Book description
Designed primarily for people who will be living or working in France for extended periods, offers lessons on French manners, attitudes, and culture.
Why read it?
1 author picked French or Foe? as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
Polly Platt was the first author to write about the frustrating features of French in a way that would help foreigners deal with them. In this classic, first published in 1994, she delves into their intense relationship to food, explains how to handle rudeness in stores, how to deal with the French bureaucracy, how their idea of time can drive foreigners crazy and much more. Platt’s observations were eye-opening for me when I first moved to France and are still relevant 25 years later.
From Julie's list on The best books for understanding the French.
If you love French or Foe?...
December on 5C4
Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!
On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…
Want books like French or Foe??
Our community of 13,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like French or Foe?.
Share your top 3 reads of 2026!
And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.
170
readers submitted
so far, will you?
📚 If you like French or Foe?, you might also like...
Sexy Selfie Nation
The problem is not with the actions young women take but with the toxic, sexist conditions they are responding to.
Tanenbaum found, based on six years of interviews with young people ages 14-30, that young women are navigating a culture littered with gendered dress codes, revenge porn, and sexually explicit…
In This Together
In This Together explores how we can harness our social networks to make a real impact fighting the climate crisis. Against notions of the lone environmental crusader, Marianne E. Krasny shows us the power of "network climate action"—the idea that our own ordinary acts can influence and inspire those close…
