Over Here: An American Expat in the South of France [Paperback]

Randy Lofficier (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 20, 2006

Everybody searches for that special place to call "home." How was I to know that mine would be found in a picture postcard village in the foothill of France's Pyrénées mountains? OVER HERE is the first-year diary of a California couple who boldly went where no Angelenos had gone before.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Everybody searches for that special place to call "home." How was I to know that mine would be found in a picture postcard village in the foothills of France's Pyrénées mountains?

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Hollywood Comics (February 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932983686
• ISBN-13: 978-1932983685
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,589,612 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Different Take on Moving to France, September 20, 2010

By 

Leslie M. Ficcaglia "lficcaglia" (Port Elizabeth, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Over Here: An American Expat in the South of France (Paperback)

"Over Here" is a delightful book about a couple who pulled up stakes and returned to the husband's native France after living in Los Angeles for a number of years. I would have liked to know more about them as people and about how they met, because they sound as though they have some interesting stories to tell about the other facets of their lives. However, Randy's descriptions of the way they made their decision to move, and their adventures while househunting and eventually finding a place and settling in, were fascinating. She has a humorous, somewhat wry style which made it all even more enjoyable. I was very sorry to see the book come to an end; while I was reading it I felt that I was there in Chalabre with them, exploring their new locale and participating in their adjustments and discoveries.

3.0 out of 5 stars Mildly Interesting -- could have been far shorter, January 24, 2012

By 

Ben Rorabaugh (Portland, Oregon) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Over Here: An American Expat in the South of France (Paperback)

This is a diary-like accounting of a couple's decision to move to a small village in southern France. I purchased it to get a sense of their experience in transitioning from the U.S. to France, with a particular interest in administrative and cultural challenges they faced. To a degree, the book met those interests, but I've downgraded it for the following two reasons:

1. The writing could have been tightened up considerably. Many entries start with apologies for it having been so long since the last entry. On an online blog in real time, this would make sense. In a book, it is merely irritating. The text should have been edited prior to publication to remove extraneous text such as this.

2. The author seems to be one of those people who are absolutely enthralled with his or her dog, and evidently can't fathom the possibility that not everyone else would be, too. Accordingly, w-a-a-a-y too much of the book consists of tiresome accounts of whatever supposedly wonderful thing the dog did that day. Frankly, I couldn't care less what the dog (or the cat or the fish or the bird) did. It's irrelevant.

Granted, if the book had been edited to remove what I've noted as drawbacks, it would be probably only two-thirds its current length. But it would be a much better, concise read.