The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

The Elegance of the Hedgehog (French: L'Élégance du hérisson) is a novel by the French novelist and philosophy teacher Muriel Barbery. The book follows events in the life of a concierge, Renée Michel, whose deliberately concealed intelligence is uncovered by an unstable but intellectually precocious girl named Paloma Josse. Paloma is the daughter of an upper-class family living in the upscale Parisian apartment building where Renée works. Featuring a number of erudite characters, The Elegance of the Hedgehog is full of allusions to literary works, music, films, and paintings. It incorporates themes relating to philosophy, class consciousness, and personal conflict. The events and ideas of the novel are presented through the thoughts and reactions, interleaved throughout the novel, of two narrators, Renée and Paloma. The changes of narrator are marked by switches of typeface. In the case of Paloma, the narration takes the form of her written journal entries and other philosophical reflections; Renée's story is also told in the first person but more novelistically and in the present tense. First released in August 2006 by Gallimard, the novel became a publishing success in France the following year, selling over two million copies. It has been translated into more than forty languages, and published in numerous countries outside France, including the United Kingdom (Gallic Books, London) and the United States (Europa Editions, New York), and has attracted critical praise.

The 1420th greatest fiction book of all time


This book is on the following lists:

  1. - 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)

Buy This Book

Name Binding Sales Rank Lowest New Lowest Used Published
Elegance Of The Hedgehog, The Paperback 3271887 $0.99 $0.95
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Publisher: HighBridge Company; Unabridged; 9.5 hours edition Audio CD 17953356 $33.50 $7.60
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery UK COVER EDITION Paperback 4406871 $15.50 $4.39
The Elegance Of The Hedgehog (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) Library Binding 1853753 $26.95 $9.80 2008
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Publisher: HighBridge Company; Unabridged; 9.5 hours edition Audio CD 18212478 $48.85 $5.85
Elegance Of The Hedgehog Paperback 18217089 $47.72 $4.47
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Paperback 19133099 $35.46 $35.44
by Muriel Barbery The Elegance of the Hedgehog Paperback Paperback 10372234 $22.89 $1.98 2007
Anderson's The Elegance of the Hedgehog (The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, Alison Anderson) Paperback 19901046 $24.47 $3.44
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Hardcover 3334847 $2.20
Elegance Of The Hedgehog, The Paperback 12877816 $2.79
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide Paperback 1454485 $6.76 $15.28 2015
L'Elegance Du Herisson = The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Chinese Edition) Paperback 9810598 $19.40 $14.95 2008
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Audio CD 1667297 $6.00 $2.29 2009
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery, (translated by Alison Anderson) (2009) Paperback 1851971 $15.49 $4.49
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Paperback 2949555 $12.16 $0.93 2009
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Audible Audiobook 12463 $17.95 2009
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Kindle Edition 29875 $2.99 2008
[Elegance of the Hedgehog] [By: Barbery, Muriel] [January, 2011] Hardcover 417516 $26.92 $31.88 2011
Elegance of the Hedgehog Hardcover 442085 $6.00 $12.83 2011
The Elegance of the Hedgehog [An Unabridged Production(9 Hours)] Audio CD 9521830 $29.67 $3.89
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide Paperback 6681068 $8.99 $4.63 2015
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide (BrightSummaries.com) Kindle Edition 339010 2015
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Paperback 16295130 $8.09 $1.99
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Paperback 17506468 $3.51 2011
The Elegance of the Hedgehog (Chinese Edition) Paperback 11614849 $5.00 $35.00 2010
The Elegance Of The Hedgehog Paperback 3948878 $21.19 2011
The Elegance of the Hedgehog Paperback 17606 $0.93 $0.99 2008