Reviews
"It's hard not to be enlivened by a [weight-control] book that celebrates both chocolate and bread, and espouses such wisdom as 'Life without pasta? Perish the thought.'" Lily Burana, Washington Post Book World "The perfect book for the more literate dieter . . . A blueprint for building a healthy attitude toward food and exercise . . . Full of down-to earth advice . . . We'd all be thinner (and happier) if we followed it." Miriam Wolf, San Francisco Chronicle "You've heard it before . . . But somehow, when the advice comes from Mireille Guiliano, you actually listen. A perfect, slim (and slimming) read for dieters and bon vivants alike." Marie Claire "Ah, Paris, the ideal destination for museum-hopping, couture shoppingand quick weight loss? Mais oui, insists Mireille Guiliano . . . For those who can't hop a plane whenever their zippers won't close . . . her new memoir-cum-'nondiet' book [is] filled with slimming secrets." Kim Hubbard, People "She spurs readers to give up the guilt and dieting extremes, to eat smarter and more joyfully . . . Readers can practically hear the rustling of fallen leaves beneath the narrator's feet as she forages for mushrooms . . . Her writing, like her three-meals-a-day diet, is all part of her joie de vivre." Rosemary Feitelberg, Women's Wear Daily "Delightful . . . Hands down, this is the best of the newest crop of weight-control books." Nanci Hellmich, USA Today "The past few years have been dominated by 'scientific' diets . . . I welcome this break from the usual kind of quick-fix diet book . . . Will this book transform one's eating habits? Its good sense is unanswerableand, personally, I love the bit about not going to the gym." Lynne Truss, bestselling author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, The Times (London) "Part Proustian memoir, part guide to living well, part recipe for Miracle Leek Soup, this book announces its distance from the Zone, the Atkins and all the rest on the very first page . . . Even the most skeptical and envious woman will find it hard to hold out against the charms of a beautifully written book that features both chocolate and love as key ingredients in a balanced diet."Allison Pearson, The Daily Telegraph (London) "Mireille Guiliano's book is slender, elegant, well-spoken, sensible, and unembarrassed by the frank embrace of stratagemsjust like the French women whom she holds up to the reader to admire and, if we can, to emulate." Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon "I recognized things from my own French background and discovered quite a bit more. An important and fascinating book for all those people out there who've ridden the vicious diet roller coaster to failure." -Nicole Miller "Not only delicious, but a true story from one of the greatest ladies in the world." -Chef Emeril Lagasse "French Women Don't Get Fat is not only charming and witty, but useful. It made me want to run out and buy a pound of leeks and a bottle of Champagne!" -Sharon Boorstin, author of Cooking for Love and Let Us Eat Cake, "It's hard not to be enlivened by a [weight-control] book that celebrates both chocolate and bread, and espouses such wisdom as 'Life without pasta? Perish the thought.'" Lily Burana, Washington Post Book World "The perfect book for the more literate dieter . . . A blueprint for building a healthy attitude toward food and exercise . . . Full of down-to earth advice . . . We'd all be thinner (and happier) if we followed it." Miriam Wolf, San Francisco Chronicle "You've heard it before . . . But somehow, when the advice comes from Mireille Guiliano, you actually listen. A perfect, slim (and slimming) read for dieters and bon vivants alike." Marie Claire "Ah, Paris, the ideal destination for museum-hopping, couture shoppingand quick weight loss? Mais oui, insists Mireille Guiliano . . . For those who can't hop a plane whenever their zippers won't close . . . her new memoir-cum-'nondiet' book [is] filled with slimming secrets." Kim Hubbard, People "She spurs readers to give up the guilt and dieting extremes, to eat smarter and more joyfully . . . Readers can practically hear the rustling of fallen leaves beneath the narrator's feet as she forages for mushrooms . . . Her writing, like her three-meals-a-day diet, is all part of her joie de vivre." Rosemary Feitelberg, Women's Wear Daily "Delightful . . . Hands down, this is the best of the newest crop of weight-control books." Nanci Hellmich, USA Today "The past few years have been dominated by 'scientific' diets . . . I welcome this break from the usual kind of quick-fix diet book . . . Will this book transform one's eating habits? Its good sense is unanswerableand, personally, I love the bit about not going to the gym." Lynne Truss, bestselling author of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, The Times (London) "Part Proustian memoir, part guide to living well, part recipe for Miracle Leek Soup, this book announces its distance from the Zone, the Atkins and all the rest on the very first page . . . Even the most skeptical and envious woman will find it hard to hold out against the charms of a beautifully written book that features both chocolate and love as key ingredients in a balanced diet."Allison Pearson, The Daily Telegraph (London) "Mireille Guiliano's book is slender, elegant, well-spoken, sensible, and unembarrassed by the frank embrace of stratagemsjust like the French women whom she holds up to the reader to admire and, if we can, to emulate." Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon "I recognized things from my own French background and discovered quite a bit more. An important and fascinating book for all those people out there who've ridden the vicious diet roller coaster to failure." -Nicole Miller "Not only delicious, but a true story from one of the greatest ladies in the world." -Chef Emeril Lagasse " French Women Don't Get Fat is not only charming and witty, but useful. It made me want to run out and buy a pound of leeks and a bottle of Champagne!" -Sharon Boorstin, author of Cooking for Love and Let Us Eat Cake From the Hardcover edition.
Synopsis
Stylish, convincing, wise, funnyand just in time: the ultimate non -diet book, which could radically change the way you think and live. French women don't get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals. In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this "French paradox"how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Hers is a charming, sensible, and powerfully life-affirming view of health and eating for our times. As a typically slender French girl, Mireille (Meer- ray ) went to America as an exchange student and came back fat. That shock sent her into an adolescent tailspin, until her kindly family physician, "Dr. Miracle," came to the rescue. Reintroducing her to classic principles of French gastronomy plus time-honored secrets of the local women, he helped her restore her shape and gave her a whole new understanding of food, drink, and life. The key? Not guilt or deprivation but learning to get the most from the things you most enjoy. Following her own version of this traditional wisdom, she has ever since relished a life of indulgence without bulge, satisfying yen without yo-yo on three meals a day. Now in simple but potent strategies and dozens of recipes you'd swear were fattening, Mireille reveals the ingredients for a lifetime of weight controlfrom the emergency weekend remedy of Magical Leek Soup to everyday tricks like fooling yourself into contentment and painless new physical exertions to save you from the StairMaster. Emphasizing the virtues of freshness, variety, balance, and always pleasure, Mireille shows how virtually anyone can learn to eat, drink, and move like a French woman. A natural raconteur, Mireille illustrates her philosophy through the experiences that have shaped her lifea six-year-old's first taste of Champagne, treks in search of tiny blueberries (called myrtilles ) in the woods near her grandmother's house, a near-spiritual rendezvous with oysters at a seaside restaurant in Brittany, to name but a few. She also shows us other women discovering the wonders of "French in action," drawing examples from dozens of friends and associates she has advised over the years to eat and drink smarter and more joyfully. Here are a culture's most cherished and time-honored secrets recast for the twenty-first century. For anyone who has slipped out of her zone, missed the flight to South Beach, or accidentally let a carb pass her lips, here is a buoyant, positive way to stay trim. A life of wine, breadeven chocolatewithout girth or guilt? Pourquoi pas?, Stylish, convincing, wise, funny-and just in time: the ultimate non -diet book, which could radically change the way you think and live. French women don't get fat, but they do eat bread and pastry, drink wine, and regularly enjoy three-course meals. In her delightful tale, Mireille Guiliano unlocks the simple secrets of this "French paradox"-how to enjoy food and stay slim and healthy. Hers is a charming, sensible, and powerfully life-affirming view of health and eating for our times. As a typically slender French girl, Mireille (Meer- ray ) went to America as an exchange student and came back fat. That shock sent her into an adolescent tailspin, until her kindly family physician, "Dr. Miracle," came to the rescue. Reintroducing her to classic principles of French gastronomy plus time-honored secrets of the local women, he helped her restore her shape and gave her a whole new understanding of food, drink, and life. The key? Not guilt or deprivation but learning to get the most from the things you most enjoy. Following her own version of this traditional wisdom, she has ever since relished a life of indulgence without bulge, satisfying yen without yo-yo on three meals a day. Now in simple but potent strategies and dozens of recipes you'd swear were fattening, Mireille reveals the ingredients for a lifetime of weight control-from the emergency weekend remedy of Magical Leek Soup to everyday tricks like fooling yourself into contentment and painless new physical exertions to save you from the StairMaster. Emphasizing the virtues of freshness, variety, balance, and always pleasure, Mireille shows how virtually anyone can learn to eat, drink, and move like a French woman. A natural raconteur, Mireille illustrates her philosophy through the experiences that have shaped her life-a six-year-old's first taste of Champagne, treks in search of tiny blueberries (called myrtilles ) in the woods near her grandmother's house, a near-spiritual rendezvous with oysters at a seaside restaurant in Brittany, to name but a few. She also shows us other women discovering the wonders of "French in action," drawing examples from dozens of friends and associates she has advised over the years to eat and drink smarter and more joyfully. Here are a culture's most cherished and time-honored secrets recast for the twenty-first century. For anyone who has slipped out of her zone, missed the flight to South Beach, or accidentally let a carb pass her lips, here is a buoyant, positive way to stay trim. A life of wine, bread-even chocolate-without girth or guilt? Pourquoi pas?
