22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gene Wilder Makes a Charming Fiction Debut, March 19, 2007
Gene Wilder is a man of many talents. Yes, he is a brilliant comic actor (the best this country has ever produced, if you ask me). He also is a gifted watercolor artist, director, and writer. "My French Whore," his first novella, is a charming World War I tale about an American soldier who finds himself in extraordinary circumstances as he fools the Germans into thinking he is a famous spy.
This is an idea Wilder had for a screenplay back in the late 1960s, but he abandoned the project. As a first novella, "My French Whore" is suitably entertaining and well-written with an ending that is subtle, moving, and restrained. The book reads like a very good short story, with the central character having a lot of the characteristics we have come to know in the roles Gene Wilder plays - indeed, I kept picturing Paul Peachy as a young Wilder.
I think it a crime that Gene Wilder has basically retired from acting. He is just too talented not to be appearing in films anymore. But he enjoys his quiet life writing these days and is already set to publish his second work of fiction entitled "The Woman Who Wouldn't." "My French Whore" is not a great book by any means, but it is a witty, breezy read and good enough to make one look forward to Wilder's next book.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Ineresting World War I vignette, May 4, 2008
Leaving his uninterested wife, Paul Peachy joins the armed services and is soon deployed to France during World War I. When his camp is decimated by the Germans, he finds himself at the wrong end of a number of rifles, but some quick thinking and a fluency in the German language serve to buy him some time.
He assumes the identity of an infamous German spy, Harry Stroller, and is not only accepted into the German camp, but is eagerly welcomed. Indeed, his `host' even introduces him to a lovely young French whore named Annie, who captures the unlikely hero's heart.
But how long can Peachy maintain his subterfuge? Surely it is just a matter of time before someone who knows the real Harry Stroller shows up...
I am going to come right out and say it - neither the story nor the title of this book much interested me, but when I saw it was written by Gene Wilder, my curiosity got the best of me and I simply had to buy MY FRENCH WHORE. Once I began reading the story, I soon forgot who the author was, finding myself completely immersed in the story Mr. Wilder spins with apparent ease, as if he is relating the facts of something that actually occurred rather than delivering a vignette borne of his own imagination.
Gene Wilder shows a decided talent for stringing words together in such a way that the story plays in the readers' minds like a movie or even a memory.
I stated previously that neither the story nor the title caught my attention, but I avow the story more than satisfied this reviewer. An unusual piece, MY FRENCH WHORE is a kind of `day-in-the-life' story that encompasses several days in the life of Paul Peachy and the adventures he lived in France during World War I, all the while finding in the most unexpected of places the woman who would forever hold his heart.
The ending is surprising, and I won't tell so much as to give it away. Suffice it to say that Paul Peachy is an undeniably noble man, and MY FRENCH WHORE offers an ending befitting his character.
**4.5 Bookmarks, courtesy of Wild on Books Reviews**
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
endearing, delightful, deep, May 26, 2007
As a fan of short fiction, I was initially drawn to this book by the charming cover art. That it was written by Gene Wilder was of added appeal. I had several other books going, so this one sat stashed away patiently waiting its turn. I read My French Whore in one sitting and felt an elevation and expansion in my mood immediately. The word delightful kept surfacing in my mind and heart. Now, a book about WWI, trenches, disease, death, prostitution doesn't usually signify delight. But Wilder's pristine gem of a book is also about love, loyalty, grace and clarity. Marvelous--best book I've read in a long time, and I've read many.
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