List Price: $16.95
Save: $3.85 (23%)

Only 19 left in stock (more on the way).

Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

This item ships to France. Want it Monday, Sept. 17? Order within and choose AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping at checkout. Learn more

Deliver to France

Buy Used

$10.17

FREE Shipping on orders over $25.

Deliver to France

Used: Acceptable | Details

Sold by Amazon Warehouse

Fulfilled by Amazon

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser

Added to

Unable to add item to List. Please try again.

Other Sellers on Amazon

Add to Cart

$11.39
+ $4.99 shipping

Sold by: RAREWAVES-IMPORTS

Add to Cart

$15.39
+ $4.39 shipping

Sold by: riviera_america

Add to Cart

$11.91
+ $27.40 shipping

Sold by: indoobestsellers

Have one to sell? Sell on Amazon

Flip to back Flip to front

Listen Playing... Paused You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition.
Learn more

See all 2 images

The Fairy Gunmother Paperback – March 1, 1999

by Daniel Pennac (Author)

7 customer reviews

See all 8 formats and editions Hide other formats and editions

Price

New from

Used from

Hardcover

"Please retry"

$48.46

$2.95

Paperback

"Please retry"

$13.10

$11.39

$0.99

Maybe the worst indignity for a Paris cop is to be shot dead by an old granny he is trying to help cross the street in Paris on a frosty morning. An old lady needs protection with so many druggies around these days. Dressed as an elderly Vietnamese woman, Inspector Van Thian goes to investigate. Daniel Pennac’s “Belleville Quintet,” a cult success in France, also includes The Scapegoat, Monsieur Malaussene, Passion Fruit, and Write to Kill.

Frequently bought together

Total price: $26.07

These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Show details

Buy the selected items together

This item:The Fairy Gunmother by Daniel Pennac Paperback $13.10
Only 19 left in stock (more on the way).
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
FREE Shipping on orders over $25. Details
The Seine Was Red: Paris, October 1961 by Leïla Sebbar Paperback $12.97
In stock.
Ships from and sold by indoobestsellers.
$3.99 shipping

Customers who bought this item also bought

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Jean-Claude Izzo

29

Paperback
$12.65
Leïla Sebbar

5

Paperback
$12.97
Jacques Tardi

12

Hardcover
$24.99
Faiza Guene

29

Paperback
$14.80
Daniel Pennac

5

Paperback
28 offers from $3.00
Gaston Leroux

27

Paperback
$10.20

Editorial Reviews

Review

"These are...classic page-turners, in which the loyalty and decency of ordinary (and not so ordinary) people contrive to vanquish villains and tyrants" -- Ruth Morse * Times Literary Supplement * "Already a bestseller in its native country, it deserves to be one here if there's any justice in the world of crime" -- Maxim Jakubowski * Time Out * "There is only profit and pleasure to be had in this wise, good-humoured, funny book" -- David Coward * Times Literary Supplement * "A crime novel in a class of its own, you'll laugh till you cry" -- Bertrand Audusse * Le Monde *

About the Author

Daniel Pennac was born in Casablanca in 1944, his father being in the army. He travelled widely in his youth, in Europe, Asia and Africa, and has been employed in a number of capacities, including woodcutter, Paris cab driver, illustrator and schoolteacher. His "Belleville Quintet", written round the character of Benjamin Malaussene, has been published in many languages.

Paperback: 256 pages
Publisher: Random House UK; New e. edition (March 1, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1860464459
ISBN-13: 978-1860464454
Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.7 x 7.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 7 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,332,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #14810 in Books > Reference > Foreign Language Study & Reference
- #19592 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Crime > Murder
- #43915 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers & Suspense > Suspense

Would you like to tell us about a lower price?
If you are a seller for this product, would you like to suggest updates through seller support?

Be the first video

Your name here

Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars

5 star

4 star (0%)

3 star (0%)

2 star

1 star (0%)

Write a customer review

See all 7 customer reviews

Top customer reviews

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Judymanynames

great job

May 10, 2010

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

the book was listed as in good condition. I thought it was in excellent condition. Very happy with service too.

Helpful

Comment

A customer

brilliant magic realism murder mystery

April 28, 2004

Format: Paperback

Pennac has an incredible ease with language, and an imagination that defies defintion. The quasi fairytale aspect to this murder mystery makes it poignant and amusing, but never trite. This book is about language, litterature, character development; not about the murder solving. I read it in French, and appreciated Pennac's mix of the everyday (and even amusingly vulgar), and academic French.
I have never reviewed a book at Amazon, but felt compelled to with this book.
If ever you are looking for an escapist book that still manages to have some weight to it, this is the one.
The 500+ reviewer who concentrated on the race aspect of the book clearly did not read beyond the first 5 pages (a racist detective who has nothing whatsoever to do with the plot gets shot). Shame on them.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

A customer

See Bellville before it disappears

November 26, 1997

Format: Hardcover

Meet Benjamin Malaussène, certified scapegoat. And then meet the zaniest tribe of French and Arabs you could ever imagine, all located in Belleville, a suburb of Paris near the Père-Lachaise cemetery. And then by all means *GO* to Belleville. Eat couscous with merguez, a pork-free sausage, drink sidi-brahim at a sidewalk cafe, and generally have a good time. Only then will you truly appreciate "The Fairy Gunmother"

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

lisa7@gte.net

This book is great! I read the whole series (3)

October 23, 1997

Format: Hardcover

I also read this in French, but have wished that an English version would come out so that I could give it to my mother! Benjamin Malaussene is the bumbling hero of this crazy, upbeat story set in the postmodern chaos of a Parisien banlieu. His mother has a habit of being carried away in a flurry of passion, only to return each time pregnant without the father. This eclectic assortment of children grows up together under the care of the big brother and a family of Arabs who adopts them as their own. The tone of the book is light and witty without being overly shallow. Pennac touches on issues that are current not only to French society but also everywhere; racism, class struggle, capitalistic values, family values. Yet this is far from a preaching or political book. We are almost far too entertained to even realize the deeper content until thinking back on it in retrospect.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

A customer

A fabulous book - Pennac deserves to be better known here.

January 21, 1998

Format: Hardcover

I have been reading this book in French. What a find! Pennac strikes just the right balance between hard-boiled mystery, social satire, and attractive characters. The overall feel is not unlike the movie Diva, or an American writer like Steve Lopez (though Pennac is less nasty). This is reputed to be Pennac's best book, and it deserves attention and popularity here.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Overrated

October 14, 1999

Format: Paperback

As in The Scapegoat, Pennac has written a crime novel where the crime aspect isn't actually all that compelling. Pennac makes some hay with police racism, but it's nothing special in that regard. Once again, the translation doesn't really work for me and I'm sort of baffled by the notion that people found this book to be hilarious. Hard to imagine spending time on the third or fourth books in this series.

5 people found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Louise

Very very very very very good.

January 22, 2002

Format: Hardcover

I read this book in it's original French, and then went on to read the rest of the series...Benjamin Malaussène is amazing. My favourite character to date. Worth a read, even just for Pennac's amazing style.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Comment

Set up an Amazon Giveaway

Amazon Giveaway allows you to run promotional giveaways in order to create buzz, reward your audience, and attract new followers and customers. Learn more about Amazon Giveaway

This item: The Fairy Gunmother

Set up a giveaway

Customers who viewed this item also viewed

Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1

This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading.

Daniel Pennac

5

Paperback
28 offers from $3.00
Daniel Pennac

6

Hardcover
41 offers from $1.76
Jean-Claude Izzo

29

Paperback
$12.65
Jean-Claude Izzo

5

Paperback
$14.00
Jean-Claude Izzo

12

Paperback
$14.71
Jean-Claude Izzo

11

Paperback
$13.28

Buy New

$13.10

Turn on 1-Click ordering for this browser