Instead of joining the many Anglo expats in Paris whining about France’s high taxes, Kuper admires the generosity of the French system.

An absorbing, affectionate, astutely observed, cliche-free study of contemporary France..

As he learns to be a local... Kuper can seem a little too pleased with himself.

Enjoyable.

The book is certainly informative as a sociological study and discourse on Parisian life.

Kuper’s trenchant, emotionally moving insights into Parisians’ lives offer a very humane portrait of Parisians trying to build productive lives for themselves and their offspring in a complicated metropolis..

In self-aware prose shot through with droll wit, Kuper renders Paris’s triumphs and challenges alongside more mundane yet no less revealing moments.