Real Rating: 4.5* of five

Do not even think of eating...that is, <I>reading</i>...this book on an empty stomach.

This is a memoir. It's not a happy-families, aren't-people-grand memoir. It's a people will help you...if you make it so it's either help you or admit they're letting you fail because reasons story. The working-class background Author Carlson comes from doesn't lead him to pursue academic excellence or anything other than box-ticking adequacy. His emotional life is, it's plain, neglected completely. He doesn't exactly tell us this but the stories he tells are tendentious. Lucky for him, he inspired others to help by being too good to just abandon.

What matters to most of us, in reading memoirs, is seeing either ourselves in the other make good, or ourselves as we wish we could be. In Author Carlson's case, I saw an American man making his way in a world that doesn't love Americans very much...Paris. And making that way against many kinds of social, political, and cultural odds. After all, how many working-class cooks (NOT a chef!) still less plain ol' restaurateurs do you know about? He's the guy with the idea that no one thinks is great but him. He sells the idea to enough money people that he gets to open his dream: American breakfast food in, of all places, the capital of world-wide food snobbery, Paris, France.

It works. It really, really works. Go look at the website linked in the description! So perfectly American...so popular in Paris. Despite EuroDisney.

Author Carlson does a lot of describing in this book. And he lards in a lot of French. (Well, it stands to reason, but be aware!) It's clear as day to me why he tried to make it as a screenwriter: he has a visual imagination. There's a minuscule recipe section containing recipes I can vouch for from having made them several times apiece, in my own weird variations and under Rob's very attentive eyes, over the years. (This book is six years old now and this is my first review of it! How gauche of me.) But most of all, Author Carlson's love of his creation, Breakfast in America, and his love of France, French food, a French guy who becomes his husband, and the world of making people happy (I contend that's the only reason people go into the food business) made me happy.

Should you read it? You bet your sweet bippy. And on Kindle, all the photos and the miscellaneous stuff shows up very well, which makes the regular price a bargain. (The sale price is incitement to riot.) Go get one now. It's a summer beach trip spent in good, fun company learning about how someone with real, honest-to-gawd stick-to-it-iveness makes it in this world.

By doing everything that scares him witless.

From the whimsical title to the exploits of a young man's romp through Paris, the author leads us on an incredible journey of his life. Mr. Carlson has led an incredible life that has guided him to his ultimate dream of opening an American diner in Paris. With laughter and personal discoveries he ultimately fulfills his goals and along the way finds us cheering him on. Through much adversity he found a way to expand on his dreams and make us believe that all things are possible. Congratulations and continued success are my wishes for him. Since I was a child I have enjoyed stories of the underdogs so this was a perfect read for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own but I would recommend this book.

Entertaining and uplifting tale of making home - and bringing home - to an expat life.

You can smell the pancakes!

I really enjoyed this fantastic memoir about the trials and tribulations of opening an American-style diner in Paris, serving up our beloved pancakes instead of crêpes! This is a tale about reading out to and fulfilling your dreams only to watch them come true. Told from Craig's perspective, with heart and humor, he perfectly describes the struggles of the ins and outs of Parisian drama!

This is a wonderful book, written by a funny, human, and thoughtful man.
Yes, another book about an American in Paris and making a go but still.....
there are so many great stories about moving to Paris

I'm not sure what I was expecting with this book but after it sat and rotted on my to read list for a long time I am now kind of kicking myself for not reading it earlier.

French labor laws sound like a nightmare.

I really adored this wonderful memoir about the travails and tribulations of opening an American-style diner in Paris-- serving our beloved pancakes instead of crêpes! This is a book about fulfilling dreams....and seeing them come true. Told with heart and humor, Craig nails the struggles of Parisian drama!

If I ever make it back to Paris, I’m going to eat at this restaurant. As of March 2020, there are two restaurants in Paris. I enjoy food memoirs, and this one about a restaurant started in a city known for its food by a person who’s never run a restaurant is great. He relates some funny stories as he dealt with the French bureaucracy. I cheered for this guy who had a miserable childhood and dealt with so many hurtles and yet got his diner started in Paris.

Fun, easy read. Humorous, with a good balance of living the challenges and successes of creating a business in a foreign country. Recommended that it be included in our stores inventory.

This was an amusing and heartfelt memoir of a nice guy who loved everything French ever since he was a boy and had the unique idea of creating an America Diner in Paris. It was interesting to read about all the ups and down of running a business in a countrry other than the one you grew up in and how things you took for granted that were common knowledge in your country were not exactly the same in another place.

I think the starting up of the business seemed to take very long and would have liked to read more about the day to day running of the diner and different customers and less about the legal problems with employees, and the actual writing was alright, but not great. However, I would still reccomend this book to someone interested in reading about an American living in Paris.

A wonderfully beautiful book. I love the writing style. It was easy to breeze through the book. The author's journey on how he got to Paris and started a restaurant there is simply wonderful!I really recommend the book!

A surprisingly compelling book about an American who opens a diner in Paris. The writer takes us through the travails of raising funds, obtaining a site and dealing with unbelievable French labor laws. The diner is s great success and so is the book. I didn’t expect much from it, but found I could not put this book down. I guess it is because I love Paris and the delightful sidewalk cafes. Now I have a new landmark to seek out on my next trip to the continent.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for making this book available in exchange for a fair review.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of Pancakes in Paris.

Since Craig is a boy France is definitely in his horizon. He has an affinity for the French language, and is desperate for new surroundings after being bounced from place to place by his dysfunctional parents.

We follow Craig through France on his journey to make an American mark on French soil. And will he make the cut?

Charming, but ugh, the writing was very overdone. And is felt a little humblebraggy?

A delightful book, I highly recommend it. Love the whole "fish out of water" element. The author finds himself in the City of Light, running a restaurant geared to Americans. There are challenges, pitfalls, language difficulties and yet pursues. (and triumphs!)

Very sweet carefree memoir of Craig and his adventures 0f living in Paris and how it became his goal of opening a diner. Lots of laugh out loud funny moments and the real struggles to get a business open in another Country.. It does seem Craig is living his dream.
BIA is now added to my bucket list should I ever find myself in Paris.

My thanks to NetGalley, the author and publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Hysterical and practical all at the same time! Very much enjoyed this read!

Really interesting read about one man's quest to create the first American diner in Paris. I was fascinated to learn a bit about French labor laws and the unique challenges of opening a business in a foreign country.

There were a few parts that I felt glossed over the experience, and even the struggles didn't seem too bad. But those read a bit shallow rather than conveying the true experience. In any case, a pretty good, fast read.

I’m not the biggest fan of autobiography, and saying that, this book took me quite a while to complete. I had to be in the right mood to read it, but as far as autobiographies go this book was very well done. As someone who hopes to open her own business someday in the far future, this book is very informational. Mr. Carlson has been through it all from bankruptcy to opening a business to dealing with all sorts of different problems and tasks in front of him.

Written with humor and without sugar-coating the process, this book really shows how much blood, sweat, and tears go into accomplishing your dream. This book made me smile and laugh at many aspects but also made me wince and different issues came up and Mr. Carlson had to just keep on trucking. If you’re looking for some inspiration of starting a company or to just keep on going with heading towards your dream, this book is a great one to read!

I started following Mr. Carlson on Instagram and it’s really cool to see the real place and if you’re at all interested, I would recommend checking it out! I give this book four out of five beans, the one less because I did lose interest in this as a story several times which is why it took me so long to complete.

Pancakes in Paris is one of the most interesting memoirs I've ever read. It's insightful and interesting, especially to folks who have ever lived abroad and felt the struggle!

A delightful read. Honest. Funny. Really engaging. I want to read more from this author. Highly recommended!