Every Frenchman Has One by Olivia de Havilland

Every Frenchman Has One by Olivia de Havilland is a reprint that I recently read.  I was put off by the tone of the writing in the first chapter.  I had the feeling that Ms. de Havilland, while a wonderful actress, found herself so amusing that she must surely have giggled all the way through that first chapter.  I stuck with the book despite this.  It was worthwhile!

As I settled into the book, and I presume as she settled into her writing, the book actually came out rather well.  While it's a small book, it is packed full of short chapters that could easily stand alone as essays on a variety of subjects from the French preoccupation with the state of their liver, to how they viewed the female bosom, child birth, apartments, and more.  It is a lovely representation of Paris in the early 1960's. 

Ms. de Havilland does take up her silly writing again here and there but for the most part she is more than a decent writer. 

I received this book from Blogging for Books in consideration of a review.  The opinion is this review is entirely my own.