Stuff Parisians Like: Discovering the Quoi in the Je Ne Sais Quoi

Olivier Magny's witty, insightful book was culled from the blog of the same name. Lots of these blog-to-book content repurposings don't surivive the journeys (I was underwhelmed by  Other People's Rejection Letters: Relationship Enders, Career Killers, and 150 Other Letters You'll Be Glad You Didn't Receive , for example), but this one does. The secrets are the writer's great humor and the pinpoint editing of the book: the pieces build perfectly on each other, with each succeeding entry (er, 'chapter') winkingly invoking a term Magny presented in an earlier post. In each new entry, Magny covers a specific subject, term or concept near and dear to Parisians. These run from one-and-a-half to three pages. Each feels of the perfect length.The overall tone of Magny's writing: celebrating the superiority of Parisians while letting you, the reader, in on the secret that maybe this superiority is not so well-founded. It mixes droll moments of well-informed comedic observations with suddenly trenchant, sharp comments. Of those latter thoughts, I often found myself finishing a paragraph coming up startled thinking, "whoa, that wasn't light and funny, it was sharp, targeted and dead-on."Or, as Mr. Magny tells me of Parisian-speak, I should say "sharp, targeted, dead-on..." to truly affect "the power of the Parisian tertiary rhythm." He also tells me that "[t]o achieve full...rhythm, two rules ought to be applied: never use "and" before your last adjective; and always finish the list looking somewhat sad and disturbed" (from his entry entitled 'Making Lists').God, that is such great stuff. Then, to reinforce my point about how the book builds on its previous chapters, in a later entry entitled 'Barack Obama,' he uncorks this beauty in his 'How to Sound Like a Parisian' example (one accompanies each chapter): "Oh, putain, I mean Barack Obama...he's in a different league: charisma, intelligence, elegance...Plus I mean congratulations to him." That sentence put together lessons learned in 'Making Lists' and 'The Word 'Putain'.' By reading Olivier Magny's excellent compendium, I feel like I'm in on the joke.

First, I do love Paris. I am bewitched by Paris. I like turning a familiar corner and finding something startling. I like venturing a few streets from the expected into the unexpected. I love Belleville, the Rue des Cascades, the back of Montmartre's hill, the hidden lanes of tiny houses, the real oldest house in Paris, the Parisian fascination with oysters, the gorgeous parks (like Monceau and Montsouris) that tourists don't hear about, the beautiful Internationale Universitaire campus, etc. etc. I'm not too thrilled by the giant fashion stores (expensive yet unappealing clothes), the endless references to impressionism (I'm a neoclassicist myself!), the tourists in the Left Bank, and ... gasp ... the Eiffel Tower. That big Arch has nothing on the Invalides. I've often been mistaken for a Parisienne and not an Americaine, even though I'm as unattractive (by modern standards) as the voluptuous beauties of the fountain in Square de Louvois. I know the significance of the Tuileries and of the Palais Royal (the most historic site in Paris) and what "cite," "hotel," "couture," and "boutique" really mean. I know where to find oranges growing outdoors and why you should develop a close relationship with your fruit and vegetable man. Marville (who?) and Guimard (who?) are my idols. I know not to eat Chinese or Korean or Japanese or Indian food in Paris and why you should try Alsatian cuisine. I know how to use a French computer keyboard and those confounded French door locks. I've studied the history of Paris and I find it to be the most fascinating place in the world. If you don't know who walked the streets before you, you don't know Paris. Maybe I should write a book to add to the 500,000 other books about Paris! But this book is good for an introduction to Paris before you go for the first or second time.

Parisian women own 10 pairs of jeans? As an American I find this not worth commenting on, I probably own 20 pairs although I never throw away jeans. & he doesn't elaborate if they want their butts to look big in them or not, I was left wondering since Parisian women are so skinny. Anyways, I"m quite sure that's it's not uncommon for American women to own 20 pairs of jeans. Take that!I liked all the French since I am studying French. I think it's perfect how it's interesting reading with small bits of colloquial Parisian French. So much better than just memorizing a bunch of slang.It's a pretty good read, although I am not super into Paris. But I find the French easy to identify with in general.EDIT 2-16-2021 I think I was too kind with this review. Also I have now learned to ski and I find his criticism of French skiers to be really dumb. People who don't know what they are doing on the slopes are very dangerous. Imagine even a 50 pound child running into you standing at the bottom going 30 mph or more wearing razor sharp skis. I have seen this and it looked really painful. I am a beginner but I learned how not to run into people. Please teach your skiing children to not run into people. I am always looking around paranoid for some jerk to hit me.

Came quickly--as described--no issues--happy customer.

Olivier Magny is not Mark Twain and this is not Huckleberry Finn on the Seine. But, if the saying "Every good joke has truth in it" makes sense to you, you will find this book has a lot of truth and generates some smiles. It is a guide to the character and contemporary culture of Parisians. It is written in English with one or two page chapters that end with useful hints and some non-textbook expressions in French. It's funny and easy to read.The author is a gently sarcastic bona fide Parisian himself, a Parisian business school graduate and a guy with a great wry sense of humour. Parisians are not so distant anymore, they are just as human and messed up as the rest of us. They just live in one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Although accepting written tongue in cheek, did not find this at all amusing or informative (if it was meant to be). Would recommend downloading a sample before buying.

Reads very true from many years of studying France and the French!Parisians are a special breed-but then so are Londoners.

Very enjoyable

Just OK

A new book is always good :) I've just started reading it and it's quite funny. Apart from being funny it's also accurate and true - I have a French boyfriend (we lived in Paris together) and this book perfectly describes his habits and preferences!