How I Became Stupid
Publisher
:
Le Dilettante
Parution date
:
2000
EAN
:
9782842630409
Description
The title suggests it: this story of Antoine’s methodical search for intellectual nothingness is also an Odyssey of intelligence. Antoine is a 25-year-old Sorbonne student of just about every subject; the author of a translation of Marcel Proust in Aramean; and (why not?) a fanatic of Icelandic food. But this sympathetic and funny philosopher soon feels his broad-minded intellect has no place in society, where everything is black or white and everybody’s opinion fits into the "yes" or "no" boxes. Thus his well-planned (and all the more comical) decision to become stupid. This is not an easy task: Antoine will go through alcoholism (one sip of beer throws him into a coma) and suicide how-to classes, before finally becoming an unusually lucky stock-broker! This last metamorphosis of Antoine’s character will lead him down a new path, as the novel closes with a hymn to friendship and originality. With its light touch and witty foolishness, Martin Page’s style is reminiscent of both Flaubert’s Bouvard and Pecuchet, and Monty Python’s Flying Circus.
Author
Martin Page : Born in 1975, Martin Page is the internationally bestselling author of Comment je suis devenu stupide (Le Dilettante, 2001), Une journée parfaite (Mutine, Nicolas Philippe, 2002), and La Libellule de ses huit ans (Le Dilettante, 2003).
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