READS-TO-GO : [bookclub kit for The elegance of the hedgehog

The phenomenal New York Times bestseller that “explores the upstairs-downstairs goings-on of a posh Parisian apartment building” (Publishers Weekly).In an elegant hôtel particulier in Paris, Renée, the concierge, is all but invisible—short, plump, middle-aged, with bunions on her feet and an addiction to television soaps. Her only genuine attachment is to her cat, Leo. In short, she’s everything society expects from a concierge at a bourgeois building in an upscale neighborhood. But Renée has a secret: She furtively, ferociously devours art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With biting humor, she scrutinizes the lives of the tenants—her inferiors in every way except that of material wealth.Paloma is a twelve-year-old who lives on the fifth floor. Talented and precocious, she’s come to terms with life’s seeming futility and decided to end her own on her thirteenth birthday. Until then, she will continue hiding her extraordinary intelligence behind a mask of mediocrity, acting the part of an average pre-teen high on pop culture, a good but not outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter.Paloma and Renée hide their true talents and finest qualities from a world they believe cannot or will not appreciate them. But after a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building, they will begin to recognize each other as kindred souls, in a novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us, and “teaches philosophical lessons by shrewdly exposing rich secret lives hidden beneath conventional exteriors” (Kirkus Reviews).“The narrators’ kinetic minds and engaging voices (in Alison Anderson’s fluent translation) propel us ahead.” —The New York Times Book Review“Barbery’s sly wit . . . bestows lightness on the most ponderous cogitations.” —The New Yorker The Lives Of Fifty-four-year-old Concierge Rene Michel And Extremely Bright, Suicidal Twelve-year-old Paloma Josse Are Transformed By The Arrival Of A New Tenant, Kakuro Ozu. Marx (preamble): 1. Whosoever Sows Desire -- 2. The Miracles Of Art -- Camellias: 1. An Aristocrat -- 2. On Wars And Colonies -- 3. The Poodle As Totem -- 4. Refusing The Fight -- 5. In A Sorry State -- 6. Homespun Cowls -- 7. In The Confederate South -- 8. Prophet Of The Modern Elite -- 9. Red October -- 10. A Cat Called Roget -- 11. The Rebellion Of The Mongolian Tribes -- 12. Phantom Comedy -- 13. Eternity -- 14. When Of A Sudden, Old Japan -- 15. The Rich Man's Burden -- 16. Constitution's Spleen -- 17. A Partridge's Ass -- 18. Ryabinin -- On Grammar: 1. Infinitesimal -- 2. In A Moment Of Grace -- 3. Beneath The Skin -- 4. Break And Continuity -- 5. A Pleasant Impression -- 6. Wabi -- Summer Rain: 1. Clandestine -- 2. The Great Work Of Making Meaning -- 3. Beyond Time -- 4. Spider's Webs -- 5. Of Lace And Frills And Flounces -- 6. Just A Trim -- 7. The Vestal Virgin In Her Finery -- 8. Saints Alive -- 9. Dull Gold -- 10. What Congruence? -- 11. Existence Without Duration -- 12. A Wave Of Hope -- 13. Tiny Bladder -- 14. How Much For One Roll? -- 15. A Very Civilized Noble Savage -- 16. And Then -- 17. A New Heart -- 18. Gentle Insomnia -- Paloma: 1. Terribly Sharp -- 2. For All Its Invisibility -- 3. The Just Crusade -- 4. The First Principle -- 5. The Antipodes -- 5. Baby Porpoise -- 7. Deep Blue -- 8. Contented Little Sips -- 9. Sanae -- 10. Dark Clouds -- 11. Rain -- 12. Sisters -- 13. In The Pathways Of Hell -- 14. From Passageway To Pathway -- 15. His Shoulders Soaked With Sweat -- 16. Something Must Come To An End -- 17. The Travails Of Dressing Up -- 18. Flowing Water -- 19. They Shimmer -- 20. Gagauz Tribes -- 21. All Those Cups Of Tea -- 22. Meadow Grass -- 23. My Camellias. Muriel Barbery ; Translated From The French By Alison Anderson. Translated From The French. A moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us. We are in the center of Paris, in an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families. Rene, the concierge, is witness to the lavish but vacuous lives of her numerous employers. Outwardly she conforms to every stereotype of the concierge: fat, cantankerous, addicted to television. Yet, unbeknownst to her employers, Rene is a cultured autodidact who adores art, philosophy, music, and Japanese culture. With humor and intelligence she scrutinizes the lives of the building's tenants, who for their part are barely aware of her existence. Then there's Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius. She is the daughter of a tedious parliamentarian, a talented and startlingly lucid child who has decided to end her life on the sixteenth of June, her thirteenth birthday. Until then she will continue behaving as everyone expects her to behave: a mediocre pre-teen high on adolescent subculture, a good but not an outstanding student, an obedient if obstinate daughter. Paloma and Rene hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma's trust and to see through Rene's timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her. This is a moving, funny, triumphant novel that exalts the quiet victories of the inconspicuous among us. EA novel by the French professor of philosophy Muriel Barbery. The book centers on a working-class concierge of an upscale apartment building in Paris, Renee Michel. She is an auto-didact of immense learning who deliberately conceals her intelligence. Her secret is discovered by a young resident of the building named Paloma. The novel is narrated alternately by each of these two characters. First released in August 2006 by Gallimard, the novel became a bestseller of over a million copies. In an elegant apartment building inhabited by bourgeois families, Reně, the concierge, and Paloma, a twelve-year-old genius, hide both their true talents and their finest qualities from a world they suspect cannot or will not appreciate them. They discover their kindred souls when a wealthy Japanese man named Ozu arrives in the building. Only he is able to gain Paloma's trust and to see through Reně's timeworn disguise to the secret that haunts her