Gorgeous East
Gorgeous East is a 2009 adventure novel by Robert Girardi. The story follows John Smith, an out-of-work American actor whose bad relationships in Istanbul and Paris push him to join the French Foreign Legion.
In the Legion, John teams up with two other men: de Noyer, an aristocratic French officer who suffers from insomnia and a genetic illness; and Pinard, a French-Canadian noncommissioned officer who carries an oboe and has a troubled past as a drug dealer and an enforcer for a Russian loan shark. The three men are sent to fight Muslim fanatics in remote, harsh places, and their bond is tested as the action unfolds.
The book blends brisk, vivid character work with dark humor and political commentary. It’s often described as a modern twist on Beau Geste, building to a violent climax with a twist that changes how you see the characters. The Legion’s lost-soul volunteers fight in the world’s desolate corners, where John and his companions face danger, moral ambiguity, and the emptiness of their lives. The novel runs about 352 pages.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:41 (CET).