We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures [Hardcover]

Philippe Delerm (Author), Sarah Hamp (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 19, 1999

A number-one bestseller in France: A charming medititation on the pleasures of life, from shelling peas to reading on the beach.

"A tiny breeze of delirious wisdom which changes everything and nothing...We could almost eat outside."

An enchanting valentine to the everyday delights life has to offer, this short book captured the imagination of the French public last year and became a number-one bestseller. Sales are now over 600,000 copies. In each brief chapter the author contemplates the seemingly ordinary experiences that add joy to life, whether it's the first sip of beer, the snowstorm inside a paperweight, reading an Agatha Christie novel, or the smell of apples.

At once uniquely French and yet universal, told with a lively, almost childlike curiosity, this charming book reminds us to enjoy and appreciate the small things that make life worthwhile.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This French bestseller revels in life's small pleasures. Whether it be a croissant in the street, the Tour de France, a potluck, shelling peas, a glass of port, the smell of apples, the mobile library, a garden in August, getting your espadrilles wet, or an autumn sweater, these 34 short essays delight in the simple. In colorful, sensory language that's perfect for reading out loud, author Philippe Delerm paints a world of possibility and profound joy.

From the title essay:

It's the almost that counts, and the use of the conditional. The suggestion seems absurd at first. It's only the beginning of March and there's been nothing but rain, wind and showers all week. And now this. Since this morning, the sun's been shining with a sort of dull intensity, a calm persistence. Lunch is ready, and the table's been laid. But everything seems different somehow, even inside. The window's slightly ajar, there's an audible hum from outside and the air feels fresh.

Though it could easily be read in one sitting, this book is the kind to savor piece by piece like the delicacies of day-to-day life the author serves up as small, precious gifts. --Kathryn True

From Kirkus Reviews

Another attempt to jump on the bandwagon of the so-called simplicity movement, this time with a Gallic twist. This is French bestseller Delerms first book to be published in the US, and at first glance it would seem to fit quite comfortably among the hordes of books currently exhorting Americans to slow down and enjoy the mundane joys of life. Unfortunately, the author tends to wring the pleasure from most of the simple things he recommends for appreciation. The book, which consists of 34 short chapters (none more than three pages long), extols the virtues of, for instance, blackberry picking, going to the movies, and looking through a kaleidoscope, and its quite possible that readers will go and perform the activities Delerm describes, if only to escape his precious and overwrought prose. His rhapsody on an autumn sweater could double as an entry in the J. Peterman catalog: Time for a new sweater. Time to dress in autumn tones: sweet chestnut, brushwood, conker husk, russula pink. Time to wear the season on your woollen sleeve. To celebrate the blaze before it burns itself out. Though its armchair philosophy is tiresome, the book is somewhat attractive as armchair travel, since a number of the pleasures that Delerm endorses are specifically French, such as the moving walkway in the Montparnasse metro station or the best way to play ptanque. And his descriptions of food and drink, which uphold Frances position as a nation of gourmands, will delight foodiesespecially the chapter on A Sunday Morning Box of Pastries, which puts American delicacies like Krispy Kremes to shame. Well intentioned, but remarkably tedious for such a short book. -- Copyright ©1999, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (June 19, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312203640
• ISBN-13: 978-0312203641
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #933,339 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, July 24, 2000

By 

Mary G. Longorio "Texasbookgirl" (Eagle Mountain, UT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures (Hardcover)

This slim volume offers up simple wisdoms of life. Translated from the French, there are very few things that do not universally carry over into my American sensibilities. Each brief essay presents one of the small and simple pleasures of life....driving at night, autumn sweaters, picking blackberries, the first sip of beer, and hearing a loved one's voice over the phone, among others. The essays on ordering and eating a banana split and paperweights are priceless. The insight offered. that we perch on the brim of possibility, the "make-believe world pitted against the real world" awaiting our decisions While this book points out the obvious, it is never too sweet or cloying. The use of language and phrasing is beautiful; the imagery it conjures up is a joy to read. I marked many of the pages, so I could find the wonderful phrases which caught my attention and imagination. This is a writer of rare talent. This is a book I will read over and often.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars little taste of life..., June 23, 2000

By 

Melody (Palo Alto, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures (Hardcover)

If you are looking for a light but meaningful book you can read over and over, this is the right book you're looking for. Delerm's writing helps his readers explore the trivial but tender details in life, from a banana-split to reading on the beach; from a pullover in autumn to highway at night... he uses condensed language to depict some trinket but magical moments in ordinary living. You won't regret it.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Remembrance of Things Past, April 23, 2004

By 

Diana F. Von Behren "reneofc" (Kenner, LA USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: We Could Almost Eat Outside: An Appreciation of Life's Small Pleasures (Hardcover)

If you have read 'Joie De Vivre' by Robert Arbor and enjoyed the concentration to detail and the concept of savoring those things which we identify with our lifestyles, you will definitely want to pick up Philippe Delerm's little book of small thoughts associated with moments in his life. If you have read Clower's "Fat Fallacy" and are intrigued with the French diet and its supposed inconsistancies with current nutritional advice, after reading "We Could Almost Eat Outside", you will perhaps understand better the concept of small bites full of flavor that stay with you and rekindle memories from childhood and other stages of life. Think the anticipation on Christmas morning or the anticipated crack of freshness in the air after a new snow and comprehension will dawn -- its not the food (or whatever) its the emotion it evokes.

Delerm writes down his memories about objects and moments in time, that some readers will find difficult to relate to only because they are seemingly specific to the French culture. However, if you eliminate the brand names and the high-speed trains, these simple poetic essays will trigger Proustian thoughts in your own mind and you will seek out your own croissant eaten in the street and your own taste of Turkish Delight purchased in a bag and not a box.

Thoughtfully and beautifully rendered. If you can, read it in its original language.