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March 23, 2009
The Elegance of the Hedgehog
ABOUT THE BOOK
We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Renée, 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, Renée 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 12-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 16th 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 Renée 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 Renée'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. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Muriel Barbery curently lives in Japan with her husband Stéphane. Her novel, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, has sold over 1.2 million copies in its native France and spent almost two years on the bestseller lists. It has enjoyed similar success in Italy, Spain, Germany, and many other countries. In the United States it has appeared on the New York Times bestseller list and the IndieBound bestseller list since shortly after its publication in September, 2008. Gourmet Rhapsody is Barbery's next book to be published in the US—available in september 2009 everywhere books are sold. BEYOND THE BOOK Reading Group Guide New York Times Book Review Washington Post Book Review Article about Europa Editions and The Elegance of the Hedgehog Book Info
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