The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant [Paperback]

Pablo Tusset (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 20, 2005

A best seller in Europe, Pablo Tusset's wickedly funny debut novel follows the hilarious, boozy, libidinous, and occasionally dangerous travails of Pablo “Baloo” Miralles, the wholeheartedly dissolute thirty-year-old black sheep of the staid Barcelona finance titans of Miralles & Miralles. This renowned Internet blogger, daytime sleeper, and dedicated hedonist is yanked into family business matters when the president of the business, his older, accomplished brother, disappears. Thus begins The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant, an easy-riding, reluctant-detective story. Tusset's prodigious talents as both a satirist and creator of one of the most hilarious underachievers in recent memory make this an exquisitely entertaining read.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Despite a contrived plot and frequent rhetorical indulgences (the author never met a dream sequence he didn't like), Tusset's debut, a bestseller in Europe, still manages to be engaging and occasionally even uproarious. The novel follows the exploits of Pablo Miralles, heir to the Miralles family fortune, as he gets swept up (between naps, drinks and trips to brothels) in a convoluted plan to find his older brother, Sebastian, who has mysteriously disappeared. Unlike the über-hardworking, spit-and-polished Sebastian, Pablo is content to cash his inheritance checks, smoke joints and entertain himself, when not watching TV, by working out a theory of "Invented Reality" online. The plot ambles along as Pablo tries harder to empty Sebastian's bank account than he does to find him. The explanations Pablo offers for not involving the police must simply be accepted, as must the ending, wherein Tusset tries to wrap up the plot in two chapters involving a turgid chase sequence and some ponderous exposition. But the book is a pleasure precisely because it so brazenly sloughs off responsibilities to pacing, plot or emotional resonance. Rarely has such a winning story been built out of such a paean to the joys of slackerdom. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Pablo Miralles, rotund scion of a wealthy Barcelona family, is intelligent, belligerent, profound, profane, and, above all, lazy. He sleeps late, drinks and drugs, hires hookers, and spends his spare time arguing online with the other members of the Metaphysical Club. He scorns his serious, hardworking brother, whom he calls "The First," but when The First disappears, Lady First thinks Pablo is just the man to find him. Pablo takes the case--sort of. Tusset's novel is a mystery in the same way that Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a report of a motorcycle race. Croissant is more coherent, but Tusset treats the quest as simply an excuse to let us spend time with his fantastically funny (and insanely quotable) hero, who is less interested in finding The First than in testing the limits of his bank card. It drags just a bit at the end--when it's finally time to solve the mystery--but every party has a lull before lights-out. Pablo, the overweight, indignant solipsist, comes from good literary lineage, bearing a strong resemblance to both Joey Tallon in Patrick McCabe's Call Me the Breeze (2003) and Ignatius J. Reilly in John Kennedy Toole's Confederacy of Dunces (1980). Unforgettable. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 496 pages
• Publisher: Canongate U.S. (September 20, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841957151
• ISBN-13: 978-1841957159
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,379,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be prepared to fall out of bed laughing, October 14, 2005

By 

C. Christakos "howtowriteachildrensbook.com" (www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant (Paperback)

I was quietly reading the first few pages of this book, at Brews and News in Boca, when a strange thing happened. I literally had to place my hand over my mouth to keep from disturbing my fellow patrons with uncontrollable laughter. My shoulders shook and I laughed so much I almost cried.

Do you know how long it has been since I have had this reaction? I don't, but I know it has been way too long.

Imagine the laziest person you know, add 300 pounds to him and then make him 100 times more apathetic and you get the lead in this marvelous book. Except when it serves his purpose or has the mildy interesting characteristic of involving his ultra rich family, Pablo "Baloo" Miralles is more concerned about feeding his face or making it to the bars before closing, than what is going on in the world until his next feeding time. It takes a possible attempted murder and kidnapping and a call from relatives he barely finds interesting to nudge him off his sofa and begin his bumbling attempt to find some answers.

The only parts that are a bit difficult to get through are the dream sequences but even they are so bizarre that you have to continue to see what this bizarre mind will come up with next.

If you like intelligent, funny, mysteries with bumbling casts then you are going to love this book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Euro Fiction Requires Narcotics, January 1, 2006

By 

Stone Cold Nuts (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant (Paperback)

I had a hard time determining the number of stars to give this one. I'd give five stars for some chapters and one star for others. The sexual episodes described are well done and there is some genuinely original comedy, but I sensed that some of the humor was lost in translation. Still, the thin story line kept me reading to solve the mystery. This book won't make it big in the States because the author is far too casual about the "hero's" use of narcotics. The book could've retained all the substance and humor, been kept under 200 pages, and would've sold far more copies and received far more reviews. The author is brilliant, but twisted. And I love the cover design as it actually prompted me to pick up the book. I would like to meet the model for that little piece of art and would consider purchasing a framable copy.

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent for what it is - beach reading, January 23, 2007

By 

LPE - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Best Thing That Can Happen to a Croissant (Paperback)

Summary = Existential Barcelona trust-fund baby has some adventure and settles into his ideal life, far removed from society.

The story itself is made up of a series of unfinished strings - you have the impression both that the author took on more than could be accomplished in a single book and that the decision to end the book was somewhat abrupt.

In some ways though, this fits well with the lead character, who is basically a more intellectual version of Gob on Arrested Development. He has a pretend job with his family company, spends most of his time and ego in an online development of an ultimate philosophy, and idolizes gluttony in its essence - a life filled with drinking, drugs, food, and sex. This comfortable existence is interrupted by an intrigue involving his brother, but luckily for the reader, the book continues to focus on his internal state and the intrigue primarily results in him having more money to spend on his excesses.

The book is very self-indulgent and is not recommended for anyone looking for a serious read or "proper" literary development. But for a beach, plane, waiting in the doctor's office read, this is definitely worth the $1 used fee on marketplace. But do watch out for the cover - it makes it a little awkward to read in public...