Fragile Glory: A Portrait of France and the French

by Richard Bernstein

Overview

"The most penetrating account of contemporary France we're ever likely to own. In looking for clues to French character, the author explores everything from wine culture to cultural politics, movies, food and the higher eroticism."—New York Times

An enormously entertaining account of contemporary France from the former Paris bureau chief of The New York Times. Bernstein combines personal memoir, informed observation, and news-hound curiosity to offer a stirring and unforgettable panaorama of France—at times exalted, troubling, and occasionally absurd.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780452266780
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	09/26/1991
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	7.05(w) x 10.76(h) x 0.76(d)

About the Author

Richard Bernstein has been a reporter, culture critic, and commentator for more than thirty years. He was a foreign correspondent in Asia and Europe for Time magazine and The New York Times, and was the first Beijing bureau chief for Time. He is the author of many books on Chinese and Asian themes, among them The Coming Conflict with China and Ultimate Journey, the latter of which was a New York Times Best Book of the Year. He is also the author of Out of the Blue: A Narrative of September 11, 2001, which was named by The Boston Globe as one of the seven best books of 2002. He lives in New York.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Imaginary Country

I. FRANCE DEEP AND FRANCE PARISIAN
1. The Miracle of the Whole
2. The Persistence of the Parts
3. Villages
4. Paris the Conqueror

II. THE FRENCH: WHO THEY ARE
5. Blood, Names, and Identity
6. The R5 and Other Complexes
7. Gallic Shrugs and Other Supposed Imperfections
8. The Myth of the Anti-American
9. Jews, Arabs, and Other "Foreigners"
10. In Praise of Frivolity
11. The Revenge of the Bourgeoisie
12. The Noble Residue
13. Elegance and Anarchy
14. A Contentious Solidarity

III. THE REASONS AND THE MYSTERIES OF STATE
15. A Country Cut in One
16. The Sardonic Worship of the Political Class
17. The Way to Power
18. Above the Laws of the Republic
19. The Shadowy Paths of Grandeur
20. Gaullists and Bonapartists, Presidents and Kings

Afterword: An Elegy for the French Difference
Index

Editorial Reviews

"Fascinating."—Peter Mayle, New York Times bestselling author of A Year in Provence

“The most penetrating account of contemporary France we're ever likely to own… a compendium of the best and most useful French thinking about France.”—New York Times

“An entertaining survey of the French life-style—the food, the mistresses, the love of aesthetics.”—Kirkus Reviews
 
“This well-rounded portrait of France today is a spirited introduction to a prosperous, complacent, Americanized people whom modernity has 'leached out of their particularity.’”—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Bernstein maintains that the French, contrary to their reputation for smugness, are actually shy, elegant and formal people with an anarchic streak and a devotion to pleasure. ``This well-rounded portrait of France today is a spirited introduction to a prosperous, complacent, Americanized people whom modernity has `leached out of their particularity,' '' said PW. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Why are the French both so appealing and annoying? Is Paris slipping? These and other questions are answered by former New York Times Paris correspondent Bernstein in this thorough analysis of what makes the French tick. Rich in anecdote and personal experience, this account examines Paris, les provinces, and the French persona, as well as government and politics. The author notes that while France is no longer among the leading powers, nowhere else can one live so well. Although Theodore Zeldin's slightly dated The French ( LJ 2/15/83) remains the standard work, Bernstein has written a most useful account, sure to be in demand. BOMC selection.-- Ian Wallace, Agriculture Canada Lib., St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec

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