The Best Butter

The Best Butter (French: Au bon beurre) is a 1952 novel by the French writer Jean Dutourd. It was published in the United Kingdom as The Milky Way. It tells the story of a Paris dairy shop during the German occupation, and how the politically uninterested manager adapts to the situation and collaborates whenever he finds it favorable. The novel satirizes the French attitude toward the occupation.

First US edition
(publ. Simon & Schuster, 1955)

It received the Prix Interallié.[1] It became a bestseller in France and sold more than two million copies.[2] A film adaptation for TF1 directed by Édouard Molinaro was released in 1981.[3]

Publication

The book was published through éditions Gallimard on 10 September 1952.[4] It was published in English in 1955, translated by Robin Chancellor. The American title is The Best Butter and the British title is The Milky Way.[5]

References
  1. "Prix Interallié". prix-litteraires.net (in French). Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  2. Flower, John (2013). Historical Dictionary of French Literature. Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-8108-6778-9.
  3. "Au bon beurre (TV)". AlloCiné (in French). Retrieved 2015-04-03.
  4. Kay Chadwick (2003). Jean Dutourd, Au Bon Beurre: Scènes de la Vie Sous L'Occupation. Glasgow introductory guides to French literature. Vol. 49. University of Glasgow. ISBN 0852617690 – via University of Michigan.
  5. The Best Butter. OCLC 341834. Retrieved 2015-04-03 – via WorldCat.


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