Rating: 
Summary: Hilarious and On Target
Review: This is a book I wish I had written. As a long-time Paris denizen -- now a dual-national with US and French citizenship -- I can attest that French Toast is on the mark when it comes to understanding a certain French world (there are as many, perhaps more, worlds here as there are in America). It's also funny and a delight to read. Harriet's humor and insight bubble up in every sentence, and I love the tidbits provided by her husband, Philippe. On sexiness: Give a French woman perfume, an American woman a bar of soap. This is classic stuff. I look forward to reading her next book on France! Encore, encore!...
Rating: 
Summary: pas mal
Review: This is a very light read. I read this book in two evenings.In terms of explaining the french experience, this book does a goodjob of it. If you are into a travelling adventure, I recommend Peter Mayle instead of this.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't Live Up to Its Promise
Review: This is an amusing book of its type, but it could have been much, much better. Some of this is the fault of the publisher who evidently prepared this 119-page book in haste. (Why? To beat Peter Mayle's latest effort, "Encore Provence," by a few months?) Rochefort constantly refers us to anecdotes that will appear later in numbered chapters. But the chapters are not numbered, either at their beginnings or in the index! Too, I waited fruitlessly to see how it is that her sister-in-law, wearing a silk blouse and no apron, manages never to be spattered by grease when she stands over a sizzling frying pan. ("See chapter 3." Huh?) A much better view of Americans living in Paris is given by Diane Johnson's brilliant novel "Le Divorce."
Rating: 
Summary: narrow-minded
Review: This is one of the most inaccurate and unenlightened "deciphering the French" books around. (Along with her second book - "French Fried") It is sad how someone who has lived in Paris for 30 years and even has a French husband has so little (if any) insight to who the French are and the differences and similarities between the French and Americans. It is a book which only continues the typical closed-minded people have.
Rating:
Summary: awful
Review: This shallow book made me cringe. The writing is sloppy, the content annecdotal. The whiny tone and SILLY stereotypes of the French totally got on my nerves.
Rating:
Summary: French Toast: An American in Paris
Review: What a fabulous little book. Easy to read and packed with every day, helpful information. Even though my wife and I are devout francophiles, and live part of every year France, we still are astounded by the little nuances that can bring a conversation or meeting to a halt. For example, when four people say goodbye never cross each others hands when you shake - it seems to invoke the devel.This book is now standard issue in our family for any friends who come to stay with us in France. Five stars for entertainment and practical information. Let's hope there is a sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Iowa vs. Paris--Iowa wins, except for the schools & the food
Review: While it is an entertaining read, this book does not present many new insights. The author also seems to wish that the French weren't so French, despite her claims to the contrary. In short, I would recommend getting this book from the library, not spending money on it. I agree with other reviewers who have recommended Peter Mayle or Polly Platt instead. I found them to be more sensitive to and appreciative of the peculiarities and idiosyncracies of French culture.
Rating:
Summary: awful reading will distress anyone who speaks French
Review: Why they couldn't find someone who can pronounce French words correctly--even people with American accents don't pronounce Rimbaud as if the first syllable rhymes with Rintintin--to impersonate an author who has lived in France for two decades and taught at some of the best schools there is a mystery to me--the reading is offensive and ruins the experience of the book, which might have been enjoyable.
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