What French Women Know

By: Debra Ollivier

Narrated by: Debra Ollivier

A primer on the ineffable, je ne sais quoi appeal of the French woman.

I t?s not the shoes, the scarves, or the lipstick that gives French women their allure. It?s this: French women don?t give a damn. They don?t expect men to understand them. They don?t care about being liked or being like everyone else. They generally reject notions of packaged beauty. They accept the passage of time, celebrate the immediacy of pleasure, like to break rules, embrace ambiguity and imperfection, and prefer having a life to making a living. They are, in other words, completely unlike us.

Ollivier goes beyond familiar ooh-la-la stereotypes about French women, challenging cherished notions about sex, love, dating, marriage, motherhood, raising children, body politics, seduction, and flirtation. Less a how-to and more a how-not-to, What French Women Know offers a refreshing counterpoint to the stale love dogma of our times. Peppered with anecdotes from its Franco-American author and filled with provocative ideas from French sexperts, mistresses and maidens alike, it debunks longstanding myths, presenting savvy new thinking from an old sexy culture and more realistic, life-affirming alternatives from the land that knows how to love.

Ollivier Gives French Perspective

Debra Ollivier gives a detailed overview of the contrast between French and American culture. This book is appealing to any reader in search of beautiful syntax and deep curiosity to become culturally educated. I did not know much about the French, and now I feel the need to relax and give myself the pleasure of indulging in life. There are a few things we can learn from French women. Let's not take ourselves so seriously.

Flows of Life

I completely disagree with the idea of having affairs when married as long as you keep it quiet.

However, I do agree with the idea that there should be mystery with a woman with her man. The section on beauty is fantastic. I agree Americans want understanding and ruled ways of life, boxed up and easy to digest in a false happiness.

Also, the battle of the sexes and true feminism in America is a serious issue and is discussed in the book also.

Ironically some of these french ideas are very biblical (despite the book blaming protestant ideals being America's biggest problem but many protestant ideals weren't biblical either!)

Overall, it's a great book and the narrator is easy to listen to.

Surprisingly informative

I thought this was going to be fun, fluffy background noise. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Ollivier's book had a lot of information to present. Informative, inspiring and intelligent.

Interesting and well narrated perspective

The author does a good job of showing her Anglo reflections on assimilating into Parisian/French culture. I don't know if I buy everything she says about psycho analysis but nonetheless it's an interesting perspective on "Fwench" lifestyle.

I loved it!

From the start of French women and men actually LIKING each other to the very end where we learn that only America and the strict sharia law modified children's books displaying true anatomy, this book has much to give. Food, ease, beauty, it's all here - cultivate your own garden. I wish every American young woman - and grown woman - would read this. If I had a daughter, we'd read it together. More than once.