French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French [Anglais] [Relié]

During the 1970s, Rochefort moved from Shenandoah, Iowa, to Paris, where she met and married her husband, Philippe. Here, she offers her reflections on what it's like to be the wife of a Frenchman and the mother of two French-American children. Although presented with a confidence that comes with long experience, the observations shared (Rochefort's but also those of French and fellow expatriate friends) are hardly illuminating. Rochefort relies on her experiences with French in-laws and friends to conclude that the French, unlike their American counterparts, would rather talk about sex than money, are quarrelsome and require their children to work hard in school. She finds that French wives are wonderful cooks who allow their husbands to dominate the conversation at parties and are always responsible for packing their husbands' suitcases. French husbands, according to Rochefort, really do shower less than American men but are infinitely more relaxed and adept at flirtation and seduction. (She comments that a single woman can live safely in France because French men aren't as oppressively aggressive as American men). In sum, her memoir, though competently written, trades in what appear to be old stereotypes?which, even if true, bring nothing new to our understanding of the French. Agent, Regula Noetzli.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Did you know that in Paris it is quite normal to bang the cars in front and back of you as you maneuver in and out of a parking place? Or that you should fold and not cut the lettuce in your salad and that even fruit is eaten with a knife and fork? Fortunately, for those unacquainted with the finer points of French etiquette, Rochefort's book bridges the culture gap admirably. The Iowa-born author is a freelance journalist married to a Frenchman and has lived in France for over 20 years. Drawing on personal experience, she records her observations about Frenchwomen; French attitudes to food, sex, love, marriage, and money; the French educational system; and the dynamics of living in Paris. Some stereotypes are reinforced, but this chatty, informative book is great fun to read and over too soon. Recommended for public libraries.?Ravi Shenoy, Hinsdale P.L., IL
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Wise and devastatingly funny." --The Los Angles Times

"French Toast includes the most delightful barbs at France's subtle but deep-rooted codes of behavior...I read the book on the EuroStar between Paris and London and wished the train had not reached its tip speed of 300 kph!" --Leslie Caron, star of An American in Paris, Gigi, and Lili

"When someone calls you mon cher ami, does in literally mean 'dear friend', or, as is often the case, 'drop dead'?...Do you eat a round Camembert cheese the same way as a rectangular slab of Gruyere?...Should you shower before making love?...Rochefort offers answers by the score. Even longtime foreign residents of France have become grateful readers." --The Los Angeles Times

"[Rochefort] has been able to zero in on the joys, annoyances, frustrations, and the wonderful things about living in France and the French mentality that I've never been able to verbalize or put into perspective." --Marilyn August, Associated Press correspondent, Paris Bureau

"French Toast is not only extremely perceptive but also a delightful read and great fun." --Karl Horwitz, International President, The New York Times Syndicate

"Rochefort has clearly drawn from her Midwestern roots to come up with the consummate tall tale, which through color, imagination, and humor...paints a wacky and accurate picture of her life in Paris." --Sarah Colton, American Wives of Europeans Newsletter

Peter Mayle may have spent a year in Provence, but Harriet Welty Rochefort writes from the wise perspective of one who has spent more than twenty years living among the French. From a small town in Iowa to the City of Light, Harriet has done what so many of dream of one day doing-she picked up and moved to France. But it has not been twenty years of fun and games; Harriet has endured her share of cultural bumps, bruises, and psychic adjustments along the way.

In French Toast, she shares her hard-earned wisdom and does as much as one woman can to demystify the French. She makes sense of their ever-so-French thoughts on food, money, sex, love, marriage, manners, schools, style, and much more. She investigates such delicate matters as how to eat asparagus, how to approach Parisian women, how to speak to merchants, how to drive, and, most important, how to make a seven-course meal in a silk blouse without an apron! Harriet's first-person account offers both a helpful reality check and a lot of very funny moments.

Demystifying the French, freelance journalist Harriet Welty Rochefort makes sense of their ever-so-French thoughts on food, money, sex, love, marriage, manners, schools, style, and much more.

Praise for French Toast:

"French Toast includes the most delightful barbs at France's subtle but deep-rooted codes of behavior....I read the book on the EuroStar between Paris and London and wished the train had not reached its top speed of 300kph!" --Leslie Caron, star of An American in Paris, Gigi, and Lili.

"When someone calls you cher ami, does it literally mean 'dear friend,' or, as is often the case, 'drop dead'?...Do you eat a round Camembert cheese the same way as a rectangular slab of Gruyere?...Should you shower before making love?...Rochefort offers answers by the score. Even longtime foreign residents of France have become grateful readers." --The Los Angeles Times

"[Rochefort] has been able to zero in on the joys, annoyances, frustrations, and the wonderful things about living in France on the French mentality that I've never been able to verbalize or put into perspective." --Marilyn August, Associated Press correspondent, Paris Bureau

"French Toast is not only extremely perceptive but also a delightful read and great fun." --Karl Horwitz, International President, New York Times Syndicate

"Rochefort has clearly drawn from her Midwestern roots to come up with the consummate tall tale, which through color, imagination, and humor...paints a wacky and accurate picture of her life in Paris." --Sarah Colton, American Wives of Europeans Newsletter

Harriet Welty Rochefort was born in Shenandoah, Iowa. She moved permanently to France in 1971. She is a freelance journalist who has contributed articles to major newspapers and magazine, including Time and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Her column, "A Letter from Paris," can be found on-line in the Paris Pages. She has also taught journalism in the English Department of the prestigious Institut d'Etudes Politiques. She, her husband, Phillipe, and their sons live in Paris.