Rowdy Talbot is not the world’s greatest bull rider. Not even close. But he lives by the cowboy code, he never forgets to take off his hat during the national anthem, and he determines his successes and his failures in eight exhilarating seconds. When at long last Rowdy’s bull riding win at the rodeo in Crockett County, Colorado gives him a sought after championship belt buckle and some real cowboy credibility, he celebrates his triumph with Odette and Giselle, two young Frenchwomen he meets in the Gut Shot Bar and Sports Lounge. Through the haze of the next morning’s headache, he discovers that the two have left for Paris with his prize buckle. So Rowdy does what any true cowboy would: he hops on a plane to the City of Light to get back what is rightfully his. What follows is a comic collision of cultures and personalities. Although Rowdy is hopelessly unprepared for his quest—in Paris it takes an outlandish four espressos to fill up a regular coffee cup, and cowboy boots are hell on pavement–true cowboys don’t give up. Thrust into an unlikely melange of characters, Rowdy runs from a gang of disaffected French revolutionaries, uncovers a sensitive side to the thieving Odette, and befriends a turquoise-peddling CIA operative and a middle-aged courtesan, only to find that his new friends as well as his enemies are all caught up in a plot to destroy the American fast food franchise system. But even amid the chaos, Rowdy begins to realize that there’s a whole other world beyond the back of a bull. By turns smart and satirical, biting and engaging, ROWDY IN PARIS is a surprisingly moving story about what it means to broaden one’s horizons by opening one’s heart. The great Tim Sandlin is in full stride with ROWDY IN PARIS, a novel that’s funny, sharp, and endearing. Sandlin’s cockeyed humor and piquant prose deliver once more all the delights we’ve come to expect from him. Daniel Woodrell, author of WINTER’S BONE ROWDY IN PARIS is a delight. If you read only one book this year about a sawed-off bull rider looking for a stolen buckle, love, dignity, and a decent cup of coffee in the City of Light, make it this one. Sarah Bird, author of WEIGHTLESS As tight and funny as anyone doing this comedy-novel thing. Christopher Moore