Comedian, mod and professional grump Ian Moore has had enough. Tired of being unable to park anywhere near his cramped house in a noisy town he doesn’t like, he hatches a plan to move his wife and young son to a remote corner of the Loire Valley in search of serenity and space. Several years later, Ian finds himself up to his neck in bilingual offspring, feral cats, promiscuous horses, dysfunctional spaniels and needy hens; he’s wrestling with electric fences, a foreign language, a mountain of animal waste and a wife who collects livestock like there’s a biblical flood on the horizon, all while trying not to dirty his loafers.
But despite the ups, downs and increasing demands of Ian’s showbiz career, the Moore family persevere in true Brit style to create a unique, colourful and ultimately rewarding life in their new home – à la campagne and à la mod!
But despite the ups, downs and increasing demands of Ian’s showbiz career, the Moore family persevere in true Brit style to create a unique, colourful and ultimately rewarding life in their new home – à la campagne and à la mod!
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Reviews
Ian Moore is a brilliantly funny writer and that's all there is to it.
A very funny, charming and honest account of a family's journey by one of my favourite comedians.
I hate mods, I hate France and I hate reading but I still loved this book.
[This book] is everything its author is: immaculately turned out, sharp and consistently hilarious.
Charming, witty, a brilliant read.
C'est Mod-nifique.
Has all the angry wit of John Cleese in a too tight suit... a farce to be reckoned with!
There are a great many comedians who think that they can also write books - myself included - but very few who can rival Ian Moore's immediate warmth and skill with language. I finished it feeling part of the family and can't wait to find out what happens to us next!
Take one life-long mod and chuck him into rural France, complete with pond-dredging, chutney-making, child-rearing and a horse with VD. The result is funny, revealing and oddly touching. Paul Weller meets A Year in Provence...
I've seen Ian Moore on the stage and I'm happy to report that he's just as good on the page. A light-hearted and wry look at life for the Moore family in the Loire Valley, with a passing and amusing nod to Durrell's My Family and Other Animals.
Plunges you straight in to Ian Moore's strange, endearingly funny world. Zips along with nippy energy, although there are pages you have to read twice, they make you laugh so much.
A warm and witty journey into a foreign land. Like much of the produce in the French village where the Moore family shops, the humour is organic.
If you are looking for stylish laugh, you need look no further than [this book].
Wonderfully funny; the sharpest, best-dressed most sardonic Englishman to land on French soil and make the absurd hysterical - this book will serve both as a warning and a temptation to anyone pining for a French idyll.
A hilarious and heart-warming tale exploring the reality of a very English man abroad. Moore's writing is honest, immensely readable and laugh-out-loud funny.
Witty, insightful and wonderfully written, I couldn't put it down.
Although this is hardly the first account of expats making a new life in France, Moore's comedy timing gives this a lightness of touch that makes it feel entertainingly fresh.
A wonderfully funny tale.
This comical depiction of life in rural France will raise a few smiles.
There is plenty of humour here and he often had me sniggering, giggling and really laughing with his light-hearted look at his life.
As you might expect from a comedian, it's highly entertaining.
Sit back and enjoy the show.
[This book] is as much about the difficulties of rural life as is it is being a Mod in France - and is all the better for it.