Whatever happened to …?

…Paul Micou

Whilst I was sorting out my chunksters the other day I came across six novels by an author I’d much enjoyed reading back in the 1990s. His name is Paul Micou, and I wondered what had become of him. An American; since graduating, he’s lived in London and then France.

A little research later, it turns out that he wrote another couple of novels in 2000 and 2008 – and apart from a couple of Kindle singles, has published nothing since. Only his last novel is still in print.

As I know many of you like searching out books, I thought I’d write about the first few to introduce this author to you.  Here are his eight novels…

I was immediately drawn to his first novel published in 1989. The premise of The Music Programme sounded like something straight out of Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop. Set in a fictitious African country, the employees of a US-funded UN programme have been living it up but panic sets in when an inspector arrives.  I remember it as hilarious.

The Cover Artist (1990) is about an artist who makes more money passing off the expressionist paintings done by his black labrador Elizabeth as his, than his own works. My memory of this one is hazy, but I did love the dog.

The Death of David Debrizzi (1991) is his best-known novel, and possibly his best. The titular David was a child prodigy on the piano. He had two teachers, one English, one French.  The novel is told by Pierre Marie La Valoise (the French one), who is staying in a Swiss Sanatorium. When La Valoise hears that Sir Geoffrey Flynch has published a biography of David taking full credit for the boy’s, he has to retaliate. Some great comic set-pieces in this one.

I’ve only told you about the first three, because although I know I enjoyed three more my memory of reading them is even more hazy.  Micou has a great comic style though; these novels are gentle satires with a lot of humour and some spice. A bit William Boyd meets Paul Torday (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen) via Richard Russo, and perhaps with a dash of Waugh and Tom Sharpe.

I’ve ordered a copy of his latest novel, and found I had the seventh lurking unread on my shelves, so eventually my Micou collection will be complete – but I rather hope he decides to write some more…

Have any of you read Paul Micou’s books?
What other authors have fallen off the radar that you’d recommend

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To explore further on Amazon, please click below:
Confessions of a Map Dealer by Paul Micou

3 thoughts on “Whatever happened to …?

  1. kaggsysbookishramblings says:

    That’s what I love about blogs – discovering authors you’ve never heard of! Micou’s work sounds intriguing – and I wonder if he will write another? And I do like the idea of a dog doing the paintings!!

  2. Alex says:

    Completely new to me and definitely someone to look out for if our Oxfam Bookshop ever reopens. I have a crime writer that I keep hoping will appear back on the scene and that’s Elena Forbes. She wrote three books in a really good series between 2007 and 2010 but has gone quiet ever since. If you’re listening Ms Forbes I’d really like some more.

  3. Anokatony says:

    No, I haven’t heard of Paul Micou. Another writer who apparently deliberately fell off the radar is Rachel Ingalls. She was one of my favorites in the early Nineties, but she hasn’t written much since then. According to the Independent, ‘she is too daring for regressive times’.

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