One Hundred Great French Books: From the Middle Ages to the Present - Softcover

"From the medieval 'Song of Roland' to a novel about human cloning - and a lot of greatness in between." - The Wall Street Journal (Bookshelf) April 2011 "Moving chronologically from the epic poem La Chanson de Roland, the oldest surviving work of French literature, to the Belgian Francophile Amelie Nothomb's Stupeur et tremblements and Michel Houellebecq's La possibilite d'une ile, a story about a man and his clones, this work doesn't contain a single boring entry; each one presents useful insights by Donaldson-Evans (Romance languages, Univ. of Pennsylvania). Entries include a brief summary and commentary and run no more than two pages. A wide spectrum of literary genres, styles, and formats are covered, ranging from the classics to 21st-century works, as well as comic books, detective novels, and sf. Verdict - This easy-to-use guide will be of interest to students and scholars alike and will appeal to anyone interested in French literature." - Library Journal, May 2010 "This work doesn't contain a single boring entry; each one presents useful insights. Entries include a brief summary and commentary and run no more than two pages. A wide spectrum of literary genres, styles, and formats are covered." --Library Journal "One hundred tasty, satisfying hors d'oeuvres to prepare the reader's palate for the main course--the actual reading of these great French books." --Bob Mitchell, author, Match Made in Heaven "Elegant, evocative, and always to the point, this collection unerringly points the reader in the right direction, toward enjoying some of the greatest of the world's literature." --Lynn Hunt, professor, modern European history, UCLA "This witty and learned presentation of 'One Hundred Great French Books' is a delight. It offers a pithy overview of French and francophone literature ... and will whet the appetite of newcomers and seasoned readers of French alike." --Cathy Yandell, French professor, Carleton College "Deft and illuminating ... an enjoyably subjective trawl through different literary genres, from novels and poetry to plays and short stories--and a great deal more ... Mr. Donaldson-Evans is expert at detecting the wider cultural effects that certain French books have had." --Wall Street Journal "Readers will appreciate this concise and vibrantly written invitation to survey the best and brightest authors of one of the great literatures on the planet ... Enjoy!" --Francois Rigolot, professor, French literature, Princeton University

Concise, provocative, and entertaining, One Hundred Great French Books features many of the famous classics of French literature across ten centuries, but also political and philosophical texts, detective novels and science fiction, and much more. Each entry provides a book's historic and cultural context, author background, and key information about the author, and a summary of its content.