The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us--and Why the Feeling Is Mutual [Hardcover]

Richard Chesnoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 25, 2005

Imagine the fun Mark Twain would have had with France’s undeclared war on America. That’s the kind of humorous insight that journalist Richard Z. Chesnoff delivers in this book. Living among the French in a tiny farming village, Chesnoff vividly dissects the national arrogance, snobbery, and superiority that fuel France’s blatant contempt for the United States.

And the feeling’s mutual. Frustration with the French in Middle America reached an all- time high when we learned of France’s apparent complicity with Saddam Hussein’s regime. “Freedom fries,” boycotts of French wine, and mockery of all things French have become part of the current political dialogue.

But as Chesnoff points out, Franco-American rancor is centuries old, and our current disgust with the French dates back to at least the 1980s, when they refused to let the United States use their air space on the way to bomb Libya. “Are they our allies or not?” we wondered. If Americans didn’t have such an (unrequited) love affair with French food, fashion, and springtime in Paris, we’d be asking, “With friends like that... ?”

Chesnoff offers witty commentaries on the French way of life and why the two countries find each other so exasperating. Are they really just jealous that we replaced them as a global superpower? Have they forgotten America’s sacrifice for France in World Wars I and II? Do they have a right to be haughty when their cuisine, fashion, art, and universities are losing ground to other centers of culture?

This will be the perfect book for anyone who has ever wondered how a beautiful love affair between two countries could go so wrong.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pitched somewhere between just kidding and deeply affronted, this book from the veteran U.S. News Paris correspondent (and now contributing editor) systematically airs most of the complaints on both sides of the Franco-American equation, but with an exasperated jingoism that makes clear on every page where his loyalties lie. That heightened tone is part of the point, mirroring the heated, and mostly empty, rhetoric he finds has been bridging the Atlantic for the past 300 years. But Chesnoff's pro-U.S. J'accuse has a set of specific charges that include weakness during WWII, wrongness on Israel, collusion with terror from the 1960s on and oil deals with Saddam that, he says, drove recent French policy on Iraq. Threaded throughout his familiar and very broad stroke macropolitical analyses are micropolitical ones, as Chesnoff goes into great detail, for example, about the mechanics of his rural neighbor's concerted dislike of him (wryly noting that "it probably didn't help that I was a J-E-W"). The result is a kind of slapdash anti–A Year in Provence, drawing on a lifetime's anecdotes of étranger insult with a variety of untempered history lessons thrown in. (Apr. 25)
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Review

Americans-and the French-will learn a lot from this book. -- Michael Barone, Co-author, The Almanac of American Politics

France sucks, but this book doesn't. -- Dennis Miller

Richard Z. Chesnoff insightfully-and entertainingly-explores America's most dysfunctional relationship with America's least reliable ally. -- Clifford D. May, President, Foundation for the Defense of Democracies

This book will open your eyes! -- Sean Hannity

Why do the French hate America? Richard Chesnoff has figured it out and informs us with entertaining clarity. -- Bill O'Reilly

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: Sentinel HC (April 25, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595230106
• ISBN-13: 978-1595230102
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,638,977 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

73 of 85 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE TRUTH IS PAINFUL, May 23, 2005

By 

A PROUD BUT HONEST FRENCHMAN (LYON, FRANCE) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us--and Why the Feeling Is Mutual (Hardcover)

I am a French reader who often chooses American and British books in order to get a non-French point of view. Chesnoff's new book "The Arrogance of the French" was sent to me by an American friend. It makes painful reading for any French person, but if I want to be honest, I must admit he has captured the essence of all our faults and prideful behavior - and with wit and humor. Moreover, I found that while it is written with harsh criticisms and even anger at our attitude towards the nation that saved us from destruction, it is not without sympathy for France - and certainly not written in hatred. General De Gaulle used to warn that we French could often be our own worst enemies - and this book points that out all too well. A well done book!

92 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and a delight to read - recommended!, May 13, 2005

By 

Craig Matteson (Saline, MI) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us--and Why the Feeling Is Mutual (Hardcover)

The author of this delightful and informative book, Richard Chesnoff, has lived in and reported on France for decades. He is quite aware of the charms of the country without being blind to its faults and perverseness. This book provides us with explanations that help us understand why France is the way she is and how her relationship with the United States has had more vacillations than a drunk walking through the spinning barrels at Coney Island.

Chesnoff shows us the current internal contradictions of French society. They view themselves as the rightful dispensers of culture to the world while decrying the spread of our culture all the while eating at McDonalds, wearing Jeans, and watching our TV shows and movies. They want to work less and are most concerned at their deteriorating social safety net and have the most uninformed notions about real life in America. They imagine endless grinding poverty amidst the palaces of the rich.

The author reminds us that France was an ardent supporter of the founding of Israel, but has slowly morphed into a staunch ally of the Arab nations. The financial benefits, kickbacks, bribes, and corruption that France receives from nations such as Quadaffi's Libya and Saddam's Iraq go a decent way down the road in explaining their - nearly unilateral - opposition to the United States in extending the War on Terror to Iraq.

Also, the Arab population within France is now around 10% and has a huge birth rate as opposed to the indigenous French population's negative growth rate. Yet, the Arab faces are largely excluded from the media, and religious expression such as Muslim girls wearing the headscarves at school is banned. Nonetheless, anti-Semitism against Jews is tacitly acceptable and all too prevalent.

We are provided an explanation of the French educational system and how its emphasis on Descartes and individual work leads to some absurd expressions of national character. There is a reason that deconstructionism experienced its florescence in France.

The author also provides a chapter on why he continues to live in France, what he delights in even though he admits living in a medieval heap of stones that he has fixed up, much to the consternation of his neighbors who disapprove of anything that smacks of personal initiative. Each chapter also begins with a delightful cartoon illustrating the point of the pages to follow. One of the chapters also provides a list of French owned companies you can boycott if you wish. However, once you read the list, you will realize that it is a tough thing to do.

The appendix provides handy French phrases for dealing with snooty Frenchmen (or Frenchwomen) with a pronunciation guide and an English translation. There is also a helpful index.

This is a very fun and informative read. The prose is a delight. I cannot imagine why you would not want to spend a few hours enjoying its many pleasures. Recommended.

65 of 90 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Killing them softly.., April 29, 2005

By 

Peter Shaerf (New York) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Arrogance of the French: Why They Can't Stand Us--and Why the Feeling Is Mutual (Hardcover)

Richard Chesnoff has written a gem of a book. Like a precious jewel or keepsake I will keep this edition by my bedside through many moons. What he achieves with a disarming charm and wit is a complete put down of the French "hauteur". As an Englishman I delighted in this book with the sprinkling of historical overview and anecdotal experiences from living in France and peppered with entertaining dialogue and discourse, Chesnoff has created a picture of the French that is far from flattering and yet at the same time is a gloriously understated putdown. Chesnoff is a great raconteur..Oh Merde! I used a French word! ( be sure not to miss the insult dictionary in the back of the book.. a travellers must!). The book is a delight that even a francophile ( are there any?) would begrudgingly enjoy!