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A Smile for EuropeEuropeans describe how they experience Europe
Düsseldorf, December 19, 2005 – Pleon is giving Europeans a reason to grin with its new book, A Smile for Europe. Published this December, the book is a collection of humorous anecdotes, experiences and statistics that scrutinize the old clichés about beer, Ferraris, cheese, red wine, and paprika, and captures the dichotomy of European culture. Pleon is a communications consultancy with European roots that prides itself on working across borders to deliver a pan-European perspective to its clients. Markus Hilse, a managing partner at Pleon, said that the agency created the book because it wanted to capture what it really means to be European.
Pleon invited over 650 people from 25 EU member states to contribute their perceptions about Europe to the book.
“This is Europe seen not from the point of view of the Brussels bureaucracy, but from the point of view of ordinary Europeans,” said Hilse. “The result is an extraordinary collection of clichés, anecdotes and experiences from private and professional life that will frequently make the reader burst out laughing. The book’s humour and honesty provide an insight into the lives of the people who make Europe what it is.”
What is typically European? The book’s attempt to answer the question, “What is typically European?”, provides a variety of amusing and interesting insights. For example, in the Silly Statistics chapter, readers will learn that Italy’s annual per capita consumption of 155 litres of mineral water is exactly the same as Ireland’s annual per capita beer consumption. The Truth or Fiction chapter is a collection of articles describing absurd moments and situations such as one country’s €10 Million expenditure on an underground tunnel for frogs and toads. Other chapters, such as those on Clichés, Politics, Champions, Moods and Personal Communication reveal details and poke fun at some of the cultural complexities within the region.
Ironically, this tapestry of anecdotes might not answer the question of what it means to be a typical European, but readers are likely to find a variety of situations that they can learn from, laugh at and relate to in their everyday lives.
A Smile for Europe is published by Twin Books Verlag and will be available on December 19, 2005 for €29.90.
Title: A Smile for Europe |
