Hey, local readers — Antoine Laurain, author of THE PRESIDENT’S HAT, is coming to Brookline Booksmith on the 30th of September (7 PM) and will read from his book (now available in the USA). Rachel, his publicist from MZPR, contacted me and this is what she had to say:

“If you want to get ahead get a hat” This was an advertising slogan in the 1940s and it remains in the public consciousness to this day. Is this just a line or does it have merit? Perhaps it’s symbolic of truly taking ownership of your life. Antoine Laurain explores this concept in his latest novel The President’s Hat (September 2013, Gallic Books). Three characters’ lives are changed forever when they discover and wear former French President François Mitterrand black felt Homburg hat. It alters their perception of themselves and has a profound affect, freeing them of self-doubt and replacing it with self-worth. The President’s Hat (September 2013, Gallic Books) is set in 1980’s France and reads like a fairytale in that the mundane becomes magical. 

Antoine Laurain began his career as a screenwriter and director. His passion for art led him to take a job assisting an antiques dealer in Paris. This experience provided the inspiration for his first novel, Ailleurs si j’y suis, the story of a collector which by a strange twist of fate, was awarded the Prix Drouot, the literary prize founded by the famous Paris auction house. Two more novels followed, and now his fourth, The President’s Hat, has received acclaim by critics, readers and booksellers.

Read more here: http://the-presidents-hat.com

I am reading it now – thank you for my copy – and am really enjoying it (I love all things Parisian!). At just over 200 pages, it is short and sweet. I checked out the website, too. Love the “find the hat” game!

Thanks, Rachel, for sending me this information for my local Bostonians!!