And God Created the French - Softcover

Robitaille, Louis-Bernard

Softcover

ISBN 10: 155207028X ISBN 13: 9781552070284

Publisher: Robert Davies Pub, 2003

Synopsis

Hailed by reviewers as a brilliantly insightful look at Parisians and France, this best-seller on two continents (80,000+ copies in print) by Montreal daily newspaper La Presse's Paris correspondent gives the reader a detailed view of how French society really works, with its hidden codes, unspoken rules, tribal loyalties and attachment to the past. French society's strange love-hate relationship with money, for example, which must be spent to excess but never, never discussed in public is revealed here, as is France's obsessive attraction to all things American, along with its simultaneous demonizing of all things...American. This a treasure trove of biting, satirical and bang-on pieces on anything and everything French from King Louis XIV to Charles de Gaulle, from EuroDisneyland to the French schizoid view of money, love and country, from Catherine Deneuve to François Mitterand describes a country of excesses and opposites, where the wine and olive oil culture from the South competes with the beer and butter culture from the North, where a monarchist movement is strong in the country that beheaded its last king, where classical music is adored but dreadfully composed, and where the art of brilliant conversation is taken to dizzying heights. France is a country, in sum, which might in fact be another planet, distant and obscure but absolutely mesmerizing. Few foreigners know France as well as Robitaille, who arrived in 1965 to become a novelist, and stayed as a reporter. He knows EVERYONE of importance in Paris and has interviewed hundreds of writers, actors, politicians and cafe owners in the course of his career. His interviews with Isabelle Adjani, Celine Dion, Mavis Gallant and many more make for page after page of fascinating reading. A new section on Americans in Paris has been added specially for this translation and the preface by Nouvel Observateur columnist Jean-François Kahn puts it all in perspective. The France-Inter radio network said, about this terrific page-turner of a read, it is clairvoyant, penetrating writing by a real journalist.

About this title

About the Author:

Louis-Bernerd Robitaille is a fixture among Paris correspondents of North American newspapers. Eyeing the French since 1966 for the Montreal daily La Presse, he has written on just about every conceivable aspects of French life, and no one knows France better. His new book, to appear in 2004, is a scathing, hilarious recounting of the French Academy of Letters.

Review:

... this book has been penned by a serious observer with a clairvoyant and judicious eye for the truth. -- France-Inter radio network

A biting, loving and wonderfully knowledgable insider's guide to Parisians. -- Pierre Salinger

A biting, loving, and wonderfully knowledgeable insider's guide to Parisians. -- Pierre Salinger

A critical book, full of caustic observation and irony. -- Pierre Assouline, RTL radio

A critical book, full of caustic observation and irony. The author has succeeded in shaking us up, gently but without complacence... -- Pierre Assouline, RTL radio

A first-class anatomy of French life. -- GLobe and Mail- Toronto

This book has been penned by a serious observer with a clairvoyant and judicious eye for the truth. -- France-Inter radio network

About this edition

• Publisher: Robert Davies Pub
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 155207028X
• ISBN 13: 9781552070284
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 288