{"product_id":"merde-at-the-paris-olympics-going-for-pzstanque-gold-9782958566326","title":"Merde at the Paris Olympics: Going for Pétanque Gold","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"Some really excellent one-liners and a great story.\" Ian Moore, author, Death \u0026amp; Croissants.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"This novel is hysterical!\" Rebecca Leffler, writer and Creative Consultant on the Netflix TV series Emily in Paris, .\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy the author of A Year in the Merde and 1000 Years of Annoying the French.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEnglishman Paul West is living in Paris (where he arrived long before Emily, by the way) and he's gearing up for the 2024 Olympics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaul accepts a job with a French group who are campaigning to get pétanque adopted as an official Olympic event. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn Paul's opinion, throwing lumps of lead around while drinking pastis is barely a sport - it's more an excuse for Provençal men to avoid cooking dinner. But he needs the cash.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMeanwhile Paul falls in love with a French tech genius - who thinks he's an idiot (which, compared to her, he is) - and he tangles with his treacherous ex, Elodie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePaul also applies for French nationality and has to embark on a war of attrition with France's Napoleonic bureaucrats.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn the background, Paul's friend Jake the grunge poet decides that the Olympics and Paralympics discriminate against lazy people, and invents the \"Nolympics\".\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLet the fun and games begin.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Paf","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50510300872978,"sku":"9782958566326","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_53679ace-0092-41a6-90be-8aede2739845.jpg?v=1730921760","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/merde-at-the-paris-olympics-going-for-pzstanque-gold-9782958566326","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}