfully realized . . . F. Scott Fitzgerald, French style. A splendid novel about a fragile, fugitive era.”
Magazine Litteraire
“The freshness of a first novel combined with nuanced reporting.”
Le Monde