Scott Dominic Carpenter in conversation with Don George – French Like Moi: A Midwesterner in Paris (Virtual Event)

When Scott Carpenter moves from Minnesota to Paris, little does he suspect the dramas that await: scheming neighbors, police denunciations, surly demonstrators, cooking disasters, medical mishaps—not to mention all those lectures about cheese. It turns out that nothing in the City of Light can be taken for granted, where even trips to the grocery store lead to adventure.

In French Like Moi, Carpenter guides us through the merry labyrinth of the everyday, one hilarious faux pas after another. Through it all, he keeps his eye on the central mystery of what makes the French French (and Midwesterners Midwestern).

Minnesota-born and Midwest-bred, Scott Dominic Carpenter is the author of Theory of Remainders: A Novel (named to Kirkus Reviews’ “Best Books of 2013”) and of This Jealous Earth: Stories. Winner of a Mark Twain House Royal Nonesuch Prize (2018), recipient of a Minnesota State Arts Board grant, and semi-finalist for the Many Voices Project Prize, he has published work in a wide variety of venues, including The Rumpus, Silk Road, Catapult, South Dakota Review, and various anthologies. He lives 45 miles from Minneapolis in Northfield, Minnesota, and Paris.

Don George is the author of The Way of Wanderlust: The Best Travel Writing of Don George and of Lonely Planet’s Guide to Travel Writing, and the editor of twelve anthologies. In his 40-year career he has served as travel editor for the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle, founder and editor of Salon.com’s Wanderlust travel site, global travel editor for Lonely Planet, and editor at large for National Geographic Travel. He is also the co-chair of Book Passage’s Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, now in its 29th year.

Larry Habegger is a travel writer, editor, journalist, and teacher who has been covering the world since the 1970s. As a freelance writer for more than 30 years and syndicated columnist since 1985, Habegger’s work has appeared in many major newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Travel & Leisure, and Outside. In 1993, he cofounded the award-winning Travelers’ Tales books with James and Tim O’Reilly, and is currently executive editor. His latest book in the Travelers’ Tales series is The Best Travel Writing, Volume 11.