Every Frenchman Has One

Last updated
Every Frenchman Has One
Every Frenchman Has One.jpg
First edition bookcover
Author Olivia de Havilland
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectFrench life
GenreMemoir
PublishedMay 2, 1962 (Random House) [1]
Media typePrint
Pages202
ISBN 978-0-451-49739-0 2016 edition
OCLC 475546905

Every Frenchman Has One is a book written by American actress Olivia de Havilland. First published in 1962 by Random House, the memoir is a lighthearted account of the author's often amusing attempts to understand and adapt to French life, manners, and customs. [2] In the book, de Havilland writes about French traffic, French maids, French salesladies, French holidays, French law, French doctors, and the French language—all with good humor and affection. After being out of print for decades, the Crown Publishing Group under its Crown Archetype imprint released a new printing on June 28, 2016, to coincide with the author's one-hundredth birthday.

Contents

Synopsis

Every Frenchman Has One is a memoir about the author's life in Paris. There is no plot and follows no sequence of events. The book consists of twenty small chapters, each with a focus on some aspect of French life, manners, and customs from the perspective of someone new to the country. Through a series of vignettes and observations, each chapter explores a subject from the author's perspective as she experienced it, conveying the joys and difficulties encountered in her new French life. The title of the book refers to the liver—"the most significant of all human organs as the French constitution is concerned", according to the author. [3]

Critical response

In her review on the Backlots website, Laura Fowler writes, "Olivia de Havilland is an immensely talented and entertaining writer, and each chapter of the book is laugh-out-loud funny. It is evident to the reader just how much de Havilland loves Paris, the French, and living abroad." [4]

Publishing history

Every Frenchman Has One was first published by Random House in 1962. [5] The book sold out its first printing prior to the publication date and went on to become a best-seller. [6] [7] It was first published in Great Britain by Elek Books in 1962 [8] with a second impression appearing in 1963. After being out of print for decades, the Crown Publishing Group under its Crown Archetype imprint will release a new printing on June 28, 2016, to coincide with the author's one-hundredth birthday. [9]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivia de Havilland</span> British and American actress (1916–2020)

Dame Olivia Mary de Havilland was a British and American actress. The major works of her cinematic career spanned from 1935 to 1988. She appeared in 49 feature films and was one of the leading actresses of her time. At the time of her death in 2020 at age 104, she was the oldest living and earliest surviving Academy Award winner and was widely considered as being the last surviving major star from the Golden Age of Hollywood cinema. Her younger sister was Oscar-winning actress Joan Fontaine.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barbara W. Tuchman</span> American historian and author (1912–1989)

Barbara Wertheim Tuchman was an American historian, journalist and author. She won the Pulitzer Prize twice, for The Guns of August (1962), a best-selling history of the prelude to and the first month of World War I, and Stilwell and the American Experience in China (1971), a biography of General Joseph Stilwell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joan Fontaine</span> English-American actress (1917–2013)

Joan de Beauvoir de Havilland, known professionally as Joan Fontaine, was an English-American actress who is best known for her starring roles in Hollywood films during the Golden Age of Hollywood. Fontaine appeared in more than 45 films in a career that spanned five decades. She was the younger sister of actress Olivia de Havilland. Their rivalry was well-documented in the media at the height of Fontaine's career.

Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. It has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by the Germany-based media conglomerate Bertelsmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everyman's Library</span> Reprint series of Random House

Everyman's Library is a series of reprints of classic literature, primarily from the Western canon. It begun in 1906. It is currently published in hardback by Random House. It was originally an imprint of J. M. Dent, who continue to publish Everyman Paperbacks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">McClelland & Stewart</span> Canadian publishing company

McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pantheon Books</span> American book publishing imprint

Pantheon Books is an American book publishing imprint with editorial independence. It is part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alfred A. Knopf</span> American publishing house

Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers in addition to leading American literary trends. It was acquired by Random House in 1960, and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group division of Penguin Random House which is owned by the German conglomerate Bertelsmann.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ten Speed Press</span> American publishing house

Ten Speed Press is a publishing house founded in Berkeley, California, in 1971 by Phil Wood. It was bought by Random House in February 2009 and became part of their Crown Publishing Group division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies</span> British actress and centenarian

Dame Gwen Lucy Ffrangcon-Davies, was a British actress who worked mainly in theatre and television, as well as radio and film. She made her last acting appearance as a centenarian in 1991.

Hachette Book Group (HBG) is a publishing company owned by Hachette Livre, the largest publishing company in France, and the third largest trade and educational publisher in the world. Hachette Livre is a wholly owned subsidiary of Lagardère Group. HBG was formed when Hachette Livre purchased the Time Warner Book Group from Time Warner on March 31, 2006. Its headquarters are located at 1290 Avenue of the Americas, Midtown Manhattan, New York City. Hachette is considered one of the "big five" publishing companies, along with Holtzbrinck/Macmillan, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and Simon & Schuster. In one year, HBG publishes approximately 1400+ adult books, 300 books for young readers, and 450 audiobook titles. In 2017, the company had 167 books on the New York Times bestseller list, 34 of which reached No. 1.

The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded into publishing original content in 1936 under the Crown name, and was acquired by Random House in 1988. Under Random House's ownership, the Crown Publishing Group was operated as an independent division until 2018, when it was merged with the rest of Random House's adult programs.

Alison Weir is a British author and public historian. She primarily writes about the history of English royal women and families, in the form of biographies that explore their historical setting. She has also written numerous works of historical fiction.

<i>Look Me in the Eye</i> Book by John Elder Robinson

Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger's is a New York Times bestselling book by John Elder Robison, chronicling the author's life with Asperger syndrome and tough times growing up.

Gilbert Clotaire Rapaille, known as G. Clotaire Rapaille, is a French marketing consultant and the CEO and Founder of Archetype Discoveries Worldwide. Rapaille is also an author, who has published on topics in psychology, marketing, sociology and cultural anthropology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penguin Random House</span> American multinational conglomerate publishing company

Penguin Random House LLC is an Anglo-American multinational conglomerate publishing company formed on July 1, 2013, with the merger of Penguin Books and Random House. Penguin Books was originally founded in 1935 and Random House was founded in 1927. It has more than 300 publishing imprints. Along with Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Macmillan Publishers, Penguin Random House is considered one of the 'Big Five' English language publishers.

George Moreby Acklom, was a British writer, editor, literary adviser and critic based in New York City, principally with the publisher E.P. Dutton, and the father of the Hollywood actor David Manners.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olivia de Havilland filmography</span>

This filmography lists the film appearances of British-American actress Olivia de Havilland (1916–2020), as well as her television, stage, and radio credits. De Havilland's career spanned fifty-three years, from 1935 to 1988. During that time, she appeared in forty-nine feature films, and was one of the leading movie stars during the golden age of Classical Hollywood. She is best known for her early screen performances in The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Gone with the Wind (1939), and her later award-winning performances in To Each His Own (1946), The Snake Pit (1948), and The Heiress (1949). De Havilland made her screen debut in Reinhardt's film adaptation A Midsummer Night's Dream in 1935. She began her career playing demure ingénues opposite popular leading men of that time, including Errol Flynn, with whom she made her breakout film Captain Blood in 1935. They would go on to make seven more feature films together, and became one of Hollywood's most popular romantic on-screen pairings.

<i>Brunette Ambition</i>

Brunette Ambition is an autobiographical book by American actress and singer Lea Michele, released on May 20, 2014, by Random House imprint Crown Archetype. It placed at number three on The New York Times Best Seller list shortly after its release. The book also debuted on the U.S. Nonfiction Best Seller list at number nine.

<i>Tomorrow Will Be Different</i> Memoir by Sarah McBride

Tomorrow Will Be Different: Love, Loss, and the Fight for Trans Equality is a 2018 memoir by Sarah McBride, published by Crown Archetype, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

References

Citations

  1. "Every Frenchman Has One". Kirkus Review. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  2. Thomas 1983, p. 114.
  3. De Havilland 1962, p. 21.
  4. Flowler, Laura (October 13, 2011). "Book Review: Every Frenchman Has One by Olivia de Havilland". backlots. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  5. Every Frenchman Has One. OCLC WorldCat. 1962. OCLC   475546905 . Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  6. Kass 1976, p. 49.
  7. Tartaglione, Nancy (March 23, 2003). "Olivia and Oscar". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  8. Every Frenchman Has One. OCLC WorldCat. 1962. OCLC   221946599 . Retrieved April 9, 2016.
  9. De Havilland, Olivia (2016). Every Frenchman Has One. ISBN   978-0451497390.

Sources