L'Europe buissonnière

All rights available

Awards
Prix des Deux Magots 1950

Presentation

At the outset of World War II, Muguet has just discovered the pleasures of the flesh and departs the family nest. Soon taken prisoner by the Germans, he inadvertently escapes and again tries to find room and board, crisscrossing Europe from veritable dungeons to princely parlors, chance encounters to risqué conquests. A cast of characters fills the wild adventures of this Don Quixote, who returns from the war as if it were a vacation.

The only child of Bohemian parents, Antoine Blondin found fame upon the publication of his first book. Alternating between journalism – he was the Bard of the Tour de France between 1950 and 1980 – and literature, this light traveler left behind five novels, all published by La Table Ronde.

With his first novel, L’Europe buissonnière, Antoine Blondin caught the attention of writers like Marcel Aymé and Roger Nimier who soon became his friends. His following novels confirmed his writing talent and the uniqueness of his style situated between Stendhal and Jules Renard.

He evoked the passion for alcohol in Un singe en hiver (Prix Interallié, 1959), which has been adapted for the screen and performed by Jean Gabin and Jean-Paul Belmondo. In the years following its publication, it has been translated in the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Yugoslavia. Today, the translation rights for these countries are available again.

"Immortal Antoine Blondin.”  L’Opinion Indépendante

“Antoine Blondin’s books are aging like old forgotten liquors. They are admirable, and poignant. ” Le Figaro Littéraire

“Blondin was a slave to what he admired ; he could feel others’ feelings as his own and exalt them in the most brilliant writings. ” Le Magazine Littéraire

“The extravagant and sensitive author of Un singe en hiver hasn’t lost any of its flavor." Le Point