reading

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Contents

Introduction: Happiness is . . . pretending to be French

1. Don’t judge yourself for being young and foolish: Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan: (Or: Interfering in your father’s love life can have dire consequences)

2. When memories visit you, soak them up: À La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust: (Or: Find excuses to eat your favorite cake)

3. Sometimes you’ve just got to make the most of what you’ve got: Gigi by Colette: (Or: Don’t let someone publish your work under the name Willy)

4. No one can be truly happy while others suffer: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo: (Or: There are times when you need to write in your underpants)

5. Self-deceit is the surest path to misery: Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos: (Or: Do not use your naked lover as a writing desk)

6. Do not judge your own happiness—just let it be: L’Amant by Marguerite Duras: (Or: Avoid excessive alcohol consumption)

7. True happiness may involve quite a lot of hypocrisy: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert: (Or: Beware people who dump you by leaving a note in a basket of apricots)

8. Our greatest weaknesses conceal our greatest strengths: Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand: (Or: Be proud of your huge nose)

9. It’s all very well to be ambitious as long as you are willing to pay the price: Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant: (Or: The bigger the moustache, the greater the fall)

10. Social climbing rarely pays off, but you’ll probably want to do it anyway: Le Rouge et Le Noir by Stendhal: (Or: Don’t flirt with the woman who pays you to teach her children Latin)

11. If you’re going to behave badly, then do it in style: La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac: (Or: Use your disappointing looks to fuel a campaign of revenge against your more attractive cousin)

12. Freedom matters more than anything: L’Étranger by Albert Camus: (Or: Don’t take a gun to the beach)

Conclusion: Happiness is not feeling that you have to pretend to be French

Acknowledgments

A Note on Other Writers

Recommended Reading

Published in 2020 by Abrams Press, an imprint of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019939885

ISBN: 978-1-4197-4298-9

eISBN: 978-1-68335-797-1

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Introduction: Happiness is . . . pretending to be French

1. Don’t judge yourself for being young and foolish: Bonjour Tristesse by Françoise Sagan

(Or: Interfering in your father’s love life can have dire consequences)

2. When memories visit you, soak them up: À La Recherche du Temps Perdu by Marcel Proust

(Or: Find excuses to eat your favorite cake)

3. Sometimes you’ve just got to make the most of what you’ve got: Gigi by Colette

(Or: Don’t let someone publish your work under the name Willy)

4. No one can be truly happy while others suffer: Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

(Or: There are times when you need to write in your underpants)

5. Self-deceit is the surest path to misery: Les Liaisons Dangereuses by Choderlos de Laclos

(Or: Do not use your naked lover as a writing desk)

6. Do not judge your own happiness—just let it be: L’Amant by Marguerite Duras

(Or: Avoid excessive alcohol consumption)

7. True happiness may involve quite a lot of hypocrisy: Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

(Or: Beware people who dump you by leaving a note in a basket of apricots)

8. Our greatest weaknesses conceal our greatest strengths: Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

(Or: Be proud of your huge nose)

9. It’s all very well to be ambitious as long as you are willing to pay the price: Bel-Ami by Guy de Maupassant

(Or: The bigger the moustache, the greater the fall)

10. Social climbing rarely pays off, but you’ll probably want to do it anyway: Le Rouge et Le Noir by Stendhal

(Or: Don’t flirt with the woman who pays you to teach her children Latin)

11. If you’re going to behave badly, then do it in style: La Cousine Bette by Honoré de Balzac

(Or: Use your disappointing looks to fuel a campaign of revenge against your more attractive cousin)

12. Freedom matters more than anything: L’Étranger by Albert Camus

(Or: Don’t take a gun to the beach)

Conclusion: Happiness is not feeling that you have to pretend to be French

Acknowledgments

A Note on Other Writers