They Eat Horses, Don't They?

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He is an over-sexed, chain-smoking serial adulterer whose breath reeks of garlic. When not force-feeding geese or abandoning allies in wartime, he is preoccupied with his next extramarital affair. His chic, pencil-thin wife tolerates his liaisons, as she juggles her own affairs while raising five well-adjusted children and excelling in her career. Leaving work mid-afternoon, he enters a Left Bank cinema to watch a film where nothing happens, then drinks absinthe in a bar filled with Gauloises-puffing intellectuals discussing post-structuralism. His realization of the meaninglessness of existence, coupled with anticipation for his regular cinq à sept with Sylvie, sharpens his appetite. He orders food, with the steak almost raw and the meat from a horse. He embodies the mythical Frenchman, a figure surrounded by countless myths and legends. In exploring over forty of these persistent myths—covering topics from sex and smoking to food, film, wine, women, and even plumbing—Piu Marie Eatwell reveals surprising insights that challenge and overturn many cherished preconceptions about the lifestyles of the French. Her thoroughly entertaining investigations offer a fresh perspective on our Gallic neighbors.