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WTF?!: What the French
With Stuff Parisians Like , Olivier Magny shared his hilarious insights into the Ìýfervently held opinions of his fellow Parisians. Now he moves beyond the City of Light to skewer the many idiosyncrasies that make modern France so very unique.
In France, the simple act of eating bread is an exercise in creative problem solving and attempting to spell requires a degree of masochism. But that’s just how the French like it—and in WTF , Olivier Magny reveals the France only the French know. From the latest trends in baby names, to the religiously observed division of church and state, prepare yourself for an insider's look at French culture that is surprising, insightful, and chock full of bons mots.
INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHSÌý
In France, the simple act of eating bread is an exercise in creative problem solving and attempting to spell requires a degree of masochism. But that’s just how the French like it—and in WTF , Olivier Magny reveals the France only the French know. From the latest trends in baby names, to the religiously observed division of church and state, prepare yourself for an insider's look at French culture that is surprising, insightful, and chock full of bons mots.
INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHSÌý
288 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2016
30 people are currently reading
455 people want to read
About the author
Olivier Magny
8Ìýbooks25ÌýfollowersAt age 23, native Parisian Olivier Magny turned his back from the life his parents expected him to maintain to follow his true passion: wine.
One decade later, Olivier's unique approach to wine (French journalists like to refer to Olivier as "The Jamie Oliver of Wine") has turned his little company - O Chateau - into France's #1 wine tasting school & wine bar.
On top of being an international best-selling author and an award-winning sommelier, Olivier is also a guest speaker for Duke University, Melbourne University or Sciences Po.
But if you meet him, or are fortunate enough to read his books, what you'll discover is a incredibly talented young man with a unique voice, genuine passion and most of all... a wonderful sense of humor.
One decade later, Olivier's unique approach to wine (French journalists like to refer to Olivier as "The Jamie Oliver of Wine") has turned his little company - O Chateau - into France's #1 wine tasting school & wine bar.
On top of being an international best-selling author and an award-winning sommelier, Olivier is also a guest speaker for Duke University, Melbourne University or Sciences Po.
But if you meet him, or are fortunate enough to read his books, what you'll discover is a incredibly talented young man with a unique voice, genuine passion and most of all... a wonderful sense of humor.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
October 3, 2016
How impoverished would the world be without the French? Olivier Magny, whose qualification to expound upon the French way of life is without qualification (he was born in France, grew up in France, and runs a business in France), pokes some fun (love of Nutella, love of rap music, inability to dance) but mixes in surprisingly astute social and political commentary on the nature and attitudes of the French for those of us who do not travel there frequently. Arising from the success of Magny’s blog and an earlier book called Stuff Parisians Like, this book carries his cultural introductions further and deeper.
Magny shares some of what he considers the most beautiful places in France, pointing out the wide range of regions and styles: “Whether you’re drawn to beautiful beaches, mountains, hills, plains, lakes, river, cold water or warm water, dry weather or wet weather, arid vegetation or lush forests, chances are France has it somewhere.� Which makes us especially curious when he tells us that Anglo-Saxons, comprising Great Britain and America, and often New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, are lumped into one category of human that the French have no need, nor any desire, to examine in detail. Les Anglo-Saxons are to blame for most of the drinking and warmongering in the world, but also have admirable business practices, good universities, and research. By analogy, perhaps we shouldn’t be lumping “the French� in anything like a monolithic category.
This book is meaty, considering the essays max out at three or four pages for each topic, and is unfailingly interesting. After a few more serious topics including immigration, police, and three(!) sections on taxes, Magny returns to a lighter note, discussing the haircuts of older women, pessimism, divorce, TV debates, how speaking English is now cool, and the comment thread in online communication. Absolutely surprising was the low rate (to me) of daily wine consumption in France and the fact that younger French are being influenced by America’s fascination with wine to drink it in greater amounts. And the omnipresence of yogurt in every refrigerator.
Most of us remember a hunger for French panache and elegance in design and style, but Magny tells us that has changed in France these days. “Aiming high has become suspicious,� and therefore folks are looking more for value and convenience. It is an absolute change in focus, quality, and lifestyle that changes the meaning of France for many of us. “France is the worst country to make money in, but is the best one to spend it in.� This statement opens the door to yet another discussion of taxes and how “very few people are sitting on a very large stack of cash. Savings and generational wealth are almost unheard-of in France.�
This extraordinary collection of essays is completely engrossing to someone tangentially acquainted with France and its systems. Magny must have some critics. The more we know the more we'd be able to critique this work. Can all France's problems be laid at the feet of a leftist mentality in education and government? The best thing this book does is make us look, really look at France with a questioning eye. We aren't tourists anymore.
Magny takes a stab at examining the real roots of cultural change. Many essays include suggestions for further online research into French taxes, governance, music, film, and TV celebrities, suggestions given with the equivalent of a Gallic shrug: “If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourselves and make up your own mind.� Thought-provoking and much deeper in tone than I was expecting from a book of this type, the book should spur some discussion and counter theories by others who have some experience living and working in France.
Intriguing, easy to read, and worth seeking out. Makes great conversation starters if one is going to France.
Magny shares some of what he considers the most beautiful places in France, pointing out the wide range of regions and styles: “Whether you’re drawn to beautiful beaches, mountains, hills, plains, lakes, river, cold water or warm water, dry weather or wet weather, arid vegetation or lush forests, chances are France has it somewhere.� Which makes us especially curious when he tells us that Anglo-Saxons, comprising Great Britain and America, and often New Zealand, Australia, and Canada, are lumped into one category of human that the French have no need, nor any desire, to examine in detail. Les Anglo-Saxons are to blame for most of the drinking and warmongering in the world, but also have admirable business practices, good universities, and research. By analogy, perhaps we shouldn’t be lumping “the French� in anything like a monolithic category.
"Since the inception of Vatican II, France went from being…the first child of the Catholic Church to being one of the least religious countries on earth. Among the general public, the Church went from being viewed as a profoundly respected and heeded institution to being an inaudible and questionable organization…the tremendous surge of Islam is a response to the collapse of the Catholic Church…While official reports continue to claim that Catholicism is still the number one religion in France—which happens to be impossible to prove since the French state is prohibited from keeping such statistics—there is no doubt that if it is still the case (which is unlikely), it won’t be for long."In another section, Magny tries to explain the rise of the far-right nationalist party in France. Many Western countries are experiencing the same phenomenon, and the phrases Magny uses to describe “the switch over to the extreme right� has many parallels in the U.S. We are not alone, then, in our population's severe disaffection with politicians in government, and the media’s horrorstricken and ineffectual analyses. Magny's discussion deepens our understanding of how flattening the wealth pyramid has worked out in France.
This book is meaty, considering the essays max out at three or four pages for each topic, and is unfailingly interesting. After a few more serious topics including immigration, police, and three(!) sections on taxes, Magny returns to a lighter note, discussing the haircuts of older women, pessimism, divorce, TV debates, how speaking English is now cool, and the comment thread in online communication. Absolutely surprising was the low rate (to me) of daily wine consumption in France and the fact that younger French are being influenced by America’s fascination with wine to drink it in greater amounts. And the omnipresence of yogurt in every refrigerator.
Most of us remember a hunger for French panache and elegance in design and style, but Magny tells us that has changed in France these days. “Aiming high has become suspicious,� and therefore folks are looking more for value and convenience. It is an absolute change in focus, quality, and lifestyle that changes the meaning of France for many of us. “France is the worst country to make money in, but is the best one to spend it in.� This statement opens the door to yet another discussion of taxes and how “very few people are sitting on a very large stack of cash. Savings and generational wealth are almost unheard-of in France.�
This extraordinary collection of essays is completely engrossing to someone tangentially acquainted with France and its systems. Magny must have some critics. The more we know the more we'd be able to critique this work. Can all France's problems be laid at the feet of a leftist mentality in education and government? The best thing this book does is make us look, really look at France with a questioning eye. We aren't tourists anymore.
Magny takes a stab at examining the real roots of cultural change. Many essays include suggestions for further online research into French taxes, governance, music, film, and TV celebrities, suggestions given with the equivalent of a Gallic shrug: “If you don’t believe me, check it out for yourselves and make up your own mind.� Thought-provoking and much deeper in tone than I was expecting from a book of this type, the book should spur some discussion and counter theories by others who have some experience living and working in France.
Intriguing, easy to read, and worth seeking out. Makes great conversation starters if one is going to France.
January 19, 2017
Parts of this book, particularly the beginning, were hilarious.
However, the end of the book kind of dissolved into conservative railings against the system.
However, the end of the book kind of dissolved into conservative railings against the system.
July 4, 2016
I thought I knew what to expect with "WTF?! What the French", since I had read Olivier Magny's previous book, "Stuff Parisians Like." That book was taken from his blog, which explains the quirks, fads, preferences, habits, and attitudes of Parisians. In a couple of pages per topic, Magny described how Parisians cross busy streets, that they love cherry tomatoes, how they judge each other by their license plates, and so on. It was fun and superficial, bite-sized chunks of amusing commentary from a Parisian who realizes that many of us, while in love with Paris, are often completely baffled by it.
"WTF" started out in this vein, discussing French dancing, the many uses of the phrase "ca va," the rules of snacking between meals. Then suddenly there's an essay about the overwhelming leftism of French teachers and professors. A little later, a chapter on the disappearance of national borders and the loss of sovereignty in France. Globalization and political correctness, excessive taxation on small businesses (the author owns a wine bar in Paris), high crime rates and lax judges, all rate a quick rant.
Magny's take on even the less important subjects starts to take on a crotchety tone. Middle aged women wear unflattering haircuts, he says. Men in France are too effeminate. Young people can't spell properly. You can't even get a decent hot breakfast in France.
At first I found this grumpy attitude off-putting, but then became intrigued. Magny is not an old man at all, he's in his early thirties. I followed up on his footnotes and sources and reading suggestions. He seems to have what might be a libertarian view if he were in the U.S., and seems to reject the mainstream parties completely. Is he an outlier or is he representative of what many young people throughout the West are thinking? I suspect the latter. "WTF" wasn't at all what I expected, and I imagine many people will be misled by the marketing for the book, which implies that it is a lighthearted follow-up to Stuff Parisians Like. It is a different book entirely, and I spent more time with it and thought more about it than I expected to.
(Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a digital review copy.)
"WTF" started out in this vein, discussing French dancing, the many uses of the phrase "ca va," the rules of snacking between meals. Then suddenly there's an essay about the overwhelming leftism of French teachers and professors. A little later, a chapter on the disappearance of national borders and the loss of sovereignty in France. Globalization and political correctness, excessive taxation on small businesses (the author owns a wine bar in Paris), high crime rates and lax judges, all rate a quick rant.
Magny's take on even the less important subjects starts to take on a crotchety tone. Middle aged women wear unflattering haircuts, he says. Men in France are too effeminate. Young people can't spell properly. You can't even get a decent hot breakfast in France.
At first I found this grumpy attitude off-putting, but then became intrigued. Magny is not an old man at all, he's in his early thirties. I followed up on his footnotes and sources and reading suggestions. He seems to have what might be a libertarian view if he were in the U.S., and seems to reject the mainstream parties completely. Is he an outlier or is he representative of what many young people throughout the West are thinking? I suspect the latter. "WTF" wasn't at all what I expected, and I imagine many people will be misled by the marketing for the book, which implies that it is a lighthearted follow-up to Stuff Parisians Like. It is a different book entirely, and I spent more time with it and thought more about it than I expected to.
(Thanks to NetGalley and Berkley Publishing for a digital review copy.)
September 18, 2017
I previously read "Stuff Parisians Like" by the same author, which I initially found amusing but I soon became rather frustrated with (what I perceive as) the author's sexism as that book went on.
As a Brit who has spent nearly a quarter of a century in France I have an interest in books that cover France as seen 'anthropologically' so I then went on to read "What The French". While some chapters are insightful and amusing (bises, aperitif, yoghurt, etc. - hence the two stars), as I carried on reading I became increasingly disturbed by the author's far-right views. I dreaded turning the page to see what the next chapter was about in the event it would provide him for a platform to spout his political views e.g. on immigration. Ironically towards the end (in the chapter about the press) he derides the concept of left vs right, but (1) whenever he mentions Socialists or the left-wing the words "rampant" "teacher" "journalist" or "Soviet" are never very far; (2) many of the media sources he cites are notoriously conservative and right-wing (e.g. La Croix, Le Figaro). In my opinion it didn't seem like his choice of source material was very well-balanced. More worryingly, in chapters like The Rise of the Front National or Immigration he attempts to play down the far-right tendencies of said political party, or states that Le Grand Remplacement (a xenophobic conspiracy theory invented by a far-right sympathiser) is a reality.
So if you're a catholic conservative with right-wing tendencies and want to read a book of sweeping generalisations about France written by a young Frenchman with similar tendencies do buy this book. Otherwise as the French say "passez votre chemin" and read one of the many other better books available on France.
As a Brit who has spent nearly a quarter of a century in France I have an interest in books that cover France as seen 'anthropologically' so I then went on to read "What The French". While some chapters are insightful and amusing (bises, aperitif, yoghurt, etc. - hence the two stars), as I carried on reading I became increasingly disturbed by the author's far-right views. I dreaded turning the page to see what the next chapter was about in the event it would provide him for a platform to spout his political views e.g. on immigration. Ironically towards the end (in the chapter about the press) he derides the concept of left vs right, but (1) whenever he mentions Socialists or the left-wing the words "rampant" "teacher" "journalist" or "Soviet" are never very far; (2) many of the media sources he cites are notoriously conservative and right-wing (e.g. La Croix, Le Figaro). In my opinion it didn't seem like his choice of source material was very well-balanced. More worryingly, in chapters like The Rise of the Front National or Immigration he attempts to play down the far-right tendencies of said political party, or states that Le Grand Remplacement (a xenophobic conspiracy theory invented by a far-right sympathiser) is a reality.
So if you're a catholic conservative with right-wing tendencies and want to read a book of sweeping generalisations about France written by a young Frenchman with similar tendencies do buy this book. Otherwise as the French say "passez votre chemin" and read one of the many other better books available on France.
March 7, 2017
The author is sometimes cheating the reader, other times he is a plain ignorant.
"France is home to countless terroirs, which have been shaped over millennia. It is also home to a culture that recognizes, appreciates, and sometimes even reveres them. Anyone who has traveled extensively through France can grasp the tremendous variety in architecture, cuisine, wine, accents, crops, sports, and cultural references from one French region to the next. Normandy is immediately and irremediably distinguishable from Alsace, in the same way that Provence is different from Brittany, or Corsica from the Alps."
Most terroirs do use potatoes. Which were not there for millennia, the same way foie gras is speculated to have been known to the ancient egyptians and romans, but was not quite common till recently. And even if you accept the lie of the millennial tradition of the foie gras, it was goose liver and not the duck of today.
And the regions are different because of the distance. And of the fact that they were at a time or another belonging to different countries. It is the same intelligent way of putting things as remarking that "China can be quite different from Germany in mysterious ways."
"Go to Normandy and your intake of Calvados and cider will automatically increase."
Only if you are an alcoholic. And many Frenchmen are.
"Visit Brittany and crêpes will be your passage obligé."
Still, the same boring menu you will get from a creperie bretonne anywhere from Paris to Martinique. Using the traditional breton recipe with Polish canned smoked salmon.
"Head to Marseille: bouillabaisse and rosé wine will most likely be on the menu."
And unless ordered the night before, most probably it will be the canned supermarket variety.
"France does not have a puritanical tradition and so, culturally, nudity is fine."
I laughed my *** off. Take a newspaper. Any. Read about how Miss France went out "seins nudes", meaning she wasn't wearing a bra. 40 degrees celsius/104 fahrenheit in the shadows? Women will sweat like farm animals wearing padded bras, a shirt and maybe a second shirt on top. Go to a more liberal beach, the topless girl might be speaking French very well, but she is German or Russian. Back in the 1970s and even the early 1980s it was still common for the doctors to perform abortions without anesthesia as a moral correction. And that is the liberal France. Go closer to the Catholic communities and you'll be getting closer to the most fanatical Mormons. In the last years Femen have tried the nudity only as far as topless in Paris and they were beaten, some even lost teeth.
"Consequently, should you find yourself hitting a French changing room (such as at the swimming pool or gym), be prepared to see some skin"
Sure. That is why around pools one will see plenty of women with wet blouses because of the swimming costume never discarded. So they get to the changing room, they show some "skin" than they put back the wet garments and go like that about afterwards.
"Compared with Americans, French people eat dinner late."
Only when dining out. Otherwise you will see the supermarket crowding at about 5 o'clock, only to empty at about 6 o'clock as everybody is eating. Things do change in and around Paris or on the Swiss borders, as the proportion of state employees getting home at 3 or 4 in the afternoon is lower and many are still at work at 5. Go further away and even the traffic is lighter at 6 o'clock.
"With your typical French dinner starting between seven thirty and nine p.m."
At 9 o'clock you can see the TVs working. Most places, even in tourist areas, say Arles, will refuse to take your order at 9. Do you want to continue your talk after say 9:18 in the evening? You can go sit on the curb, because the personnel is already cleaning. I have met people born and raised on the French Riviera that were shocked that in Spain you restaurants are still open at 10. Here, the most adventurous McDonalds close at midnight, but that is the drive, the restaurant closes at 10.
And all because the indoctrinated amateur writer has an axe to grind:
"It is virtually impossible to have a conversation with a French gauchiste. They are absolutists. They are right and you are wrong."
Still, a peasant boy gathering data from tourist magazines.
"It is fair to state that many outdoor spaces in France are quite manicured."
No. Go to Austria. Get into Switzerland. And the french outdoors are quite dirty. Less plastic bottles and tin cans than in India, but still dirty.
Bottom line, a French nationalist believing in the conspiracy theory, building stories not on experience, but on his own dreams induced by the school system. France is not a person. And his reading preferences? Pierre Hillard. How cute.
"France has been pushed around for a few decades and its people therefore understandably live in a constant state of anxiety. An aggressive France is a suffering France."
"France is home to countless terroirs, which have been shaped over millennia. It is also home to a culture that recognizes, appreciates, and sometimes even reveres them. Anyone who has traveled extensively through France can grasp the tremendous variety in architecture, cuisine, wine, accents, crops, sports, and cultural references from one French region to the next. Normandy is immediately and irremediably distinguishable from Alsace, in the same way that Provence is different from Brittany, or Corsica from the Alps."
Most terroirs do use potatoes. Which were not there for millennia, the same way foie gras is speculated to have been known to the ancient egyptians and romans, but was not quite common till recently. And even if you accept the lie of the millennial tradition of the foie gras, it was goose liver and not the duck of today.
And the regions are different because of the distance. And of the fact that they were at a time or another belonging to different countries. It is the same intelligent way of putting things as remarking that "China can be quite different from Germany in mysterious ways."
"Go to Normandy and your intake of Calvados and cider will automatically increase."
Only if you are an alcoholic. And many Frenchmen are.
"Visit Brittany and crêpes will be your passage obligé."
Still, the same boring menu you will get from a creperie bretonne anywhere from Paris to Martinique. Using the traditional breton recipe with Polish canned smoked salmon.
"Head to Marseille: bouillabaisse and rosé wine will most likely be on the menu."
And unless ordered the night before, most probably it will be the canned supermarket variety.
"France does not have a puritanical tradition and so, culturally, nudity is fine."
I laughed my *** off. Take a newspaper. Any. Read about how Miss France went out "seins nudes", meaning she wasn't wearing a bra. 40 degrees celsius/104 fahrenheit in the shadows? Women will sweat like farm animals wearing padded bras, a shirt and maybe a second shirt on top. Go to a more liberal beach, the topless girl might be speaking French very well, but she is German or Russian. Back in the 1970s and even the early 1980s it was still common for the doctors to perform abortions without anesthesia as a moral correction. And that is the liberal France. Go closer to the Catholic communities and you'll be getting closer to the most fanatical Mormons. In the last years Femen have tried the nudity only as far as topless in Paris and they were beaten, some even lost teeth.
"Consequently, should you find yourself hitting a French changing room (such as at the swimming pool or gym), be prepared to see some skin"
Sure. That is why around pools one will see plenty of women with wet blouses because of the swimming costume never discarded. So they get to the changing room, they show some "skin" than they put back the wet garments and go like that about afterwards.
"Compared with Americans, French people eat dinner late."
Only when dining out. Otherwise you will see the supermarket crowding at about 5 o'clock, only to empty at about 6 o'clock as everybody is eating. Things do change in and around Paris or on the Swiss borders, as the proportion of state employees getting home at 3 or 4 in the afternoon is lower and many are still at work at 5. Go further away and even the traffic is lighter at 6 o'clock.
"With your typical French dinner starting between seven thirty and nine p.m."
At 9 o'clock you can see the TVs working. Most places, even in tourist areas, say Arles, will refuse to take your order at 9. Do you want to continue your talk after say 9:18 in the evening? You can go sit on the curb, because the personnel is already cleaning. I have met people born and raised on the French Riviera that were shocked that in Spain you restaurants are still open at 10. Here, the most adventurous McDonalds close at midnight, but that is the drive, the restaurant closes at 10.
And all because the indoctrinated amateur writer has an axe to grind:
"It is virtually impossible to have a conversation with a French gauchiste. They are absolutists. They are right and you are wrong."
Still, a peasant boy gathering data from tourist magazines.
"It is fair to state that many outdoor spaces in France are quite manicured."
No. Go to Austria. Get into Switzerland. And the french outdoors are quite dirty. Less plastic bottles and tin cans than in India, but still dirty.
Bottom line, a French nationalist believing in the conspiracy theory, building stories not on experience, but on his own dreams induced by the school system. France is not a person. And his reading preferences? Pierre Hillard. How cute.
"France has been pushed around for a few decades and its people therefore understandably live in a constant state of anxiety. An aggressive France is a suffering France."
August 30, 2019
Conservative & right wing propaganda disguised as humour. Yes parts of the book are funny - for which I was willing to give the book 2 stars- but the author's clear conservative and xenophobic bias is annoying and in very poor taste. There are plenty of wonderful books about France that do not try to demonize the other or try to legitimize the FN ... that alone lost any credibility with which the author started
November 23, 2016
Really disappointed in this. Purchased as "humor" and over half of the little essays are not funny at all. It's very political and negative which is exactly what I was trying to escape when I picked it up. Stick to the fun chapters (apéro, goûter) and skip the rest. For full disclosure: I am a French expat.
April 4, 2019
Great little book about “la moderne francais� and their many foibles. Viva la francais!
March 9, 2017
This book gave me serious homesickness for France! The author is a French native and who is all too familiar with the embarrassing and frustrating cultural barriers that can happen when one visits France. Although I thought WTF?!: What the French was an enlightening and entertaining read, I’d recommend it more to people who have visited or are planning to visit France. You will probably appreciate this book much more if you can compare the author’s opinions with your own personal anecdotes.
The book is divided into 50+ short chapters, each dealing with a specific topic ranging from pop culture to food to politics. Some of these topics are comedic (and will cause you to laugh out loud more than once), while others offer insight into current political events in France.
Here were some of the most noteworthy chapters for me:
� If you aren’t too accustomed with French people, you may think they’re seriously annoyed when they let a small huff of air out of their mouths. Chances are it’s only mild annoyance, but it has become one of my favorite French things to imitate.
La Rando � Especially where I lived in the French Alps, family hikes are common weekend or even late afternoon activities. There are plenty of small walking routes to be found, and sometimes you even discover medieval castles on your journey.
“The French like to walk around with no precise goal other than that of enjoying life.�
Ça Va & C’est Pas Possible! � The two most used phrases in the French language
The English � Despite what you may have heard from friends who have visited France, French people are very welcoming and hospitable, and I’ve encountered many natives who will switch to English when they speak with you, or who will be patient and helpful when you’re trying to practice your French.
Eating Rules � The 4 hour French meal is not an exaggeration!
I can’t tell you how many times I was laughing out loud while reading WTF?!: What the French. I would constantly stop to reread chapters aloud to my (French) husband, who would proceed to confirm the author’s opinion by doing the exact thing laid out in the chapter. Then we’d both laugh and talk about how much we miss our colorful & expressive France. I only wish this book had been written before I moved to la France in 2012; it would have helped me adapt to and fall in love with the culture much earlier!
Read This Book If�
…you’re a francophile.
…you are open minded to learning about new cultures.
…you’ve ever experience a culture barrier.
…you enjoy books about food and travel.
The book is divided into 50+ short chapters, each dealing with a specific topic ranging from pop culture to food to politics. Some of these topics are comedic (and will cause you to laugh out loud more than once), while others offer insight into current political events in France.
Here were some of the most noteworthy chapters for me:
� If you aren’t too accustomed with French people, you may think they’re seriously annoyed when they let a small huff of air out of their mouths. Chances are it’s only mild annoyance, but it has become one of my favorite French things to imitate.
La Rando � Especially where I lived in the French Alps, family hikes are common weekend or even late afternoon activities. There are plenty of small walking routes to be found, and sometimes you even discover medieval castles on your journey.
“The French like to walk around with no precise goal other than that of enjoying life.�
Ça Va & C’est Pas Possible! � The two most used phrases in the French language
The English � Despite what you may have heard from friends who have visited France, French people are very welcoming and hospitable, and I’ve encountered many natives who will switch to English when they speak with you, or who will be patient and helpful when you’re trying to practice your French.
Eating Rules � The 4 hour French meal is not an exaggeration!
I can’t tell you how many times I was laughing out loud while reading WTF?!: What the French. I would constantly stop to reread chapters aloud to my (French) husband, who would proceed to confirm the author’s opinion by doing the exact thing laid out in the chapter. Then we’d both laugh and talk about how much we miss our colorful & expressive France. I only wish this book had been written before I moved to la France in 2012; it would have helped me adapt to and fall in love with the culture much earlier!
Read This Book If�
…you’re a francophile.
…you are open minded to learning about new cultures.
…you’ve ever experience a culture barrier.
…you enjoy books about food and travel.
February 12, 2019
The whole purpose of a look at the cultural mores of an entire country (and particularly one as complex and multifaceted as France) is that it observes and explains, maybe even deciphers, a number of situations so that the reader can have some idea of what to find on visiting that country. It can never avoid the fact that it is being written by a subjective person or persons, but it can try and lay some kind of claim for credibility, so that this reader, on arrival, can start to compare and contrast their own experiences with what they have read. Then it would be a guide, an aide-voyager, a teacher�
This book, however, is a diatribe, concocted by someone who I presume from the info on offer is an accomplished wine expert and entrepreneur, married to an American wife who, one can imagine, played a substantial role in shaping the sentences in their search for the Holy Grail of "witty diatribe". The problem is that the words we use sketch the thoughts behind them, and the things we omit leave the true residue in the mind of the reader. And this diatribe, by a supposedly "open-minded thinker", is full of so many closed-minded, ill-considered dead-end comments that it starts to truly irritate. It is also a diatribe bemoaning the loss of a past Eden that is written by a thirty-something year old, who sounds truly Old Before His Time.
There are some things he states in this jeremiad-dressed-up-as-entertainment that are not really debatable. France is in rather a mess at the moment, caught between self-interest on the part of many individuals and the national interest, and a need to redefine its space in the world and its industries. It is, like all wealthy developed countries, currently failing its young of all backgrounds. But the answers being put forward by its industrialists, many of whom are ensconced in the seductive honey trap of multinational tax avoidance, are all rather simplistic and self-serving: let me take over, I know how to do it (What is it then? I can't say, just let me do it�) This is the international language of the privileged assuming they know better a priori.
The focus on race, religion and the ability to speak the language the way it used to be spoken are the main concerns here. It becomes crushingly obvious and manages to let the air out of many otherwise useful observations. The links in lieu of footnotes often lead to tendentious articles from highly slanted organs like atlantico.fr. The use of "everyone" and "most people" and "the overwhelming majority think" without basis is a clear sign of the input having come from a fairly limited set of influences. One chapter gushes on about the concept of convivialité as something truly French and untranslatable without ever checking up on that far-from-uncommon English term "convivial". Indeed, one can throw many darts at British culture for things it lacks, but the conviviality of the pub and even the steak-and-kidney pie or Sunday roast served there is not something that's on the decline.
I was reading this book last week on a flight to Paris and the following day had, by chance, a short conversation with a gentleman catching the Metro. His father had been a policeman in Algeria, forced into exile because of having helped the colonial power there. The family was now based in France and Spain. They are all seen as Muslims and thrown into a single sack that covers everything from sub-Saharan Africans to Arabs to South-East Asians to people from the old Soviet Union. Indeed in the eyes of some, they are merely "a nuisance" and "terrorists". That's their recompense for being groomed as evolués.
The blinkered viewpoint of those, like Magny, who simply focus on percentages and relative rises when talking about "immigrant" population, is that they ignore the human beings at the heart of the story. Are there problems with crime? Undoubtedly. Are there too many disaffected youths willing to immolate themselves with innocent targets? Likewise. Is the answer the Front Nationale and a return to what it meant to be French in a non-existent bygone age? Highly unlikely. Is there too much taxation? Maybe. Does taxation serve a purpose? Indeed it does, and one could even argue that above all it serves the entrepreneurs who are gifted a more or less stable economy and a suitably buoyant middle class. But my point here isn't to preach at anyone. In fact it's the opposite. People have their beliefs and they are entitled to them. Sometimes those beliefs evolve. What is truly important is to understand and feel and apply the values that underlie them. Embezzlement is embezzlement, whoever does it. Free speech is not about repeating loaded canards from the past, but about being willing to articulate one's desires honestly. Ignoring the desires of the people who do not have your background or beliefs means that this is not a guide to the French at all. It is a guide to one particular sector of the French.
Also telling is the use of so many epithets, as if these terms summed up the person or their acts. The figure of the "bobo", or bourgeois boheme, supposedly the "most hated" form of bourgeois in France is a case in point. These are the people known as "champagne socialists" in other countries. They are used as an Emmanuel Goldstein figure (see Orwell's 1984) by people of privilege to rustle up support among the underprivileged. Their crime? To advocate more fairness of opportunity, more distribution of resources, but also appreciation of sophisticated art/culture/cuisine. Leftists with good jobs. Insofar as they don't do the job they're being paid for, they are indeed execrable (or indeed if they buy themselves �40,000 watches partly in undeclared cash), but if they are good at their job, where is the problem? And why the hatred? But when I looked up one of Magny's linked articles on atlantico.fr (the one on taxes on people earning more capital than wages), just below it was an excoriating article on this figure of the bobo. These are old moves, transparently self-serving and presented without any insight other than the pejorative.
And while we're at it, one of my pet peeves as an enjoyer of wine is the way that restaurants often mark up the bottles so much that what they are earning is 7 or 8 times what the company that made the wine in the first place is making. Indeed they often price reasonable bottles out of the range of their less well-heeled diners. The argument wielded by restaurants is that they "make no money" on the food and have to make it on the wine, an argument that I find a little spurious if they are scaring potential wine drinkers off to the water or beer menu, but okay let's let it sit over there for a moment. Olivier Magny, as he points out - and indeed plugs - owns two wine bars in Paris, both of which look very attractive and which offer a large number of wines by the glass, which I'm all for. However, here, as wine bars, the issue of the "loss-making" food would not be applicable (although they do offer some dishes, this is not their main source of earnings). However, a quick glance at the well-compiled wine list reveals that the mark up on the bottles starts at 3-4 times the retail price and goes up to 5-6 times on some bottles. I'm sure these two places are indeed expensive to run, and I haven't seen how small they might be, and I don't in any way begrudge people making money on good ideas or good products or plenty of added value, or even really nice locations, but this is a pretty big margin being made on the back of someone else's expertise, using the general lack of knowledge of wine prices, or of wine in general. I am sure he would have plenty of arguments to offer in his favour. I, in turn, would say that I can see myself on my next visit to Paris going to one or other of these wine bars and enjoying their excellent range. But there are two sets of interests here. They may fall into compatibility because I can say "what the hell" and disregard my peeve, and just pay. Magny will make money from me. But to my mind it will still be an inefficient transaction, a bare-minimum deal, probably one that isn't repeated as many times as it could be. And this between two players who understand the same sphere. Now take that thought and apply it to all the different interests pullulating around the multifaceted nation that is France�
I think Magny, to write this kind of book (I don't include his books on wine or Paris in this admonishment, although I haven't read them, so who knows?), really has to get out more and talk to more different kinds of people.
This book, however, is a diatribe, concocted by someone who I presume from the info on offer is an accomplished wine expert and entrepreneur, married to an American wife who, one can imagine, played a substantial role in shaping the sentences in their search for the Holy Grail of "witty diatribe". The problem is that the words we use sketch the thoughts behind them, and the things we omit leave the true residue in the mind of the reader. And this diatribe, by a supposedly "open-minded thinker", is full of so many closed-minded, ill-considered dead-end comments that it starts to truly irritate. It is also a diatribe bemoaning the loss of a past Eden that is written by a thirty-something year old, who sounds truly Old Before His Time.
There are some things he states in this jeremiad-dressed-up-as-entertainment that are not really debatable. France is in rather a mess at the moment, caught between self-interest on the part of many individuals and the national interest, and a need to redefine its space in the world and its industries. It is, like all wealthy developed countries, currently failing its young of all backgrounds. But the answers being put forward by its industrialists, many of whom are ensconced in the seductive honey trap of multinational tax avoidance, are all rather simplistic and self-serving: let me take over, I know how to do it (What is it then? I can't say, just let me do it�) This is the international language of the privileged assuming they know better a priori.
The focus on race, religion and the ability to speak the language the way it used to be spoken are the main concerns here. It becomes crushingly obvious and manages to let the air out of many otherwise useful observations. The links in lieu of footnotes often lead to tendentious articles from highly slanted organs like atlantico.fr. The use of "everyone" and "most people" and "the overwhelming majority think" without basis is a clear sign of the input having come from a fairly limited set of influences. One chapter gushes on about the concept of convivialité as something truly French and untranslatable without ever checking up on that far-from-uncommon English term "convivial". Indeed, one can throw many darts at British culture for things it lacks, but the conviviality of the pub and even the steak-and-kidney pie or Sunday roast served there is not something that's on the decline.
I was reading this book last week on a flight to Paris and the following day had, by chance, a short conversation with a gentleman catching the Metro. His father had been a policeman in Algeria, forced into exile because of having helped the colonial power there. The family was now based in France and Spain. They are all seen as Muslims and thrown into a single sack that covers everything from sub-Saharan Africans to Arabs to South-East Asians to people from the old Soviet Union. Indeed in the eyes of some, they are merely "a nuisance" and "terrorists". That's their recompense for being groomed as evolués.
The blinkered viewpoint of those, like Magny, who simply focus on percentages and relative rises when talking about "immigrant" population, is that they ignore the human beings at the heart of the story. Are there problems with crime? Undoubtedly. Are there too many disaffected youths willing to immolate themselves with innocent targets? Likewise. Is the answer the Front Nationale and a return to what it meant to be French in a non-existent bygone age? Highly unlikely. Is there too much taxation? Maybe. Does taxation serve a purpose? Indeed it does, and one could even argue that above all it serves the entrepreneurs who are gifted a more or less stable economy and a suitably buoyant middle class. But my point here isn't to preach at anyone. In fact it's the opposite. People have their beliefs and they are entitled to them. Sometimes those beliefs evolve. What is truly important is to understand and feel and apply the values that underlie them. Embezzlement is embezzlement, whoever does it. Free speech is not about repeating loaded canards from the past, but about being willing to articulate one's desires honestly. Ignoring the desires of the people who do not have your background or beliefs means that this is not a guide to the French at all. It is a guide to one particular sector of the French.
Also telling is the use of so many epithets, as if these terms summed up the person or their acts. The figure of the "bobo", or bourgeois boheme, supposedly the "most hated" form of bourgeois in France is a case in point. These are the people known as "champagne socialists" in other countries. They are used as an Emmanuel Goldstein figure (see Orwell's 1984) by people of privilege to rustle up support among the underprivileged. Their crime? To advocate more fairness of opportunity, more distribution of resources, but also appreciation of sophisticated art/culture/cuisine. Leftists with good jobs. Insofar as they don't do the job they're being paid for, they are indeed execrable (or indeed if they buy themselves �40,000 watches partly in undeclared cash), but if they are good at their job, where is the problem? And why the hatred? But when I looked up one of Magny's linked articles on atlantico.fr (the one on taxes on people earning more capital than wages), just below it was an excoriating article on this figure of the bobo. These are old moves, transparently self-serving and presented without any insight other than the pejorative.
And while we're at it, one of my pet peeves as an enjoyer of wine is the way that restaurants often mark up the bottles so much that what they are earning is 7 or 8 times what the company that made the wine in the first place is making. Indeed they often price reasonable bottles out of the range of their less well-heeled diners. The argument wielded by restaurants is that they "make no money" on the food and have to make it on the wine, an argument that I find a little spurious if they are scaring potential wine drinkers off to the water or beer menu, but okay let's let it sit over there for a moment. Olivier Magny, as he points out - and indeed plugs - owns two wine bars in Paris, both of which look very attractive and which offer a large number of wines by the glass, which I'm all for. However, here, as wine bars, the issue of the "loss-making" food would not be applicable (although they do offer some dishes, this is not their main source of earnings). However, a quick glance at the well-compiled wine list reveals that the mark up on the bottles starts at 3-4 times the retail price and goes up to 5-6 times on some bottles. I'm sure these two places are indeed expensive to run, and I haven't seen how small they might be, and I don't in any way begrudge people making money on good ideas or good products or plenty of added value, or even really nice locations, but this is a pretty big margin being made on the back of someone else's expertise, using the general lack of knowledge of wine prices, or of wine in general. I am sure he would have plenty of arguments to offer in his favour. I, in turn, would say that I can see myself on my next visit to Paris going to one or other of these wine bars and enjoying their excellent range. But there are two sets of interests here. They may fall into compatibility because I can say "what the hell" and disregard my peeve, and just pay. Magny will make money from me. But to my mind it will still be an inefficient transaction, a bare-minimum deal, probably one that isn't repeated as many times as it could be. And this between two players who understand the same sphere. Now take that thought and apply it to all the different interests pullulating around the multifaceted nation that is France�
I think Magny, to write this kind of book (I don't include his books on wine or Paris in this admonishment, although I haven't read them, so who knows?), really has to get out more and talk to more different kinds of people.
June 20, 2017
"In France, bread is so intrinsically part of everyday life that the relationship to it is entirely carnal. Bread is an extension of the French body and an expression of its undying soul. Each day, in hundreds of sushi and Chinese restaurants, you will find French patrons asking for some bread, for no matter how ricey your meal is, it's still a meal and therefore calls for some bread. The ominous American threat known as "carbicide" is one that has never crossed any French person's thoughts." Olivier Magny in his latest book "WTF? What the French" makes that comment, and as he is French, his observations should be accurate. However, I do know French people who have broken with this bread faith, understanding that the delicious soul-satisfying baguette has almost no nutritional value at all.... anyway, I picked up this book to read in bits and pieces while I was still at school, as it is that kind of easy to put aside and pick up again book. It is a series of short observations about French life by a French man married to an American woman. I learned a lot of cool tidbits in it, recognized much of what he comments on, but also feel his sarcasm in politics has a clear point of view that I don't always agree with.... but then I am not French, am I, except deep in my psyche! Nice book for the Francophiles out there!
February 5, 2018
It is fortunate that Olivier Magny abhors the bourgeoisie - he'll never see this review.
I selected this title expecting humorous musings on French culture and habits. And a small portion of the book is that but far too much of the writing is ideological ranting about Leftists, immigrants, government workers, and those who feed off the government tit - according to Mr. Magny.
It is fortunate for Mr. Magny that that he is a self-described exploitative capitalist so that he can profit from the regretted purchase of this book.
I selected this title expecting humorous musings on French culture and habits. And a small portion of the book is that but far too much of the writing is ideological ranting about Leftists, immigrants, government workers, and those who feed off the government tit - according to Mr. Magny.
It is fortunate for Mr. Magny that that he is a self-described exploitative capitalist so that he can profit from the regretted purchase of this book.
April 2, 2017
Essential read for everyone who has to deal with French on daily basis and who is planning a trip there. Lots of good tips and facts written in a fun manner.
August 26, 2020
“There is nothing more precious than attending a party and being offered the privilege of witnessing upper-class French kids sing along about fistfights, dealing drugs, and wanting to shoot cops in the ghetto. The mainstreaming of the margins really is a beautiful thing!�
“Etymology being a cheeky thing, it teaches us that the phrase gained popularity in the French language in medieval times when the analysis of feces was an essential element to diagnose general health. Comment allez-vous? is ultimately but a mere reminiscence of the common medieval inquiry Comment allez-vous à la selle?
In that, the English language shares with French a similar scatological origin for its most traditional and polite of greetings: “How do you do?�
“Liberté, égalité, impossibilité.�
“In the United States, a person’s car is an extension of the home, and as such is seen as being somewhat sacred. In short, don’t mess with an American’s car.�
“All the more so as the social stigma of driving a big—or nice—car in France has become quite sharp: you will be identified as un gros con (a big jerk) or un gros riche (a rich hotshot) by a number of people. For the more brainwashed of French leftists, it’s a double combo: drive a nice car and you’ll be un gros con de riche. Not only is driving a nice car more expensive; it’s also a subversive social statement in France.�
“In cars, as with most other things, dissenting by aiming high has become suspicious. Conforming by aiming low, however, has become the norm.�
“What is for sure, however, is that when planning to part company with French people socially, it is reasonable to anticipate anywhere between ten minutes and two hours for it.�
“Etymology being a cheeky thing, it teaches us that the phrase gained popularity in the French language in medieval times when the analysis of feces was an essential element to diagnose general health. Comment allez-vous? is ultimately but a mere reminiscence of the common medieval inquiry Comment allez-vous à la selle?
In that, the English language shares with French a similar scatological origin for its most traditional and polite of greetings: “How do you do?�
“Liberté, égalité, impossibilité.�
“In the United States, a person’s car is an extension of the home, and as such is seen as being somewhat sacred. In short, don’t mess with an American’s car.�
“All the more so as the social stigma of driving a big—or nice—car in France has become quite sharp: you will be identified as un gros con (a big jerk) or un gros riche (a rich hotshot) by a number of people. For the more brainwashed of French leftists, it’s a double combo: drive a nice car and you’ll be un gros con de riche. Not only is driving a nice car more expensive; it’s also a subversive social statement in France.�
“In cars, as with most other things, dissenting by aiming high has become suspicious. Conforming by aiming low, however, has become the norm.�
“What is for sure, however, is that when planning to part company with French people socially, it is reasonable to anticipate anywhere between ten minutes and two hours for it.�
January 23, 2018
Magny, a Frenchman, writes an enlightening book about the France that will make your eyelids flutter while you are gasping at the revelations that turn you view of the French upside down. The image we have of the sophisticated, cultured society is dated and inaccurate. Magny tells us that most of French citizens speak a garbled French that has been corrupted, particularly in the past 30 years. He attributes this to the complicated language, the lower standards of schools not teaching spelling and now the presence of teachers who did not learn correct spelling in school and are now continuing to help the language deteriorate. He paints France as a socialist country, whose citizens are so overtaxed, there is no hope for accumulating wealth combined with an of people who have money. The lack of immigration standards and government propaganda. France's famous food culture is revealed as one that has been replaced by the culture of McDonalds, pizza, yogurt and pasta. The book is written in brief essays. There are a lot of French phrases, but they are easily interpreted from the context.
October 26, 2020
This is a bathroom book - short little essays easily digested in a single sitting. Each essay covers some topic of French culture and he tries to be funny, occasionally successfully. It is very honest about some of France's failings, and gives the sorts of insights you don't get as an outsider. Each chapter closes with a "useful tip" on the topic, and a topical phrase in French "How to sound like a French person."
He is a small business owner, and the prejudices of his class are apparent in his approach to a few questions (particularly taxes and immigration) but honestly, that probably makes this book more accessible to Americans. He's also fairly young so the chapter on music and his music recommendations are great.
If you want something better to look at then your phone in the bathroom, give this a read.
He is a small business owner, and the prejudices of his class are apparent in his approach to a few questions (particularly taxes and immigration) but honestly, that probably makes this book more accessible to Americans. He's also fairly young so the chapter on music and his music recommendations are great.
If you want something better to look at then your phone in the bathroom, give this a read.
June 25, 2017
Unendingly humorous and unsurprisingly pessimistic, given that the author is himself a French man and the French are notoriously pessimistic and certainly pride themselves on this fact. Though perhaps too pessimistic in my opinion and that's even after my having lived in France for nearly a year and having dealt with the l'administration française and it's never-ending bureaucracy. In the words of Magny: "You do not know what wanting to bang your head against the wall, crying and screaming, means until you have dealt with the French Bureaucracy. " Yet the French have their share of charming and laudable traits, and this book touches on them all.
April 30, 2022
Oh lord, the reviews were not at all mistaken at the tone when they said the book began to spiral into a rant eventually. Only 15% into the audio book and it begins to mention French schools as “left wind indoctrination camps� with “one-sided idiological brainwash.�
I never went to school in France so I wouldn’t know how true or false this is, but I wanted to read the book to hear about family and social cultures. Not to say that politics don’t affect life but I was hoping for more personal tales and not rants.
I pass. I’ll stop here. I’m sure I can learn a lot but I’m not in the mood now. I felt like this was marketed incorrectly.
I never went to school in France so I wouldn’t know how true or false this is, but I wanted to read the book to hear about family and social cultures. Not to say that politics don’t affect life but I was hoping for more personal tales and not rants.
I pass. I’ll stop here. I’m sure I can learn a lot but I’m not in the mood now. I felt like this was marketed incorrectly.
November 5, 2022
This book gave me a lot of (reluctant) chuckles, and reading it helped me understand a lot of things I've experienced after living in France for one month now. However, the way the author uses "liberal" and "leftists" as derogatory terms left a bad taste in my mouth from the start. I was also totally put off when he used the r-slur to describe a certain group of French people, and his claim that there are "no real men" in France. I did learn things from reading this, but the author is not someone I would ever, EVER want to have a glass of wine with. A lot of his comments were more distasteful than funny.
September 17, 2023
I loved this book, though also found it a bit depressing. It’s hilarious but also serious about current struggles and changes in France and French culture. A must for any true Francophile, or just someone interested in modern day (to day) Europe—this corner of it.
It’s organized into very short chapters on a huge range of topics, so easy to pick up and put down if you’re in a busy or distracted mode.
It’s organized into very short chapters on a huge range of topics, so easy to pick up and put down if you’re in a busy or distracted mode.
July 29, 2017
Fun read if you live a life either amongst the French (like I do) or as a foreigner living in France. Detailed explanations are given regarding all aspects of French life from their social services, taxation to their food and wine, all explained with frankness, humor and sarcasm, through the eyes of a Frenchman.
February 6, 2025
The commentary on French people and daily life is entertaining. The political stuff, though, is revealing. Not because he's right about Muslims or politics in general. But it is revealing about how far right thinkers think about their own country, despairing how things are different from their own childhoods and outright contempt for people that don't look or sound like them.
November 2, 2018
Being a french myself I just pick up this book out of curiosity.
It's amusing to set back and observe how we are seen by other nations.
Or rather, how someone is explaining his own culture to others.
An easy read with lots of facts more or less interesting/amusing about life in France.
It's amusing to set back and observe how we are seen by other nations.
Or rather, how someone is explaining his own culture to others.
An easy read with lots of facts more or less interesting/amusing about life in France.
February 10, 2020
Funny look into what makes France great and not so great. Each chapter is a few pages long full of Gallic humour and full of interesting information. Quick read in preparation for a voyage to France.
June 5, 2021
This book has short interesting incites to the workings of french life in France. It answers a lot of the little why questions of french culture, such as tax system, attitudes towards foreigners, immigration, Muslims, rich people and food.
September 1, 2023
Highly recommend if you are a Francophile or just interested in how societies and cultures change in modern times. Magny also had a LOT of recommendations of artists, movies, music, landmarks, etc. that I just could not catch in the audio version, so I'm planning to buy a physical copy of this one!
January 3, 2024
Some interesting tidbits and info, but also a lot of the author’s political sympathies are included. It makes the reader have to question whether information being presented is generally accepted/supported in France or if it is just the author’s leanings.
January 6, 2024
While some of the author’s observations are humorous and insightful, he chooses to needlessly inject the book with far-right diatribes that fall far from the truth. It’s a pity because he’s not too terrible a writer.
The book would be better sold in the political aisle than travel. Truly a pity.
The book would be better sold in the political aisle than travel. Truly a pity.
August 30, 2024
Sarcastic and full of generalizations, somewhat humorous, and somewhat enlightening. Self deprecating to the French - the written by a Frenchman so I guess that’s OK? Probably more horrible. If you speak the language though it’s 99% in English.
May 21, 2017
Love his stories and observations on the French!
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