France
Dark crimes, film noir and black comedy

'The phrase "black comedy" was invented for just this kind of book. Tonio irreverently inveighs against romantic love, cancer and the suburbs of Paris.' Washington Post

The country that invented film noir and shows cultish reverence for the crime novel, the polar, that seems to occupy most of the shelf-space in Parisian bookstores. The dream weekend must be Paris in October, a cosy hotel in rue du Bac, going to a small cinema to take in a restored print of 'Pépé le Moko', 'Touchez pas au grisbi', 'le samouraï' or 'Ascenseur pour l’echafaud', all milestones in the crime genre, sandwiched in by languid brasserie lunches and dinners of oysters, wine and little else.

And why not take a Benacquista novel with you on your trip. This is an author who successfully bridges the gap between cinema and fiction writing. The author of the script to 'The Beat that my Heart Skipped', an awkwardly named but gripping film that took London and New York by storm and also the writer of 'Someone Else' and 'Framed', two dark and funny novels set in contemporary Paris.

	Framed Tonino Benacquista £9.99 buy now $14.95 buy now [more]
	Holy Smoke Tonino Benacquista £8.99 buy now $13.95 buy now [more]
	Someone Else Tonino Benacquista £9.99 buy now $14.95 buy now [more]
	Angelina's Children Alice Ferney £8.99 buy now $13.95 buy now [more]
	Goat Song Chantal Pelletier £8.99 buy now $13.95 buy now [more]

Links
Ferney-Biography and Bibliography
perso.orange.fr/ mondalire/ ferney.htm

Ferney-Author Profile
www.panoramadulivre.com/ htmlfr/ selec0409f.htm

Pelletier website
chantalpelletier.free.fr/

Pelletier-Lire review of Goat Song
www.lire.fr/ critique.asp/ idC=36157/ idR=219/ idTC=3/ idG=2

Pelletier-Trends in European crime writing
www.britishcouncil.org/ arts-literature-matters-european-jakubowski.htm

Pelletier-Biography and bibliography
auteurs.arald.org/ biogr/ Pelletier1949.html

Benacquista visits Florida State University
www.fsu.edu/ ~icffs/ event-writers.html

Benacquista-French bibliography
www.polars.org/article37.html

Benacquista-Gallimard crime site
www.gallimard.fr/ foliopolicier/ phares/ benacquista.htm