Fanfan - Hardcover

In this sprightly novel, 28-year-old Jardin (whose The Zebra and In the Fast Lane were published in Great Britain) proves that even when it comes to Generation X literature, the French continue to come out on top in the style category. Narrator Alexandre Cruso‚ is a descendant of that swashbuckling adventurer Robinson. His parents are artistic eccentrics who live apart in Paris during the week, then convene for the weekend at their country home with various ``friends'' in tow. When, at 13, he delivers a surprise Mother's Day breakfast there, he realizes that his parents are not faithful to each other, and the house becomes an emblem of debauchery for him. Boldly, Alexandre pledges to find a serious, conformist girlfriend, marry her, and remain faithful for life. At 19 he appears to have met his ideal in the well-mannered Laure. His plans develop a glitch, however, when he makes his usual trip to a Normandy inn run by the aged philosopher Monsieur Ti, who married for the first time at 81. There he meets the delectable free spirit Fanfan, the granddaughter of Monsieur Ti's wife. (Fanfan blithely explains that she embarked on a film career at the tender age of 17 because ``there was an opening. Truffaut had just died.'') Alexandre is drawn to her, but he clings to his earlier desire for monogamy. Finally, he decides that by continuing to see Fanfan but never consummating their relationship, he can have the best of both worlds. He will maintain the tantalizing beginnings of passion with Fanfan while enjoying stability with Laure. Of course, the way he moves between passionate attention and withdrawal confuses Fanfan, and his closeness to another woman disturbs Laure. Alexandre's voice- -expertly translated--earnestly rationalizes his increasingly bizarre behavior. An original and clever US debut with one million copies sold in France. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A bestseller in France, where it was made into a movie, this delicious, elegant fable about the conflict between passion and habit will probably resonate far less with an American readership. Twenty-year-old Alexandre Crusoe, a distant ancestor of Defoe's shipwrecked hero, is an aspiring Parisian actor determined not to reenact the loose sexual mores of his parents, who both have a steady stream of lovers. Engaged to simple, conventional Laure de Chantebise, Alexandre falls madly for Fanfan, a roguish, free-spirited young filmmaker. Impractically, he resolves to remain faithful to Laure yet also to court and love Fanfan without ever succumbing to carnal temptation. His goal in this chaste romance is avoidance of the monotony that monogamy presumably brings. The plot takes several improbable turns, including Alexandre's obsessive, voyeuristic spying on Fanfan from an adjacent flat with a two-way mirror. Finally, his octogenarian mentor, Monsieur Ti, a happily married hotelier, convinces Alexandre that " 'Perpetual passion' is an adolescent notion . . . . The greatest adventure of our age is marriage." Peopled with colorful eccentrics, Alexandre's first-person narration engages with its witty, irreverent comments on monogamy, male/female friendship, snobbery, hypocrisy and love.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.