Author(s): Julian Barnes

Travel

Eighteen witty and brilliant essays on France from Julian Barnes. Julian Barnes's long and passionate relationship with France began more than forty years ago. As sceptical observer on family motoring holidays, assistant in a school in Brittany, student of the language and literature, author of Flaubert's Parrot and Cross Channel, he has criss-crossed the country and its culture. The essays collected here, written over a twenty-year period, attest to his clear-eyed appreciation of the Land Without Brussels Sprouts. He ranges widely, from landscape to literature, food to Flaubert, film and song to the Tour de France. His humour, timing and intelligence never falter. When Picador published his Letters from London, the Financial Times called him the UK's 'finest essayist'. Something to Declare confirms that judgment: it is a great literary delight. Julian Barnes' first book was published 21 years ago. He is the author of eight novels, including Metroland, Flaubert's Parrot, A History of the World in 10.5 Chapters, Talking It Over, Love, etc., and England, England, and of a collection of stories, Cross Channel. He lives in London. Paperback