A hilarious novel animated by moving and highly colorful characters.

People are born with all sorts of gifts. Some are geniuses at being stupid! Jean-Maurice, eldest of the three Grosdidier brothers, is a master idiot, a virtuoso fool, a champion cretin. Since his parents died, he’s been living with his brothers in a farmhouse inn in the Vosges, waiting for money to fall into his lap. But watch out! Jean-Maurice wants to strike it rich. And he's got a plan... The Épinal book fair has invited Samantha-Sun Lopez, American literature's multimillion-dollar star, and he decides to kidnap her for a hefty ransom. Of course, nothing goes right: instead, the brothers kidnap Blanche Wagner, a young woman from Alsace who upends their lives with her intelligence, energy, and charm. Blanche soon leads a protest to preserve village life threatened by devastating progress.