The Most Beautiful Book in the World - by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A cast of affecting characters lovingly portrayed by Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt animates these eight contemporary fables about people in search of happiness.

One of Europe's most popular and bestselling authors, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt captivates the reader with his spirited style and enchanting stories that move effortlessly from the everyday to the fantastical. The eight stories in this collection represent his best and most imaginative storylines: from the touching and surprising love story between Balthazar, a wealthy author, and Odette, a shop clerk, to the tale of a barefooted princess; from the moving title story of about a group of female prisoners in a Soviet gulag to the entertaining portrait of a perennially disgruntled perfectionist. Behind each story lies a simple, if elusive, truth: though we may frequently be blind to it, happiness is often right in front of our eyes.

"There is a surprising sweetness to these stories of redemption and reconciliation. They carry a slight pleasant aftertaste, a lingering hint of delight."--Barbara Fisher, Boston Globe

Review Quotes

Delightfully unexpected." --Emma Garman, Words Without Borders

"A major literary work."--Lire Magazine (France)

"These stories uncover the hidden sources of humanity's best qualities: happiness, forgiveness, love, and generosity. Schmitt's simple and artful prose captures his characters' most intimate and raw moments without melodrama."--Gwendolyn Dawson, Publishing Perspectives

"Schmitt's stories capture a quirky, clever, feminist, very French sensibility."--Publishers Weekly

"Schmitt's tales echo Maupassant's with their lean narratives, surprise endings, mordant humor and psychological acuity . . . Fairy tales and realistic studies happily coexist in this elegant collection."--Kirkus Review

"Each story feels unreal on some level. . . Each in its own way also strikes notes of resonance and invokes human values."--Mostly Fiction Book Review

"This new translation by Alison Anderson presents its human subjects with an appropriate, idiomatic lucidity."--Times Literary Supplement

"Melancholy but edifying orator, light yet profound raconteur, à la Denis Diderot, Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt squeezes goodness from sorrow, places language, the word, on an altar, and derives from reality books that sell millions of copies."--Il Giornale (Italy)

"The Most Beautiful Book in the World is as affecting as it is intelligent . . . Eight stories, parables on the idea of a future, filled with redeeming optimism. Truth and beauty are here brought together with all the visual beauty and power of a major literary work."--Lire Magazine (France)

"A born storyteller with a talent for telling ostensibly simple tales each suggestive of a philosophy of life."--La Libre Belgique (Belgium)