Talk to the Snail: Ten Commandments for Understanding the French

This is an excellent and funny guide to France and the French. Clarke has constructed his book around a series of commandments that the French supposedly obey: thou shalt eat, thou shalt be right, and thou shalt be ill, among others. "Thou shalt eat" obviously discusses French attitudes to food and drink, and the behavior around those attitudes. "Thou shalt be right" discusses French haughtiness, among other topics. "Thou shalt be ill" looks at how the French enjoy being sick, and enjoy getting suppositories when they are. The book is fun to read, and I'd recommend it for its humor alone. However, it would also serve the more serious purposes of improving your cultural literacy if you are going to travel, work, or live in France. Clarke would give you a good understanding of why things work they way they do, and he often offers advice on how to get by in the face of frustrations. Many things that frustrate outsiders make sense if you wrap your head around them and understand them in their full cultural context. Clarke even provides a "useful sentences" guide in each chapter. Some provide generally-useful vocabulary (how to ask a doctor, "Will it be refunded?") while others are just jokes ("What do I do with this suppository?"). These guides, along with the text in the accompanying chapter, would help you in the very serious business of asking pointed questions of a potential landlord or real estate agent, for example. The book posts relentless fun at the country and its people. It would be tiresome if Clarke hated the French, but it's clear that he loves the country and this fondness makes the whole package work. Though Clarke is British, he has decided to make his home in France. Fortunately, he although enjoys poking fun at the foibles of his adopted country.

I have loved Stephen Clarke's novels but this humorous take on the French, all things French, and especially all things NOT British is a classic. I spend a lot of time in Paris, and his observations are absolutely spot on. While he primarily writes about how the French see English speakers (i.e. the British, not necessarily Americans) his observations apply to both. If you have never visited France, some of what he writes might seem rude. It is about as accurate in observation as I have read anywhere, however. Hurrah to Stephen Clarke! More! More!

This book is very funny. I laughed out loud. I think one interesting thing about it is, we can learn as much about other cultures (Anglo) as about the French. By highlighting what we find "odd" about the French, the author highlights what we value in Anglo culture. This book is very funny, and you can learn a lot about the French (they smoke a lot and tolerate passive smoking, they are individualists, they don't follow traffic lights or laws, they drink too much wine, but it is good wine, they brag about sex, they love their language, they love centralization (despite the fact that, individually, they reject the idea that the laws apply to them). They consider Anglo culture a "threat", even if that is a bit preposterous. They eat well. They take Friday afternoons off. I learned a lot in a very short time. This book is very, very funny.

TALK TO THE SNAIL: TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE FRENCH provides an entertaining, even funny examination of the French psyche to help Americans understand French culture, and comes from one who has lived in France for 12 years. His exploration reveals ten 'commandments' for understanding, drawing from both his own experiences and from history and proving particularly pointed when contrasting British and French systems. Any collection where readers hold an affection for the French must have this set of pointed cultural insights. Diane C. Donovan California Bookwatch