Lessons from Madame Chic

October 1, 2012
Daily Connoisseur blogger Scott explains what she learned about living well from the two French families she stayed with a decade ago as a student in Paris. Lovers of books about self-improvement will enjoy the author's debut, which she originally self-published. She winningly combines sincerity and self-deprecation, and her heartfelt desire to improve readers' lives is touching, if a bit wearying after more than 250 pages. The "lessons" of the book's title are certainly sound, though it is difficult to see how they qualify as "stylish secrets"; it's not exactly a secret, even to unchic Americans, that snacking on junk food is bad, exercise is good and clutter is undesirable. Scott's gestures toward inclusion are admirable; she is careful to emphasize that true style is not a quality available only to the wealthy. This egalitarian principle is undermined to some degree by constant references to products like the Clarisonic, a "sonic skin care tool" that "starts at $149." It's hard to miss the product placement--Scott helpfully includes an index of shockingly expensive recommended beauty aids at the end--but even this can be overlooked, since it's clear the author is more true believer than cynical shill. For the most part sweet-natured and well-intentioned, the author will find few to quibble with her concluding recommendation to "lead a life of passion." Lighthearted and silly, full of advice as patently obvious as it is sensible.

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June 15, 2012

As we're reminded by books from Mireille Guiliano's French Women Don't Get Fat to Elaine Sciolino's La Seduction, Americans really do want to emulate the French in lifestyle matters. Here's a primer, originally self-published, from the writer/editor of the Daily Connoisseur. Drawing on her time in Paris (in the elegant 16th arrondissement), Scott gives us tips on dressing well (with a ten-item wardrobe), grooming (what about that no-makeup look?), and simply enjoying life.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2012
Scott spent six months in Paris in 2001 as part of a foreign-exchange program. What she observed and learned fills this book. Many of these style secretsfor instance, how to eat and what to wearcan be found elsewhere, but Scott's 20 tips cover much more than the traditional diet-and-exercise and style-and-beauty. Extremely readable short chapters include recaps of the major points discussed in them, and those points include always looking presentable, realizing that clutter is not chic, cultivating your mind, and living life as a formal affair. Each of those lessons features tidbits Scott picked up from her two Parisian families, here called the Chics and the Bohemians. Throughout, two words appear most oftenquality and passion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)