My husband and I lived in France for over three years, but didn't discover this book until we moved back to the States. Everything in the book is right on the mark - the French are SOOO different from anyone else. This isn't to say they're bad - they really are quite charming. But the main lesson I learned in France is this - If it isn't the French way, ce n'est pas normal!!! This fantastic book should be read by anyone going to France, has gone to France, or who has curiosity about the French culture.

Stephen Clarke puts into words what one feels when one lives or travels in France. It's really great to read so many truths about the French and have a little giggle! The photos are great in this book too.
I wish this book were a Kindle book because lately I'm allergic to the dust in books and can only read electronic ones. Please make this a Kindle book so I can finish it!

Stephen Clarke puts into words what one feels when one lives or travels in France. It's really great to read so many truths about the French and have a little giggle! The photos are great in this book too.
I wish this book were a Kindle book because lately I'm allergic to the dust in books and can only read electronic ones. Please make this a Kindle book so I can finish it!

I love every one of Stephen Clarke's books. I have never laughed so hard reading. Looking forward to getting his newest. I wish these books would also go to the big screen. Hugh Grant?

I love every one of Stephen Clarke's books. I have never laughed so hard reading. Looking forward to getting his newest. I wish these books would also go to the big screen. Hugh Grant?

This is an excellent and funny guide to France and the French. Clarke has constructed his book around a series of commandments that the French supposedly obey: thou shalt eat, thou shalt be right, and thou shalt be ill, among others. "Thou shalt eat" obviously discusses French attitudes to food and drink, and the behavior around those attitudes. "Thou shalt be right" discusses French haughtiness, among other topics. "Thou shalt be ill" looks at how the French enjoy being sick, and enjoy getting suppositories when they are.

The book is fun to read, and I'd recommend it for its humor alone. However, it would also serve the more serious purposes of improving your cultural literacy if you are going to travel, work, or live in France. Clarke would give you a good understanding of why things work they way they do, and he often offers advice on how to get by in the face of frustrations. Many things that frustrate outsiders make sense if you wrap your head around them and understand them in their full cultural context.

Clarke even provides a "useful sentences" guide in each chapter. Some provide generally-useful vocabulary (how to ask a doctor, "Will it be refunded?") while others are just jokes ("What do I do with this suppository?"). These guides, along with the text in the accompanying chapter, would help you in the very serious business of asking pointed questions of a potential landlord or real estate agent, for example.

The book posts relentless fun at the country and its people. It would be tiresome if Clarke hated the French, but it's clear that he loves the country and this fondness makes the whole package work. Though Clarke is British, he has decided to make his home in France. Fortunately, he although enjoys poking fun at the foibles of his adopted country.

Clarke provides an eerily accurate view into Parisian life. From inattentive waiters to constant strikes, you'll get an amusing take on life in France.

I enjoyed this book but it's very British. I've lived in France since 1996 and most of his observations are right on the money. I also lived in the U.K. for 6 years and I have to admit that this book if more relevent to his fellow Brits. For example, Americans tend to use the "real" medical terms, which he finds funny with the French. Americans do this too and it drove me batty in England when I couldn't figure what they were complaining about. Call the disorder by its name people!

But the book is entertaining, as long as you keep in mind that it's written by a Brit for his countrymen.

Having just moved to Paris, I found Talk to the Snail both humorous and accurate when it came to some of the idiosyncracies of the French. Some of the Commandments are more enlightening than others, but all of them lay bare some truth to the motives behind what otherwise strikes someone like me (an American) as bizarre behaviour. I love France and the French, but it takes some help in figuring out why things work the way they do in France. Thanks for the lifeline.

Stephen Clarke has such an incredible sense of humor! After devouring A Year in the Merde and Merde Actually, I could not resist reading Talk to the Snail. This book is by far the weakest one but once again, it made me laugh and taught me a few interesting and useful things about the French.

Apparently, even some French find Clarke's novels amusing. I asked my French tutor whether she has heard about this trilogy. To my surprise, she immediately smiled and said that A Year in the Merde is hilarious.

It's the fourth or fifth book I read about France viewed from the eyes of an Anglo-Saxon (American, British, Canadian, Australian).
Up to this point, it has been the most disappointing one. The beginnign looked good but I quickly realized that all described was, while true, very superficial. The biggest point being that this books describes pretty well Parisians but definitely not the rest of the population. To sum it up, even if the author claims having lived 12 years in France, he definitely has missed to get into the skin of the "locals". It's too bad because his style is pretty good.
Compared to superb books like "Almost French" or "60 Millions French can't be wrong", this one doesn't fare very well. I still have to read "A Year in the Merde" and want to go through it.
Paul

The book is a great fun for me because I know the habits of the French people. Great work of Stephen Clarke!!

This funny book gets you in the mood to be in the company of the French

I have loved Stephen Clarke's novels but this humorous take on the French, all things French, and especially all things NOT British is a classic.

I spend a lot of time in Paris, and his observations are absolutely spot on. While he primarily writes about how the French see English speakers (i.e. the British, not necessarily Americans) his observations apply to both.

If you have never visited France, some of what he writes might seem rude. It is about as accurate in observation as I have read anywhere, however. Hurrah to Stephen Clarke! More! More!

If you are planning to visit Paris for some time, study in Paris or even work in France, you will find this book useful. It gives a lot of hints to foreigners on how to approach French people. This is a book you will use if you need to interact with the French. There are only a handful of mistakes in this book. I truly enjoyed it.

This book is very funny. I laughed out loud. I think one interesting thing about it is, we can learn as much about other cultures (Anglo) as about the French. By highlighting what we find "odd" about the French, the author highlights what we value in Anglo culture. This book is very funny, and you can learn a lot about the French (they smoke a lot and tolerate passive smoking, they are individualists, they don't follow traffic lights or laws, they drink too much wine, but it is good wine, they brag about sex, they love their language, they love centralization (despite the fact that, individually, they reject the idea that the laws apply to them). They consider Anglo culture a "threat", even if that is a bit preposterous. They eat well. They take Friday afternoons off. I learned a lot in a very short time. This book is very, very funny.

TALK TO THE SNAIL: TEN COMMANDMENTS FOR UNDERSTANDING THE FRENCH provides an entertaining, even funny examination of the French psyche to help Americans understand French culture, and comes from one who has lived in France for 12 years. His exploration reveals ten 'commandments' for understanding, drawing from both his own experiences and from history and proving particularly pointed when contrasting British and French systems. Any collection where readers hold an affection for the French must have this set of pointed cultural insights.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I think Clarke's book is a bit mean-spirited. I would suggest you buy instead "Almost French" by Sarah Turnbull. It was a delight to read.

I think Clarke's book is a bit mean-spirited. I would suggest you buy instead "Almost French" by Sarah Turnbull. It was a delight to read.

Dead-on introduction to French culture with wry humor. American readers may be uncomfortable with some of the correct reporting of how French intellectuals see us. But the author is right. On the other hand, the phrase book sections are comic relief of the finest sort. And he saves the real truth, and the best, for the last. Highly recommended before any adventure in France as a way to stave off stress.

Dead-on introduction to French culture with wry humor. American readers may be uncomfortable with some of the correct reporting of how French intellectuals see us. But the author is right. On the other hand, the phrase book sections are comic relief of the finest sort. And he saves the real truth, and the best, for the last. Highly recommended before any adventure in France as a way to stave off stress.