As You Were Saying: American Writers Respond to Their French Contemporaries (French Literature) - Softcover

At a time when the dialogue between America and France is strained by political and cultural forces, As You Were Saying provides a space for an important and riveting exchange between writers from these two countries. By pairing some of America’s best writers with their French contemporaries, As You Were Saying shows us the importance of considering—and responding to—the world beyond our borders. A unique collaboration, the stories collected here were begun by the French writers, and then responded to by their American counterparts. The results are spectacular—funny and inventive, and an interesting look at the similarities and differences between how French and American writers approach the short story.

"Rick Moody’s dark wit and unflinching eye or the bathetic render him a particularly appropriate seer for contemporary alienation, and the inevitable—not wholly unjust—comparisons have been made: to Updike, to Cheever, to Amis fils."—Village Voice

"Marie Darrieussecq is one of the freshest, quirkiest and most radical voices in contemporary French fiction."—Independent

"Roubad seduces with felicitous—and feline—humor . . . evoking the spirits of his countryman Rabelais, of Flann O’Brien, Jorge Luis Borges, Gilbert Sorrentino, Julio Cortázar, Umberto Eco, Tom Robbins."—Los Angeles Times