Amateur hour. ( )

Fortunately I hadn’t read the reviews of Messer’s Dickens & Shakespeare otherwise I would never have picked up this book. I admit to have nurtured a rather dark and stereotypical view of France that unlike their wine has not improved with age, but a friend of mine read, and raved about it. She insisted I read it over the weekend, and that’s all you need. Two, three days tops, as you will tear through this book, not with a “blue pencil” or pink one either. Yes McAdams tends to have a touch of Commander McBragg in him, and it’s true his generation prefers a good firm handshake to kissing other men but “mano y mano” or “hand & hand” is correct, unless you consider the traditional French greeting a form of “hand to hand” combat. Despite McAdams’ need to affirm himself as competent, he inflicts far more damage on himself through his honest narrative. There is humor, compassion, humanity and triumph between these pages, and heading every chapter, is a sketch provided by the author’s wife (Marian Bingham) which subliminally lends additional depth to the story. Oh.. yes one last thing, we all know the word “merde”, but unfortunately we all don’t recognize humor. * * * * (4 stars)

Charming story, poorly told, poorly edited. Really, the substance of this book is sweet and even inspiring, but McAdams is a plodding and clumsy storyteller. His recounting of his recoiling from the traditional French greeting is an example. He is uncomfortable with the "mano y mano" kisses on both cheeks. Really? "Mano a mano" (the correct phrase, I believe) means "hand to hand' - though is commonly misused as meaning "man on man - something any editor worth their blue pencil should have caught. The constant reminders about his glory days as a pilot also serve to impede the storyline, as noted elsewhere.
Too bad, this could have been fun. ( )

McAdams and his new wife restore an old home in a historic French village. McAdams is a retired pilot and wannabe writer. Rebounding from his prior wife's death, he marries a divorced artist, and the home restoration is a metaphor for their creation of a new life together. The plot, of course, is cliched. Moreover, despite some amount of humor and charm, the writing is clumsy. Every third page McAdams reminds you of his "glory days" as a pilot, both in the Marines and with commercial airlines. Who cares? They inexplicably arrive for an extended stay in a small village in southern France, speaking almost no French - ever hear of Rosetta Stone? McAdams' linguistic ignorance is such that he thinks "merde" is French for "eggplant." I would expect that most educated Americans know what "merde" means, even if they never took a French lesson in their lives. The book provides little insight into French culture, history or cuisine. In retrospect, I think two stars was generous for a first time writer. I hope McAdams will improve as a writer because his is a genre I collect. He will not improve as a writer if he listens to the voices of his cheerleaders on Amazon, and now embarrassingly even on this site. They are enablers. Instead, he should read other books - say Two Towns In Provence by Fisher- and aspire to be as good.Here is to your next effort. ( )