Books by Mark Greenside

Mark Greenside, 2008

When Mark Greenside—a native New Yorker living in California, political lefty, writer, and lifelong skeptic—is dragged by his girlfriend to a tiny Celtic village in Brittany at the westernmost edge of France in Finistère, or what he describes as "the end of the world," his life begins to change. I'll Never Be French (no matter what I do) is both a new beginning and a homecoming for Greenside. It is a memoir about fitting in, not standing out, being part of something larger, not being separate from it, following, not leading. It explores the joys and adventures of living a double life.

Mark Greenside, 2018

Every year upon arriving in Plobien, the small Breton town where he spends his summers, American writer Mark Greenside picks back up where he left off with his faux-pas–filled Francophile life. Mellowed and humbled but not daunted (OK, slightly daunted), he faces imminent concerns: What does he cook for a French person? Who has the right-of-way when entering or exiting a roundabout? Where does he pay for a parking ticket? And most dauntingly of all, when can he touch the tomatoes? Through some hits and lots of misses, he learns the rules of engagement, how to get what he needs—which is not necessarily what he thinks he wants—and how to be grateful and thankful when (especially when) he fails, which is more often than he can believe.

Mark Greenside, 2018

It was the best of the worst of times, the worst of the best of times, the beginning of the end of the beginning. That's how this story begins. It's late 70's, early 80's, New York City, and nothing works. No place is safe. Porn is everywhere. The streets are filthy, and the subways are worse. Trust is committing suicide--love is abused, and institutions and individuals are corrupt, corrupted, or corruptible. The City and country are disintegrating. Enter two of the unlikeliest characters you've ever met--think Charlie Brown meets Mr. Natural or Alfred E. Neuman in The Heart of Darkness. All these guys want to do is survive, and they do--but in a way neither they nor you can imagine. The Night at the End of the Tunnel, or Isaiah Can You See? is a dystopian picaresque. Hold onto your hopes. They, along with everything good, are about to be taxed.