Anne Berest - How to be a Parisian

English translation copyright 2014 by Susanna Lea Associates

All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Doubleday, a division of Random House LLC, New York, and in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto, Penguin Random House companies.

This is a translation of the unpublished French manuscript copyright Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, and Sophie Mas

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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Berest, Anne, 1979
How to be Parisian wherever you are: love, style, and bad habits/Anne Berest, Audrey Diwan, Caroline de Maigret, Sophie Mas. First edition.
pages cm
ISBN: 978-0-385-53865-7 (hardback)
ISBN: 978-0-385-53866-4 (eBook)
1. WomenFranceParisSocial life and customs. 2. FrenchSocial life and customs. 3. FashionFranceParis. 4. Man-woman relationshipsFranceParis. 5. Paris (France)Civilization21st century. I. Title.
HQ 1613. B 43 2014
305.40944361dc23
2014012863

eBook ISBN: 9780385538664

v3.1_r1

A story should have a beginning, a middle and an end, but not necessarily in that order.

JEAN-LUC GODARD

The truth is out: Parisiennes arent privy to a secret skinny gene, they arent always easy to be with, and arent all perfect mothers. In fact, they are very imperfect, vague, unreliable, and full of paradoxes. But they can also be funny, attentive, curious, and ironic, and they know how to enjoy life.

We are four Parisian women who have been friends for ages. We are very different in many ways but always agree about the important things. Weve spent countless long nights laughing with each other and sharing that typically French enthusiasm for transforming life into fiction. As youll discover, Parisian women spend an inordinate amount of energy trying to spin every episode of their existence into a very good story.

Our aim here is to give you an insight into the quintessentially Parisian art of being a woman. Were methodical and yet shambolic, proud and yet self-deprecating, loyal and yet unfaithful. Well point out our attitude, nonchalance, our low-key style, what we are like in love, and how we choose to spend our days and nights. We hope that the following pages will dispel the mystery.

To be read out loud every night before going to bed. Even when inebriated:

Dont be afraid of aging. As the saying goes, dont be afraid of anything but fear itself. Find your perfume before you turn thirty. Wear it for the next thirty years. No one should ever see your gums when you talk or laugh. If you own only one sweater, make sure its cashmere. Wear a black bra under your white blouse, like two notes on a sheet of music. One must live with the opposite sex, not against them. Except when making love. Be unfaithful: cheat on your perfume, but only on cold days. Go to the theater, to museums, and to concerts as often as possible: it gives you a healthy glow. Be aware of your qualities and your faults. Cultivate them in private but dont obsess. Make it look easy. Everything you do should seem effortless and graceful. Not too much makeup, too many colors, too many accessories Take a deep breath and keep it simple. Your look should always have one thing left undonethe devil is in the details. Be your own knight in shining armor. Cut your own hair or ask your sister to do it for you. Of course you know celebrity hairdressers, but only as friends.