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The Elegance of the Hedgehog

The Elegance of the Hedgehog Trade paperback - 2018

by Barbery, Muriel; Anderson, Alison (Translator)

  • Used
  • near fine
  • Paperback

In this enthralling international bestseller, two girls live inconspicuous lives in the center of an elegant Paris apartment building. It is only when a stranger moves into their building--and sees through the girls' disguises--that Paloma and Rene discover their kindred spirits.

Description

New York: Europa Editions, 2018. Reprint. Trade Paperback. Near Fine. 8x5x0. Reprint. Single faint spine crease. 2018 Trade Paperback. 325 pp. Author's second novel. "We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renee, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Renee is a cultured autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humor and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building's tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence. Then there's Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter. Paloma and Renee hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma's trust and to see through Renee's timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us.
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Details

  • Title The Elegance of the Hedgehog
  • Author Barbery, Muriel; Anderson, Alison (Translator)
  • Binding Trade Paperback
  • Edition Reprint
  • Condition Used - Near Fine
  • Pages 336
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Europa Editions, New York
  • Date 2018
  • Features Table of Contents
  • Bookseller's Inventory # 2328419
  • ISBN 9781933372600 / 1933372605
  • Weight 0.8 lbs (0.36 kg)
  • Dimensions 8.1 x 5.2 x 1.1 in (20.57 x 13.21 x 2.79 cm)
  • Ages 18 to UP years
  • Grade levels 13 - UP
  • Themes
    • Topical: Friendship
  • Library of Congress subjects Paris (France), Apartment dwellers
  • Dewey Decimal Code FIC

Summary

A novel by the French professor of philosophy Muriel Barbery. The book centers on a working-class concierge of an upscale apartment building in Paris, Renee Michel. She is an auto-didact of immense learning who deliberately conceals her intelligence. Her secret is discovered by a young resident of the building named Paloma. The novel is narrated alternately by each of these two characters. First released in August 2006 by Gallimard, the novel became a bestseller of over a million copies.

From the publisher

"2007 French booksellers prize"--P. [4] of cover. Translation of: L'élégance du hérisson.

Categories

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 08/01/2008, Page 34
  • Commonweal, 12/04/2009, Page 28
  • Kirkus Reviews, 07/01/2008, Page 663
  • Library Journal, 06/15/2008, Page 53
  • New York Times Book Review, 09/07/2008, Page 23
  • New Yorker (The), 10/20/2008, Page 93
  • Newsweek, 07/13/2009, Page 49
  • People Weekly, 09/14/2009, Page 67
  • Publishers Weekly, 05/19/2008, Page 30
  • Time, 07/13/2009, Page 55

About the author

Muriel Barbery is the author of the New York Times bestseller, The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Europa, 2008), Gourmet Rhapsody (Europa, 2009), and The Life of Elves (Europa, 2016). She has lived in Kyoto, Amsterdam, and Paris, and now lives in the French countryside.

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