Au Revoir, Tristesse: Lessons in Happiness from French Literature

A blend of literary history,
memoir, and self-help that shows how French literature can bring humor,
happiness, and romance to our lives

  Like many people the
world over, Viv Groskop wishes she was a little more French. A writer
and comedian, Groskop studied the language obsessively starting at age
11 and spent every vacation in France, desperate to escape her
Englishness and to have some French chic rub off on her.

In Au Revoir, Tristesse,
Groskop mixes literary history and memoir to show how the classics of
French literature can expose us to another way of living, infuse our
days with joie de vivre, and teach us how to say goodbye to sadness.
Groskop explores the frothy hedonism of Colette, the wit of Cyrano de Bergerac, the intoxicating universe of Marguerite Duras, and the heady passions of Les Liaisons Dangereuses.
With chapters on Marcel Proust, Victor Hugo, Gustave Flaubert,
Stendhal, Honoré de Balzac, Albert Camus, and, of course, Françoise
Sagan, this is a delectable read for lovers of books and all things
French.