Chapter1
It was 11:00 p.m. on Sunday, April 8, 1973, in Paris, France. Three men were sitting at a table at the La Boheme Bar on the Champs Elysees. Alain, a Parisian, had lived in this beautiful city all of his life except for the year he had studied abroad in the United States as a college student at Stanford University. Oliver, who was British, had lived the past year partly in Paris and partly in London. The third man was Jason, an American, who had been in Paris for a little over three months. Jason moved from Madison, Indiana, to Paris in January to take a position at the University of Paris-Sorbonne teaching contemporary American and British literature and creative writing. The men were on their second bottle of Picpoul de Pinet, an inexpensive yet tasty whitewine.
Alain, who spoke better English than most Americans, asked, “Jason, do you teach your American and British literature classes inFrench?”
“No, I teach them inEnglish.”
“But the Sorbonne claims that all of their classes are taught in French,” Oliver chimedin.
“Oliver, that was before the university was fractured in 1971. When I read about that happening, I sent a letter along with my resume to the president of the University of Paris-Sorbonne, where the humanities department remained after the school branched out in various directions. I explained that I understood that all classes were taught in French, but I thought that this splitting of the university would be a great opportunity to try somethingdifferent.”
“What kind of response did you get to your letter and resume?” Alaininquired.
“I got no response for a long time, Alain. Then, maybe six months later, I received a very nice letter from Chancellor Louis Aumont. He told me that he would take my proposal under consideration and get back to me as soon as possible. He also suggested that I apply to teach at the American University ofParis.”
“What are your credentials, anyway, Jason?” Oliverasked.
“I’ll tell you mine if each of you tells yours,” Jasonreplied.
Both Alain and Oliver nodded their heads inagreement.
Jason continued, “I received a bachelor’s degree from Indiana University in 1969, with double majors in literature and theatre. I received a master’s degree in creative writing from Indiana University in 1970. My doctoral degree from Yale, which I got in 1972, is in English literature. For the two years I was at Yale, I worked as a teaching assistant and taught class