CONTENTS

Chapter One: Men

On loving men “a lot, a lot,” the “F” word, gender friskiness, why a man is not an emu, fiercely French wardrobe malfunctions, the commingling of contradictions, and the beauty of living in the middle ground.

Chapter Two: Mystery

On shades of gray, what it means to live with an infinite gamut of romance, the power of the Implicit, the perils of the “date,” the seductive virtues of the inner life, what it means when less really is more, and why it’s not how you tie a scarf that counts but what’s in your head when you wear it.

Chapter Three: Rules

On why rules are made to be broken and the wisdom of not believing everything you hear, to balancing romance with realism and why all this infuses French women with an awareness of the brevity of time and the immediacy of pleasure.

Chapter Four: Perfection

On the perils of exalted standards of happiness and moral perfection, the virtues of agreeing to disagree, the reason why Emma Bovary is the ultimate Desperate Housewife, and other discomfort zones both large and small.

Chapter Five: Nature

On human nature and Mother Nature, the problem with eternal self-transformation, how looking sexy and feeling sexy are not the same thing, the difference between age-defying and age-denying, and what we have in common with birds and earthworms.

Chapter Six: Art de Vivre

On the difference between making a living and having a life, breaking the codes of the bourgeoisie, sex after kids, and the reason why your life wont’ end up going to hell in a handbasket if you let your proverbial hair down.

Chapter Seven: Body

On growing up laissez-faire about the body and the real reason (many – but not all) French women don’t get fat.