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My French Whore
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Product Description
World War I has almost come to an end, but for a young Minneapolis railway employee and amateur actor named Paul Peachy, whose marriage has become one-sided, it’s time to enlist. Shipped off to France, Peachy realizes how out of his depth he is—and never more so than when he is captured. Risking everything, Peachy—who as a child of immigrants speaks German—makes the reckless decision to impersonate one of the enemy’s most famous spies.
As the urbane and accomplished spy Harry Stroller, Peachy enters a world he never even knew existed—a world of sumptuous living, world-weary men and available women. But when one of those women—Annie Breton, a young, wary and beautiful courtesan—turns out to be more than she seems, both Peachy’s and Annie’s lives are transformed forever.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #315805 in Books
- Published on: 2008-02-05
- Released on: 2008-02-05
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 192 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
A simple, straight-faced love story about a brave coward and a scarlet woman drives actor Wilder's touching debut novel. (His memoir, Kiss Me Like a Stranger, appeared last year.) It's 1918, and Paul Peachy, an unassuming train conductor and amateur actor in Milwaukee, finds his marriage has run out of steam, and decides to enlist as a dough boy. At nearly 30, Paul has seen little of the world, as his naïve and candid dispatches from the French trenches make clear. Paul, who speaks German, is brought in to interrogate notorious German spy Harry Stroller. Soon sent into the front line, Paul deserts and, in an extraordinary sequence, passes himself off as Harry Stroller. Taken to the local schloss and treated like royalty by the German officials, Paul is given a French whore, Annie Breton, for comfort, and he gradually comes to care for her once she reveals herself to him more than physically. Despite some ensuing heroism, the game's soon up for Peachy, and the novel takes the form of the final, eloquent notebook of a man still finding out who he is. (Mar.)
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Review
--Mel Brooks
“Slender…nimble…satisfying.”—Kirkus Reviews
“It’s unavoidable: the hero of MY FRENCH WHORE simply must be imagined as a young Gene Wilder. The talented actor who wrote this enjoyable novella…makes an easy transition from stage to page.”—The Seattle Times
“Sweet fluff. If you loved ‘Young Frankenstein,’ you’ll be awfully fond of this.”—The Washington Post
“Wilder’s delightful fiction debut (is) a novel so witty, dramatic and romantic that the reader is left with an indelible mental movie.”—Los Angeles Times
About the Author
Customer Reviews
Gene Wilder Makes a Charming Fiction Debut
Gene Wilder is a man of many talents. Yes, he is a brilliant comic actor (the best this country has ever produced, if you ask me). He also is a gifted watercolor artist, director, and writer. "My French Whore," his first novella, is a charming World War I tale about an American soldier who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances as he fools the Germans into thinking he is a famous spy.
This is an idea Wilder had for a screenplay back in the late 1960s, but he abandoned the project. As a first novella, "My French Whore" is suitably entertaining and well-written with an ending that is subtle, moving, and restrained. The book reads like a very good short story, with the central character having a lot of the characteristics we have come to know in the roles Gene Wilder plays - indeed, I kept picturing Paul Peachy as a young Wilder.
I think it a crime that Gene Wilder has basically retired from acting. He is just too talented not to be appearing in films anymore. But he enjoys his quiet life writing these days and is already set to publish his second work of fiction entitled "The Woman Who Wouldn't." "My French Whore" is not a great book by any means, but it is a witty, breezy read and good enough to make one look forward to Wilder's next book.
Ineresting World War I vignette
Leaving his uninterested wife, Paul Peachy joins the armed services and is soon deployed to France during World War I. When his camp is decimated by the Germans, he finds himself at the wrong end of a number of rifles, but some quick thinking and a fluency in the German language serve to buy him some time.
He assumes the identity of an infamous German spy, Harry Stroller, and is not only accepted into the German camp, but is eagerly welcomed. Indeed, his `host' even introduces him to a lovely young French whore named Annie, who captures the unlikely hero's heart.
But how long can Peachy maintain his subterfuge? Surely it is just a matter of time before someone who knows the real Harry Stroller shows up...
I am going to come right out and say it - neither the story nor the title of this book much interested me, but when I saw it was written by Gene Wilder, my curiosity got the best of me and I simply had to buy MY FRENCH WHORE. Once I began reading the story, I soon forgot who the author was, finding myself completely immersed in the story Mr. Wilder spins with apparent ease, as if he is relating the facts of something that actually occurred rather than delivering a vignette borne of his own imagination.
Gene Wilder shows a decided talent for stringing words together in such a way that the story plays in the readers' minds like a movie or even a memory.
I stated previously that neither the story nor the title caught my attention, but I avow the story more than satisfied this reviewer. An unusual piece, MY FRENCH WHORE is a kind of `day-in-the-life' story that encompasses several days in the life of Paul Peachy and the adventures he lived in France during World War I, all the while finding in the most unexpected of places the woman who would forever hold his heart.
The ending is surprising, and I won't tell so much as to give it away. Suffice it to say that Paul Peachy is an undeniably noble man, and MY FRENCH WHORE offers an ending befitting his character.
**4.5 Bookmarks, courtesy of Wild on Books Reviews**
endearing, delightful, deep
As a fan of short fiction, I was initially drawn to this book by the charming cover art. That it was written by Gene Wilder was of added appeal. I had several other books going, so this one sat stashed away patiently waiting its turn. I read My French Whore in one sitting and felt an elevation and expansion in my mood immediately. The word delightful kept surfacing in my mind and heart. Now, a book about WWI, trenches, disease, death, prostitution doesn't usually signify delight. But Wilder's pristine gem of a book is also about love, loyalty, grace and clarity. Marvelous--best book I've read in a long time, and I've read many.
