French Women Don't Sleep Alone:: Pleasurable Secrets to Finding Love [Kindle Edition]

Sometimes a book can just strike you at the right moment. That's the way it was for me when I picked up a copy of Jamie Cat Callan's "French Women Don't Sleep Alone." I started reading and finished within two hours. I smiled all the way through.

Unlike some of the other Francophile lifestyle books like "French Women Don't Get Fat" and "Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl," "French Women Don't Sleep Alone" may masquerade as pure fun, but the tips accrued by Callan in her efforts to understand the mystique of her French grandmother can be utilized by American women who have spent too much time becoming empowered rivals to their male counterparts rather than real flesh and blood women and mean more to its reader than learning how to tie a scarf, wear a pencil skirt and heels, eat small bites and leave food on your plate.

Callan is so right when she simply restates what is as plain as the nez on your visage: Men and women are different. Well, duh . . . Well, serious duh! We are different, however, for the last forty years we have been trying to be the same. We burnt our bras - (I didn't--I need mine) and let down our guards by `being honest' and `telling it like it is' (yes, I have been guilty of this.) But to what avail? Has it done us any good? Are we more enlightened or do we just become extremely cynical, eat more ice cream and kvetsh about the ten pounds we have gained? We complain about our men and try to change them--make them into sensitive women! Yes, we do. We want to be included in and consulted on everything they do, but then we scream when we discover that we have trained them to do absolutely nothing. We've made it too easy.

Callan concentrates her study on the French woman, but I think her comments encompass most Europeans. American women want their men to understand them while European women relish the fact that they don't. The worlds of men and women are different. Why not enjoy ours and let them enjoy theirs? What are we afraid that we will miss? Nothing that we actually want.

Wisely, Callan comments on the overt sexuality and celebrity worshiping generations of younger women that show it all while wishing they were someone else. European women know how to dress--classic pieces paired with something eclectic--a show of leg, maybe some cleavage, but never both at once. Elegant yet fun. Jeans that fit right, not the ones that some superstar wore.

So what's the secret that French women know that has eluded us on the other side of the pond? Once we find our mates we expect to be joined at the hip. We give up all our mystery; recount little things that bore us let alone our men. Instead of developing that woman that our man fell in love with in the first place, we become complacent and lazy, expecting to be entertained rather than independently continuing to grow while on our own paths. We expect one path to encompass two people and that really doesn't make any sense at all.

If my comments have intrigued you, Callan's free and easy prose will delight you. Her insights make her an honorary candidate for the next Marianne. She will teach you not to date, that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, the power of keeping your life in tact through the coterie (your circle of friends) and most importantly, the escape to a secret garden.

Bottom line? Jamie Cat Callan's how-to on finding love, "French Women Don't Sleep Alone," is sure to please even the most disgruntled feminist. Fast, fun and insightful it comes highly recommended by this reviewer who spent a few hours in her own Jardin Secret while reading it. Oui, Oui!
Diana Faillace Von Behren
"reneofc"

I have spent a lot of time in France, have many French friends, have dated French men, and have read all the comparable books on this topic, so I was really looking forward to reading this one. What a letdown. For starters, a good proofreader/editor/translator would have been helpful...way too many grammatical and spelling errors (in both English and French...surely *someone* should have caught that Blvd. St. Michel is not Blvd. St. Mitchel)! That aside, this was nothing but a retread of all the books that Callan quoted in her own book(true, she did give the other authors credit), and those were better written. And, while there definitely is a difference between how French and American women approach life and love, what this book doesn't address is that there's a difference between how French and American *men* approach life and love as well...while some (or even most, I would agree) of the author's suggestions certainly mirror my own attitude toward life and relationships, unfortunately, she doesn't take into account that what works in French society and in French relationships does not necessarily translate when dealing with American relationships (more's the pity, since I'm more of the French mindset myself!). I'd say if you want to read this book, get it from the library and save the money...at the very least, read the other books written on the topic. (One that wasn't mentioned that explores both the male and female perspective is "Women and Men: A Philosophical Conversation," by Francoise Giroud and Bernard-Henri Levy.)

I generally don't offer a review of a book unless I love it because I don't often care to critique an author's passion project. However in this case, I was sooooo annoyed - and embarrassed - at having spent any money on this book, that I had to say something.

I don't blame the author, I blame the publisher. This "book" is in desperate need of an editor... although had it been properly edited, there wouldn't have been enough content to warrant a book contract. The content contained in this book truly doesn't warrant publication in any form other than a magazine article at best. Really, it's probably better suited to a couple of blog posts.

The author is a woman who had a French grandmother...whom she didn't ever really know very well. She briefly lived in France for a few months in her youth, but left for England as soon as culture shock set in. She doesn't speak French, she's a thoroughly American francophile. What was it again that positions this author as an expert in the mating rituals of French women? Dating in France? Perhaps dating a French man? Oh, that's right -- she has just visited France, read about it, and asked a number of French strangers about their love lives...just like every other American francophile out there.

Please, PLEASE allow me to sum up this book so you don't waste your hard earned cash during a recession:
- Lead an interesting life
- Buy and use perfumes, creams, lotions and fragrant soaps & candles
- Buy and wear matching lingerie every day
- Have an interesting group of friends who you socialize with regularly
- Cook well

Et voilà!