French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French - Hardcover

Rochefort, Harriet Welty

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312199783 ISBN 13: 9780312199784

Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books, 1998

Synopsis

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.

About this title

From the Publisher:

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

From the Back Cover:

Peter Mayle may have spent a year in Provence, but Harriet Welty Rochefort writes from the experience of slugging it out over 20 years of living, observing, and coping in Paris! From a small town in Iowa to the City of Lights, Harriet has done what so many dream of some day doing -- she picked up and moved to France. But it has not been 20 years of fun and games; Harriet has endured her share of cultural bumps, bruises, and psychic adjustments.

In French Toast, Harriet demystifies the French. She makes sense of their ever-so-French thought on food, money, sex, love, marriage, manners, schools, style, and much more. Harriet's first-person account offers both a helpful reality-check and a lot of very funny moments.

About this edition

• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 0312199783
• ISBN 13: 9780312199784
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128