Scott Carpenter teaches French literature, literary theory, and cross-cultural studies at Carleton College in Northfield.
So when it came time for him to take a sabbatical, he thought, why not pack up my wife and teenage daughter and go live in Paris for a while?
"My guiding principle," says Carpenter, "was just to throw myself into situations that required meto do difficult things; things I didn't understand or predict how they'd end up."
The result is a book his publisher calls “one part David Sedaris, two parts Garrison Keillor, a dash of Bill Bryson, and a vat of Carpenter.”