The Foreign Student: A Novel

ISBN: 0345346963

Author: Labro, Philippe

Condition: Used

A #1 bestseller in France, this is a nostalgic portrait of a French scholarship students 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 StudentOne of those books that is beyond criticism . . . a vivid portrait of life, American style.-LExpressA love affair with America . . . told with precision, clarity, and warmth.-France-SoirA Sentimental Education of the American South.-LuA grand risk, successfully realized . . . F. Scott Fitzgerald, French style. A splendid novel about a fragile, fugitive era.-Magazine LitteraireThe freshness of a first novel combined with nuanced reporting.-Le Monde