Who is the author of “The Amiable Fleas” ?

John Steinbeck wrote “The Amiable Fleas,” or “Les puces sympathiques,” in 1954 for "Le Figaro", one of a number of short stories he published while living in Paris.

“The Amiable Fleas” is set in a Parisian restaurant of the same name, helmed by the chef, M. Amité, and his right-hand cat, Apollo, who serves not only as M. Amité’s companion, but also as his food critic. “Tasting a sauce,” Steinbeck writes, “the master dipped first and second finger, tasted his forefinger and held the second finger to be licked by Apollo. Thus the chef knew the cat’s taste and moreover had great respect for its judgment.”

M. Amité has earned one Michelin star—and he very much wants another one. When things go awry on the day of the Michelin inspector’s visit, M. Amité takes his frustration out on Apollo, who dashes off in a huff. Thus the chef must win his feline friend back. There is a special dish, a fortuitous event and a plot twist.

John Steinbeck is remembered as a giant of 20th-century American literature, a brutal critic of the exploitation of rural laborers, chronicler of dashed hopes and thwarted dreams. But not all of his works carried the heft of "East of Eden" or "The Grapes of Wrath". “The Amiable Fleas,” is a lighthearted funny short story published for the first time in English by "The Strand Magazine" in July, 2019.