Synopses & Reviews
A wildly charming comedic debut: a novel about a fake fakir who travels from India to France in order to shop at IKEA--and unwittingly embarks on a European tour that is certainly the first of its kind. (Swedish meatballs not included, but highly recommended.)
A fakir from rural India arrives in Paris with one goal: to get to IKEA. A professional con artist with only a counterfeit hundred-euro note in the pocket of his silk trousers, the fakir is confident that his usual bag of tricks is all he needs. But his plan goes quickly awry: when he steps inside a wardrobe at the iconic Swedish retailer, it's only the first in a series of accidents that send him on a spontaneous tour of Europe. As his journey progresses in the most unpredictable of ways, the fakir finds unlikely friends in even unlikelier places. To his surprise, the stirrings of love well up in his heart, even as his adventures lead to meditations on the perils of immigration and the universal desire for a better life. With some of the manic energy of the Marx Brothers and the biting social commentary of Candide, this unforgettable comic romp around Europe is propelled by laughter, love, and redemption.
Synopsis
ROMAIN PUÉRTOLAS was born in Montpellier and has lived in France, Spain, and the U.K., where he has been a DJ, singer-songwriter, language teacher, translator-interpreter, and steward. He most recently worked as a police inspector with the French border service, specializing in document fraud.
The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir Who Got Trapped in an Ikea Wardrobe was a number-one best seller in France and has been published in thirty-five countries.
www.romainpuertolas.com