Rating: 
Summary: an informative, quick read
Review: After years of misunderstanding my French sister-in-law, the mystery has been cleared up thanks to Harriet. I read this book in one sitting, laughed quite a bit and came to understand many things which have puzzled me over the years: differences in child rearing, eating habits and attitudes toward people, life, marriage and many other things. I even lent the book to my sister-in-law and she thought it was amusing and insightful.
Rating:
Summary: Hooray for Harriet!
Review: As an American living in Paris for as long as Harriet, I can testify that what she says is true, to the point and wittily captures the essence of this maddening and wonderful land. A must read for everyone who remembers that our own American culture not only began with Montesquieu and Lafayette but went on to glorify the great French fry!
Rating:
Summary: French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening
Review: Did you know that in Paris it is quite normal to bang the cars in front and back of you as you maneuver in and out of a parking place? Or that you should fold and not cut the lettuce in your salad and that even fruit is eaten with a knife and fork? Fortunately, for those unacquainted with the finer points of French etiquette, Rochefort's book bridges the culture gap admirably. The Iowa-born author is a freelance journalist married to a Frenchman and has lived in France for over 20 years. Drawing on personal experience, she records her observations about Frenchwomen; French attitudes to food, sex, love, marriage, and money; the French educational system; and the dynamics of living in Paris. Some stereotypes are reinforced, but this chatty, informative book is great fun to read and over too soon. Recommended for public libraries
Rating: 
Summary: Tres bien Harriet!
Review: For any American who's lived and loved in Paris, this book is a "must have."The author takes us through her life as an expatriot-from buying bread to driving along the Champs-Elysees, Harriet delicately demystifies the French mentality and provides us humorous epistles that make us laugh and think, "Ah, oui. C'est ca." (Ah yes, absolutely like that.) French Toast is both an adventure and a walk down memory lane as you relive your own life and memories in Paris. It's impossible to put down! It's almost as satisfying as being in Paris, and certainly cheaper!
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting, but it should have been longer
Review: French Toast is a memoir rather than a sociological study, so it only looks at the Paris that the author has experienced. For anyone who has read other books about French culture or spent a great deal of time in France, many of the observations will not be new. If the book had been longer, I think I would have enjoyed it more. I liked her look at French femininity and childrearing and I would have like to have read more about why and how she
decided the stay in Paris, her cross-cultural courtship with her husband, what she loves about Paris, and uniquely French manners. Personally, unlike several of the other reviewers, I found her discussions of female Parisian behavior interesting. In my 20-something East Coast world, women are often more talkative
and expressive than men, so it was interesting to hear how, in the author's experience French women do not take the lead in discussions. As I am used to a certain solidarity among
American women, it was interesting to read that Parisian women do not share this trait. The author didn't make me think that French women are doormats, merely that their social
behavior differs from than of the American women I know. I didn't find the author to be a militant feminist at all, though perhaps these observations about female behavior are more
interesting to women than men. I also found that she had nearly as many negative stereotypes about Americans as she did about Parisians. An okay, but not great book about Paris. I would have given it three or
four stars if it had been longer.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but it should have been longer
Review: French Toast is a memoir rather than a sociological study, so it only looks at the Paris that the author has experienced. For anyone who has read other books about French culture or spent a great deal of time in France, many of the observations will not be new. If the book had been longer, I think I would have enjoyed it more. I liked her look at French femininity and childrearing and I would have like to have read more about why and how she
decided the stay in Paris, her cross-cultural courtship with her husband, what she loves about Paris, and uniquely French manners. Personally, unlike several of the other reviewers, I found her discussions of female Parisian behavior interesting. In my 20-something East Coast world, women are often more talkative
and expressive than men, so it was interesting to hear how, in the author's experience French women do not take the lead in discussions. As I am used to a certain solidarity among
American women, it was interesting to read that Parisian women do not share this trait. The author didn't make me think that French women are doormats, merely that their social
behavior differs from than of the American women I know. I didn't find the author to be a militant feminist at all, though perhaps these observations about female behavior are more
interesting to women than men. I also found that she had nearly as many negative stereotypes about Americans as she did about Parisians. An okay, but not great book about Paris. I would have given it three or
four stars if it had been longer.
Rating:
Summary: Le Livre Exquise!
Review: Harriet had a difficult time adjusting to life in Paris, France. She tells us the cultural differences an American must expect if planned to move into this country. I thoroughly enjoyed her takes on food, cafes, French women and how the French in general feel about Americans. I, too, would love to live in France one day (if only!), and so this book could prepare you to enter the realm of what it's like to be a "foreigner." This is an exquisite book! Great fun!
Rating:
Summary: A well done job
Review: Harriet Welty Rochefort has done an excellent job in conveying the feelings of what it really is to be an American living in a foreign world, this world happens to be Paris and other points in France. One must take into consideration that she is married to a Frenchman so she isn't exaclty a stranger in a small world. This book was an excellent travel companion for my first trip to France and was thoroughly enjoyable. She describes everything from what goes into making a "french lunch," no sandwhiches please, to the ins and outs of not getting ripped out at the local Boulangerie. I await more of Harriet's writing....
Rating:
Summary: C'est tres bien!
Review: Having read numerous books on France and the French, plus having lived in Paris, I was skeptical that I would come across any new information. How wrong I was! This book is a fabulous find, and highly amusing. I particularly enjoyed the opening chapter when Harriet talks of her childhood, and how she always felt as if every knock at the door was someone coming to take her away, and that she always knew she would live somewhere far away from her small town. I feel the same way! As a 19 year old in a small, southern town in Tennessee, I only hope that I will have the success with finding a French man (I'm moving back to Paris in August) that Harriet did. I really loved this book!
Rating: 
Summary: Avoid this book
Review: Having recently returned from Paris, I was eager to keep my memories of this magical city fresh. Described by one reviewer as the Peter Mayle of Paris, this book sounded so good I purchased both this and "French Fried." Ugh! It's the first time in my life I wanted to throw a book away. She is negative, humorless and a mediocre writer. She apparently moved to France and spends her days wishing the French were more like Iowans. She wallows in her ignorance and is proudly ill-mannered, unschooled and unable to cook. After 20 years in Paris, the best she can do is work her pressure cooker! Avoid this book if you like (or think you might ever like) Paris.
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