Hint: A very memorable quote from the book is "spreading gangrene from within," which I think that I'm helping to do. :-)

Bonjour Paresse?

Yes.

It sounds like a very amusing book.

Here's a link to a Guardian article:

http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/art...270406,00.html

The original Times article is a premium article, but you can still get a free copy by typing "spreading gangrene from within" in Google. The link isn't working right now, though, so I'm not posting it.

Here's a longer, more informative one:

http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5698558/

I can't believe that she was a psychoanalyst who worked on Lacan....

"One day I said in the middle of a meeting that I could only be bothered to turn up in order to put food on the table: there was 15 seconds of absolute silence during which everyone looked agonized."

ttt for cmt?

The "a" of Paresse is the penultimate of 7 letters. Its antecedents didn't say "oui," the northwest wind's namesake was all for it, some old ones speak it, and it's usually celebrated with a lot of fun in July.

P.S. to 111op: I never would've gotten Bonjour Paresse if you hadn't posted that second clue, which was easily searchable.
P.P.S. Italian bias? Tsk tsk!

Yeah, I know. But the thread must continue obviously -- otherwise what fun is it? :-)

Obviously I freely admit to the biases in my clues. I wish that I could give more clues that are related to Germany or Portugal, for example, or Scandinavia, but I just don't know that much about these countries -- not that I know that much about France or Italy, of course.

Is mistral a language?

By the way, Frederic Mistral was used as a clue, and mistral is the name of a wind in Provence. I missed that one, so I now know where to look. :-)

I guess it must be Occitan.

Sorry.

Reference:

http://www.britannica.com/ebi/articl...p;ct=%22ebi%22

ttt for cmt

Yes, Occitan. Did you get all the clues--its antecedents didn't say "oui" (it was the langue d'oc instead of the langue d'oeil), Mistral was all for it (you got that one), and it's celebrated in the annual Félibrée.

Well, I sort of did. But your clue wasn't really clearly phrased -- I thought there was only one answer....

So I get the next clue anyway? Well, here's one. A friend sent me an e-mail mentioning his name today and I had to look him up.

Feel free to reject this clue if you don't like it and come with another one. :-)

Clue: He is usually referred to as (2 words, first name = 7, last name = 8, 6th = "o"). His parents are of this nationality (8 letters, 1st = "a"). He became famous partly by association with this famous female singer (first name = 5, last name = 4, 3rd = "a") (who has a famous nickname that has something to do with a bird -- this should be an obvious hint).

Perhaps even more surprising, he had a hand in the soundtrack for a saccaharine Hollywood movie (2 words, 7, 4) starring a British chap and a female Hollywood superstar. (Another obvious hint.)

So, supply
1. name of this man.
2. parents' nationality
3. female singer who helped made him famous.
4. Hollywood movie.

There WAS only one answer (Occitan) and you got it. The other things were just clues or leads to get to the answer, which you did.

Omigod, this is my first time looking at one of these, and I do believe I know the answer. (It was the bird nickname that helped me out.)

1. Charles Aznavour
2. Armenian
3. Edith Piaf, the Little Sparrow
4. Notting Hill

I'll be back in a minute with a clue. Can't guarantee how good (or original) it will be, since it will be my first, but I'll give it a try.

Okay, sorry if this stinks.

Using the G in Notting Hill as the 4th letter, this is a 10-letter word.

A Ligurian Santa or a plain old pizza.

Margherita

Hey, welcome, KT!

I had no idea who Charles Aznavour is but I was surprised that he had something to do with "Notting Hill" (he wrote the song "She" played ad nauseam in that movie).

http://www.salon.com/people/feature/...7/15/aznavour/