A Boy with a Shoe by Romain Gary. Short summary

5 seconds

The hero told his wife that he ate a shoe for his first love. The wife thought her husband had never loved her that much, and she got sick. The man bought a pair of shoes and they ate them together.

1 minute

The main character told his wife the story of his first love: when he was nine years old, he ate various inedible objects for Valentina’s sake, but she was not impressed.

When Valentina allowed the boy to kiss her, he offered to eat his shoe for her. He continued to eat until the governess stopped him. The boy became ill, and the contents of his stomach had to be pumped out.

After this story, the hero’s wife almost stopped talking to him and then became ill. She decided that her husband had never really loved her.

The man bought a pair of children’s shoes and ate them with his wife.