In this nominally true story of an epic, transcontinental road trip, Jean Rolin travels to Africa from darkest France, accompanying a battered Audi to its new life as a taxi to be operated by the family of a Congolese security guard. The ghost of Joseph Conrad haunts Rolin's journey, as do memories of his expatriate youth in Kinshasa in the early 1960s -- but no less present are W. G. Sebald and Marcel Proust, who are the guiding lights for Rolin's sensual and digressive attack upon history: his own as well as the world's. By turns comic, lyrical, gruesome, and humane, "The Explosion of the Radiator Hose" is a one-of-a-kind travelogue, and no less an exploration of what it means to be human in a life of perpetual exile and migration.

When Britney Spears begins receiving threats from an alleged Islamic sect, the French secret service sends one of its own to Los Angeles to investigate. At first blush, the agent in question doesn't seem to be the most qualified: he smokes, doesn't drive, isn't interested at all in the entertainment industry, and suffers from a nervous condition. However, he does everything in his power to get himself up to date quickly: he infiltrates the world of the paparazzi, frequents Sunset Boulevard and Rodeo Drive, and becomes an expert on Britney Spears and on the city's public transportation system. Using the famous singer and a comical detective as a starting point, the author offers his own satirical take on famous people who are known more for their excesses and private lives than for their work. "Cuando Britney Spears recibe amenazas de un supuesto grupusculo islamista, los servicios secretos franceses envian a Los Angeles a uno de sus hombres para investigar el asunto. Asi a primera vista, el agente en cuestion no parece el mas adecuado: fuma, no conduce, ignora todo sobre la farandula y sufre de una condicion de los nervios. Sin embargo, hace todo lo posible para ponerse al dia rapidamente: se introduce en el mundo de los paparazzi, frecuenta Sunset Boulevard y Rodeo Drive y se convierte en un especialista en Britney Spears y en la red de transporte publico de la ciudad. A partir de la figura de la popular cantante y de un comico detective, el autor ofrece su particular vision satirica de unos famosos que son mas conocidos por sus excesos o sus vidas privadas que por su trabajo."