Many thanks, Peter. On the strength of this review I'm going to pick up a copy from the library this weekend; I see that the French title is La Première gorgée de bière, et autres plaisirs minuscules (The First Sip of Beer and Other Small Pleasures).
Andrew, thanks very much for the kind comment, and I hope you will enjoy the book. Since the "snapshots" are so short, it is easy to dip in and out of at leisure--though the individual pieces often merit a slow reading. The title you located is indeed by Delerm--I haven't double-checked, but I think it may have been his first book of this kind, and the one that launched his reputation--but this little collection appears to include translations from subsequent works. From the short translator's note: "These pieces are drawn from *The Troubled Waters of the Mojito* and *The Ecstasy of the Selfie*, the most recent collections of Philippe Delerm's 'literary snapshots,' a genre he invented over two decades ago and still uniquely represents." FWIW!
Many thanks, Peter. On the strength of this review I'm going to pick up a copy from the library this weekend; I see that the French title is La Première gorgée de bière, et autres plaisirs minuscules (The First Sip of Beer and Other Small Pleasures).
Andrew, thanks very much for the kind comment, and I hope you will enjoy the book. Since the "snapshots" are so short, it is easy to dip in and out of at leisure--though the individual pieces often merit a slow reading. The title you located is indeed by Delerm--I haven't double-checked, but I think it may have been his first book of this kind, and the one that launched his reputation--but this little collection appears to include translations from subsequent works. From the short translator's note: "These pieces are drawn from *The Troubled Waters of the Mojito* and *The Ecstasy of the Selfie*, the most recent collections of Philippe Delerm's 'literary snapshots,' a genre he invented over two decades ago and still uniquely represents." FWIW!