The Fairy Gunmother - Hardcover

Pennac, Daniel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1860463258 ISBN 13: 9781860463259

Publisher: Harvill Pr, 1998

Synopsis

A policeman on a mission of mercy is shot dead at point-blank range by a sweet granny on a frosty morning. The neighbourhood, Paris's bubbling Belleville quarter, is already in uproar, because half a dozen other grannies have been found with their shrivelled throats slit. Into this tense situation stumbles Benjamin Malaussene, with his overly complicated life: his multitude of dependant siblings, their fecund and scatty mother, his stinking epileptic dog, Julius, and his journalist lover Julie, who would dearly like to keep all these complications to a minimum. Benjamin's unusual profession - that of a scapegoat in a publishing house - makes him the ideal person to be framed for just about everything, and he is. Meanwhile, two policemen are putting their all into solving the case: Van Thian, a cop ingeniously disguised, and his cherubic partner Pastor. The criminal galaxy explodes (not to mention the Paris police force) when the anarchic worlds of Benjamin, Julie, Thian, Pastor and the whole of Belleville finally collide.

About this title

About the Author

Daniel Pennac was born in Casablanca in 1944, his father being in the army. He travelled widely in his youth, in Europe, Asia and Africa, and has been employed in a number of capacities, including woodcutter, Paris cab driver, illustrator and schoolteacher. His "Belleville Quintet", written round the character of Benjamin Malaussene, has been published in many languages.

From Publishers Weekly

French novelist Pennac arrives in America with his stylish second crime novel (published in France as La Fee carabine, in 1987) featuring mild-mannered publishing peon Benjamin Malaussene. In the ethnic Parisian neighborhood of Belleville, a sinister plot emerges to get old people hooked on drugs, steal their apartments and, sometimes, kill them in the process. The case befuddles the Paris police force, especially when the "wrinklies," as they are lovingly called, train themselves to shoot back at their tormentors. The detectives on the case are young, effete Pastor, who wrings confessions by being nice, and half-Vietnamese Van Thian, who operates undercover as the aged Widow Ho Chi Minh. Meanwhile, narrator Malaussene staves off threats of dismissal from his ogre employer and (out of his love for a curvaceous journalist) takes several of the wayward "granddads" into his already overflowing family of dotty siblings and their ever-prolific mother. Pennac's slang-smart police procedural is a terrifically energetic effort, with a memorable roster of distinct characters (especially the granddads). Translator Monk has tackled many of Georges Perec's works. Still, the novel is a bit of a throwback: while Pennac does take pains to be politically correct, his stereotyped women are as out-of-date as their typewriters.

Copyright 1997 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harvill Pr
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 1860463258
• ISBN 13: 9781860463259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 247