- Paperback: 351 pages
- Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc (25 Sep 2003)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1402200455
- ISBN-13: 978-1402200458
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 15.3 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 633,200 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong
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Product Description
Review
"Should be handed out at Calais and Charles de Gaulle airport to anyone hoping to get a grip on France." Daily Telegraph, 10 March 2004
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
Product Description
The French drink, smoke and eat more fat than anyone in the world, yet they live longer and have fewer heart problems than the English and the Americans. They work 35-hour weeks and take seven weeks' paid holiday each year, yet they are the world's fourth-biggest economic power. So how do they do it? From a distance modern France looks like a riddle. It is both rigidly authoritarian, yet incredibly inventive; traditional (even archaic) yet modern; lacking clout on the international stage yet still hugely influential. But with the observations, anecdotes and analysis of the authors, who spent nearly three years living in France, it begins to makes sense. 'Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong' is a journey into the French heart, mind and soul. This book reveals French ideas about land, food, privacy and language and weaves together the threads of French society, uncovering the essence of life in France and giving, for the first time, a complete picture of the French.
--This text refers to an alternate
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is billed as away of understanding the cultural vagaries that exist in our nearest neighbour. In that respect it does in part fulfil its aim BUT I wouldn’t want to take the book too literally. For starters the two Canadian authors focus their research around their own personal experience (based mainly around Paris) and the experiences of their friends and colleagues, who appear to me to be fairly universally middle to upper-class with the odd bohemian style artist thrown in for good measure. This is deemed to be a good cross-section of the population sampled, but look around you in England and ask yourself – is London the fairest representation of the entire country and its culture?
My other main bugbear is the amount of repetition in the book, points are made, emphasised, re-made then told one more time for good luck. This gets annoying. I know they are trying to drum the point into us but I did find myself skipping pages and feeling like I hadn’t missed anything. Anyway, did I tell you about the repetition?
Well, onwards and upwards as once you get past these petty annoyances this is quite a good book. It is no-where near as funny as A Year In The Merde but does have a light hearted side that makes it a damn site more palatable that it otherwise would have been. The insights into French (Parisian) culture and lifestyle are intriguing and they offer some wonderful paradoxes, most notable was the story regarding a strike by French transport workers who were aggrieved that a train guide died at the hands of street vendors. Well it turns out the guy died of a heart attack so the union stayed on strike to complain about stressful conditions. Were the public up in arms? Not a bit of it.
This book won’t give you a eureka moment but it will gently prod you to start delving a little deeper into French culture, it is not a hard hitting expose offers some easy reading that I certainly enjoyed for the time I read it.
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A book which should have been written years ago and is immensely helpful in defining the differences between the Anglosphere and the Francosphere, it is unfortunately full of "blue bits" - that is to say sloppy grammar, poor translation ("Alsatia" for Alsace!) and lots of inaccuracies - the most amazing of which is the assertion that Norway (the only country whose population refused to join the EU) became a member in 1974! Mistakes like this (and about the important topic of Algeria) seriously undermine its value. It needs a revised and copy-edited second edition. (Are there no copy-editors now in the Anglosphere ?)
30 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Very interesting topic and also some interesting chapters, but the book is clearly about 100 pages too long, contains a number of errors, some already pointed out here.
Something that particularly annoyed me was the constant 'during our years in France not a week went by without a bombing or murder in Corsica', swiping generalisations that undermine the arguments and overall credibility of the book.
You will also get the 'didn't I just read this?' feeling as a number of things are mentioned more than once.
Having said that if you have ever lived in France you will now understand the smugness of all those who boasts about their diplomas from the 'Grande Ecole/ ENA/ IEP/ ESSEC etc'
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Powerfuly Insightful
This is the best, most comprehensive book I have ever read on the French. I am myself French and believe every "Frenchmen" should read it. Read more
Published 1 month ago by yohann
Useful explanations for expats
This book is not one of those lightweight digs at the French, full of stereotypes and easy laughs borne of brief holiday experiences by the British in Brittany. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Random Reader
A must if you are living in La France !!
Having lived in France I strongly recommend this book if you plan to live there. If someone would have told me about it the first day I got there, it would have helped me a lot to... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Gustavo Gzz
sixty million Frenchmen can't be wrong
I have only just begun to read it so it is hard for me to pass an opinion as yet, maybe I will do later.
Published on 12 Feb 2010 by Margaret Ogden
60 Million Frenchmen
How can you write a book about the French and NOT write about their attitude towards food and wine, about the importance of terroir, the ceremony of lunch, the importance of dining... Read more
Published on 1 Jun 2009 by Mr. Peter Vose
Be careful what to expect...
The cover of the book suggests this might be a comedic novel, or possibly in chick-lit mode, but it is anything but. Read more
Published on 17 Mar 2009 by GM12
First impressions of France and her people - a privileged view from...
Two and a half years of experience amount to a short time to study and write a book on "Frenchmen", or indeed on any people. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2008 by frhout
Interesting but ultimately disappointing
The authors of this book, Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow, are clearly very intelligent and educated observers who managed to get the inside track on a lot of French life,... Read more
Published on 24 July 2007 by Lozatron
Surprisingly pleasant
I am a Frenchman living in England, and was lent this book by an English friend. I was worried it might be ladden with stereotypes, as is inevitable, but was actually quite happy... Read more
Published on 25 Feb 2007 by N. Fanget
The Canadian Exception
It must be pretty difficult to write a boring book about the French - these two Canadian authors have just about managed it. Read more
Published on 12 Nov 2006 by Sardonicus
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