The Incorrigible Optimists Club

Description

Paris, 1959. As dusk settles over the immigrant quarter, 12-year-old Michel Marin is drawn to the local bistro. From his usual position at the football table, he has a vantage point on a grown-up world. But as the sun sinks and the plastic players spin, Michel's concentration is not on the game, but on the huddle of men gathered in the shadows of a back room. Past the bar, behind a partly drawn curtain, the Incorrigible Optimists Club introduces Michel to a world beyond the boundaries of his childhood experience, a world of history, ideas and politics shaped by their own personal experiences.

Reviews

Extraordinary... The Incorrigible Optimists Club feels as if you are witnessing the birth of a true, great novelist --Lire A debut, a door-stopper, a masterpiece --La Parisienne Powerful, deep, sad and joyful... A debut novel of staggering mastery --L'Express Delete this item Masterful... By turns comical, sad and genuine. It captured our hearts. --L'Humanite Delete this item A magnificent generational portrait... A novel that occasionally makes you cry and often makes you laugh --Le Figaro

Author description

Jean-Michel Guenassia was born in Algeria, 1950. He is a prolific screenwriter and he lives in France.