They Eat Horses, Don't They?: The Truth About the French

by Piu Marie Eatwell

Overview

They Eat Horses, Don't They?:The Truth About the French tells you what life in France is really like. Do the French eat horses? Do French women bare all on the beach? What is a bidet really used for?

In this hilarious and informative book, Piu Marie Eatwell reveals the truth behind forty-five myths about the French, from the infamous horsemeat banquets of the nineteenth century that inspired an irrepressible rumor, to breaking down our long-held beliefs about French history and society (the French are a nation of cheese-eating surrender monkeys, right?).

Eatwell lived in France for many years and made the most of long French weekends, extended holidays, and paid time off to sit on French beaches, evaluate the sexual allure of the French men and women around her, and, of course, scan café menus for horses and frogs. As a result, They Eat Horses, Don't They? reveals a fascinating picture of historical and contemporary France—a country that has both changed radically in the twenty-first century, but yet still retains much of the mystery, romance, and allure that has seduced foreigners for decades. Truth, as always, is stranger than fiction. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781466854932
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	12/09/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	343
File size:	8 MB

About the Author

Piu Marie Eatwell went to France for a long weekend one August summer holiday many years ago. She never left. After graduating from Oxford University with a First Class degree in English language and literature, she trained first as a BBC television producer and then as a lawyer. Over the years she has worked in various positions as a documentary film maker, barrister, teacher, mother, and—most recently—full-time writer, both in London and Paris. They Eat Horses, Don't They? is her first book.

Editorial Reviews

…a highly entertaining book that subjects popular stereotypes to a reality-based fact-check. Eatwell aims to present France as it really is, "an industrial power like any other—blotted and scarred with the battles of immigration, industrialization, fast food, overcrowding and mass-market culture," and not as "a mausoleum imprisoned forever in a cheese-eating, garlic-munching, glamorously thin-woman Neverland." The France she depicts offers a welcome corrective to the charming postcard tableaux on display in the faux innocent-abroad works that have proliferated like multicolored macarons ever since Peter Mayle's 1989 memoir, A Year in Provence, became a best seller.

The New York Times Book Review - Judith Warner

11/03/2014
British-born francophile and France-resident Eatwell conducts a lighthearted journey through her adopted country by setting the record straight on commonly held stereotypes about the French. Divvying her subject up into 10 categories ranging from food and drink to the shifty relations between the United Kingdom and France, Eatwell includes a series of myths for each section that she explores with historical and contemporary anecdotes backed by secondary sources, but her conclusions seem somewhat subjective, and she concedes, “opinions and conclusions in this book are entirely my own.” It is true that the French kiss upon greeting, tend to forgive political adulterers, have not quit smoking, and dislike pooper scoopers, yet it is surprising to find resistance among Parisians to the once ubiquitous bidet. While the point of view is decidedly British, the combination of history, trivia, and firsthand observations offers insights into the cultures on both ends of the Chunnel. Agent: Andrew Lownie, Andrew Lownie Literary Agency (U.K.) (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

A highly entertaining book… The France she depicts offers a welcome corrective to the charming postcard tableaux on display in the faux innocent-abroad works that have proliferated like multicolored macarons.” —The New York Times Book Review

“[A] very funny take-down of French stereotypes… Eatwell's tome is not only humorous, but also painstakingly researched.” —The Boston Globe

“Eatwell's smart book is an entertaining procession through French history and culture as well as a shrewd portrait of contemporary France, it's full of surprises and revelations” —Chicago Tribune

“In They Eat Horses, Don't They? ex-pat English writer Piu Marie Eatwell (a great last name for a Francophile Brit), sets out to be expose popular myths and stereotypes about the French...with abundant wit and good humor along the way.” —The Washington Times

“Eatwell's myth busting has broad appeal and will draw in readers, from Francophiles to history and culture buffs alike.” —Library Journal

“Lovers of Paris will enjoy Eatwell's chronicles of her journeys...Entertaining mini-essays that debunk common idealized conceptions of the French.” —Kirkus Reviews

“British-born francophile and France-resident Eatwell conducts a lighthearted journey through her adopted country by setting the record straight on commonly held stereotypes about the French… the combination of history, trivia, and firsthand observations offers insights into the cultures on both ends of the Channel.” —Publishers Weekly

“With a lawyer's forensic approach, she examines the stereotypes of French life,so beloved of the British in particular, and discovers that many are completely false.” —Daily Mail (UK)

“Eatwell's fun but informative cultural overview delights in exploding a few myths that the British in particular have about the French, but it's also a timely answer to the slew of studies promoting a French way of life” —Independent on Sunday

“Eatwell...offers an entertaining and fluently written tour around the subject, touching on everything from adultery to the bad smell of the Paris Metro.” —Charles Bremner, The Times (UK)

“An intriguing portrait of just how much France has changed over the past 50 years or so.” —The Spectator

“A fine read.” —The Sun

“Bracingly factual.” —The Daily Mail

From the Publisher

12/01/2014
Join former lawyer/filmmaker Eatwell as she debunks myths about the French in this fun, informative guide. Each chapter presents a myth followed by a thorough, well-researched explanation and ends with a "myth evaluation" of true, false, or somewhere in between. Beginning with food, the author explores the titular tradition about the French predilection for horses, frogs, and snails and concludes that it's "arguably true." Along with fictions about France's cuisine, the book investigates the truth behind about all things French from French sex and marriage to the French on holiday and the country's history and culture. Eatwell, herself a British import to France, concludes with a section on "the best of enemies" by looking at tales concerning the two countries. For example, the accepted wisdom about the British as expert gardeners is determined to be false as she judiciously notes that "the French and English have been champions of gardening at different periods of history." The volume contains delightful illustrations and photographs. VERDICT Eatwell's myth busting has broad appeal and will draw in readers, from Francophiles to history and culture buffs alike.—Lacy S. Wolfe, Ouachita Baptist Univ. Lib., Arkadelphia, AR

Library Journal

2014-09-29
In this debut, Eatwell pulls back the veil on France and French culture, exposing the truth behind 45 myths that have swirled around the French for ages.Through research and interviews with countless English and French people, the author begins by examining the eating, drinking and bathing habits of the French. She intertwines historical facts with present-day evaluations, providing readers with in-depth analyses on a wide array of topics, including the eating of horse meat in France, the numerous types of cheese available and the subcultures that surround them, and the drinking habits of the old and young. She examines French toilets and plumbing, which body parts French women shave, if any, and the use of the bidet, which turned into a common feature in whorehouses; it was "the indispensable tool of the trade for the world's oldest profession, a receptacle for ablutions, a cleansing contraceptive, purger of venereal disease, and in some cases an aid to home abortion." Lovers of Paris will enjoy Eatwell's chronicles of her journeys through the streets of the Left Bank in search of artists and writers, her descents into the Paris Metro and cataloging of its various smells. She also discusses the massive amount of canine excrement found on Paris streets. In addition, she follows the French on holiday as they flee the cities and migrate to the coast and tells all on French women going topless on the beaches. The French have influenced cultures around the world, but particularly that of the British, and Eatwell also studies the effects French food and culture have had on their neighbors across the Channel. At the end of each piece, the author provides a "myth evaluation" on the myth's overall veracity. Entertaining mini-essays that debunk common idealized conceptions of the French.

Kirkus Reviews