A boy grows up in the distant, half-imaginary continent of post-World War Two France. Bad behavior and good luck will eventually carry him to California where he will find redemption. This uncommon first person story of pre-emigration includes no hint of either oppression or misery. It abounds instead in quaint tales of a deceptively familiar society told in a humorous, contemporary American voice. The narrative is a cliché buster and, between the...