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Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French?
 
 
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Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French? (Paperback)

by Jean-Benoit Nadeau (Author), Julie Barlow (Author)
3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
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Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French? + Talk to the Snail + A Year in the Merde
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  • This item: Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French? by Jean-Benoit Nadeau

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Product details

  • Paperback: 351 pages
  • Publisher: Robson Books Ltd (28 April 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1861057156
  • ISBN-13: 978-1861057150
  • Product Dimensions: 20 x 15 x 2.5 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 32,058 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Product Description

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.


About the Author

Jean-Benoit Nadeau and Julie Barlow are Canadian journalists who have spent the last decade working extensively in English and French. The couple, now based in Montreal, lived in France for nearly three years while researching this book. Jean-Benoit is the holder of 17 journalism awards. Julie worked as editor at a publishing house and her book 'Same Words, Different Language' was published by Piatkus (UK). Both have written for numerous Canadian publications, including 'L'actualite' and 'Saturday Night Magazine'.
Inside This Book (Learn More)
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French?
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Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't Be Wrong: What Makes the French So French? 3.1 out of 5 stars (19)
£6.96
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Talk to the Snail 4.6 out of 5 stars (14)
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A Year in the Merde
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A Year in the Merde 3.8 out of 5 stars (95)
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The Story of French: From Charlemagne to the Cirque Du Soleil
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Customer Reviews

19 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.1 out of 5 stars (19 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, could have been better, 9 Jan 2006
By Chris Chalk "Chris" (Croydon, United Kingdom) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
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.

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26 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Not a chapter went by without a cliche, 14 Jul 2004
By A Customer
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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24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars This book is like Roquefort cheese, 26 Jun 2004
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 ?)
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars 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... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. Peter Vose

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 8 months ago by GM12

1.0 out of 5 stars First impressions of France and her people - a privileged view from above
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 14 months ago by Francis Hout

3.0 out of 5 stars 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 Jul 2007 by Lozatron

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

2.0 out of 5 stars 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

3.0 out of 5 stars Think twice before writing a review.
I can agree with some of the comments about this book's occasional repetitiveness, but what seems most valuable to me is its explanations of just why and how certain uniquely... Read more
Published on 7 May 2006 by Andrew A. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic Book
I am leading the acquisition and integration of a 160+ employee French company. This book has been incredibly helpful in understanding the history of the French and how they... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2006

4.0 out of 5 stars Are we reading the same book?
This is an outstanding book. Many of the reviewers are being just a wee bit patronising and culturally prejudiced. Read more
Published on 15 Mar 2005 by Devi Jankowicz

1.0 out of 5 stars But Two Canadians Can
Words fail me, and evidently failed the authors of this plodding excuse of a book. Based on a spectacularly simplistic premise - aren't these French chappies weird - it attempts... Read more
Published on 3 Jan 2005

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