This book is one that shows how Miro and maybye how people felt in that time period,which he lived so long.He made many beutyfull pictures and some that were just nonsense.I like his paintings so much i belive this book and him have inspiered me to be an artist one day.I am not very good but miro did not paint good but it was what he felt and that made him care and that is all that really matters.

Since Amazon hasn't provided an editorial review for this book, here's the description from the back to help you decide if this book is for you: "The step-by-step cookbook that shows you what each dish should look like, teaches you exacltly what to do, tells you how long it will take." This book is loaded with picutres of every dish as well as some hints and techniques. A very nice cookbook no matter what your level of skill.

As an avid collector and fan of erotic literature I have found many examples of these books published under different titles and as multiple books....

This one is a prime example as it is also included in a 2 book volume Confessions d'Amour .... the book is great and I reccomend you by them both in one volume .. below is my review on these 2 books In contract to Victorian English writings the plots and sub-plots are much more complex and character development of the French seems paramount ...

There are two books in this novel .. The first secrets d'amour deals with Armand and Madelaine the wife of one of his friends. When one evening Madelaine brushes against him in a more FRIENDLY way than he expected the erotic story unfolds ....

The second book souvenier d'amour deals with Marcel and his love for the virginal Dany and the very beautiful but engaged Gabrielle ....

The story is complex and bawdy enough to have re-reading it many many times ...

Buy it before it goes out of print !

I have been searching for at least a decade for a book on the Sevres production during the Napoleonic Years. This book is exactly what I was looking for and the essays and tremendous illustrations are what made this book worth the search!

I ordered this book from author Anne Barone's website, received it today and already completed reading it. Like Will Clower's book entitled "The Fat Fallacy", Barone's book focuses on the French lifestyle and compares it to our lifestyle here in the United States. Keep in mind that many of Anne's comments and observations stem from the considerably repressive Puritan ethic which states simply that 'if it tastes, looks or feels good, its got to be bad for you"--such philosophy represents the cornerstone of American thinking on many issues. That combined with our ready-to-go, off-the-peg mentality combines to produce a lethal and contradictory combination in terms of many things especially diet. We feed ourselves preservatives and then worship unrealistically tooth-pick thin models. Sadly, the idea of good old fashioned nourishment that tasted good and was enjoyed amongst family and friends has been replaced snd refined by a culture that reveres 'getting more for your money', and would prefer to pop diet pills, eat chemically preserved boxed entrees and exercise until the cows come home rather than show a little self-restraint and simply stop eating before one gets full. Barone, like Clower suggests that much of the problem has to do with bolting down food--whereas the French spend two hours over lunch, we shovel down our food within 10 minutes---taking the time to eat and allowing the brain to decide whether or not the stomach is full will certainly stop those added inches from ruining our waistlines. Barone does this in a much breezier, fun style than Clower--she relates her own experience in a compelling heartfelt narrative that is easy to read and easier to understand. In addition to her comments on food, she also delineates between the American and French lifestyles regarding their self-image, their clothes, their homes and their relationships with men. Again remember that much of the die-hard American logic that Barone opposes in her book strictly stems from her Bible-Belt background. Those of us that are not from the Bible belt and do not stictly adhere to what is considered good-old American, may already drink wine with our meals, drink water, never soda, eat real food rather than packaged fast food snd have a good sense of self that is not decided by au courant trends seen on television or in magazines. However, if you were brought up to believe that 'gain is never without pain' or 'if God wanted it to be that way, He would have made it that way', you definitely need to read this book. For all others, if you wish to have your own ideology summed up and reinforced by over 1000 years of French culture, this is the book for you.

Anne Barone's tone is fun yet matter-of-fact. I did not like the little magazine-type asides which she uses to tout her own work; I found these to be distractive rather than helpful. She ends her discussion of all components of a French lifestyle with her 100 things-to-do list which neatly summarizes everything in the book. Recommended to every woman who needs to find her inner self, rejoice in it and lose weight along the way to finding much pleasure. I agree with Anne when she claims that if you don't want to do something, you need not feel guilty about JUST NOT doing it.

This book is full of little gems of information and observation. I've heard some of them before but never so many good tips on one place. This book and some others helped me realize that "Fat is NOT the enemy!" We need fat in our food. After I read this book and the Encore one, I switched to a diet without preservatives or hidden sugars, with healthy fats, and as organic as possible. I'm eating desserts and cooking french main dishes with butter, eggs, cream, and all that "high fat" stuff in them... but I am finally steadily losing weight! (After several years of gaining weight no matter how careful I was with dieting.) I lost 3 pounds the first week and total of 10 pounds after a month. No calorie counting, no worry about fat grams, no skipping dessert if I want it. Maybe this book is not perfect but at least 95% of it is pure genius as far as I'm concerned. Thank you Anne Barone!

Anne Barone's book "Chic & Slim Encore" is a favorite on my bookshelf, so I was delighted to discover her earlier work "Chic & Slim" has been reprinted.

"Chic & Slim" is the original book written by Anne Barone to share the secrets of how the French women eat rich foods, drink wine, are rarely seen at the gym and still manage to wear size SMALL!

The key according to Anne is the choices the French woman makes. She chooses natural unprocessed foods. Portion sizes are smaller. Exercise is fit in naturally by walking everywhere. Water not soda is the beverage of choice. Sugar is eaten in moderate quantities.

Instead of aiming for quantity, the French aim for quality. Eating a small slice of the finest pastry instead of a whole box of processed twinkies. Drinking one or two glasses of red wine instead of a number of unhealthy cocktails. Don't supersize your fries and double your burger. Instead eat a little portion of "pomme frites" with a palm size piece of grilled chicken. Forget the salad dressings with synthetic ingredients instead dress your lettuce with just a bit of heart healthy olive oil and vinegar.

Anne also goes into "ATTITUDE". The French women sees herself as a beautiful women despite her physical flaws. She is worth the effort of eating well, taking care of herself. She deserves to be slim and healthy. Many American women are unfortunately caught in a cycle of trying to look like the models we see in magazines instead of enjoying what we have and making the most of it.

The French woman does things that make her feel good about herself. She dresses to look and feel her best. No sloppy sweats and big gym shoes. Clothing that makes her feel feminine. A perfume that reflects her personality.

The book "Chic & Slim" also shares Anne's triumph of losing weight when she stopped dieting and started eating like the French. She shares more of her ideas at her website annebarone.com.

"Chic & Slim" like its sister book, ""Chic & Slim Encore" is a must read for the woman who wants to learn to enjoy and appreciate herself more. The woman who wants to get off the diet rollercoaster and learn to eat sensibly and with joy. A true treasure!

British writer French's latest psychological thriller opens with protagonist Abbie Devereaux, waking tied and hooded, in a dank lair with no memory of how she got there. Or who she is. Time passes, her captor returns, taunting her with coming death, reveling in her helplessness. During the hours he's gone she concentrates on staying alive and tries to remember how she got there. This creepy, claustrophobic interlude of sustained terror goes on until the reader can hardly bear it, until, by a fluke of luck, Abbie gets free.

Traumatized, hospitalized, much of her memory returns, but the week or so before her capture remains blank. It's the police and the psychologists who discover she'd left her job and her boyfriend, that it had all been highly dramatic, that the boyfriend was abusive. With no evidence to back up her story of abduction, doubts arise and are finally resolved in a finding of delusion - case closed.

But Abbie knows the killer is out there and still after her. With her memory stubbornly blank, she must retrace her steps. French ("Killing Me Softly," "The Red Room") continually surprises - Abbie as well as the reader - as she reconstructs her movements, drawing closer and closer to danger. Abbie proves herself resourceful and strong (so what was she doing with the nasty alcoholic boyfriend?) and the psychological suspense mounts with constricting tension, building to a harrowing climax. Another winner for French in the tradition of Minette Walters and Ruth Rendell.

I couldn't wait to pick up Nicci French's new thriller -- and I wasn't let down. Land of the Living is French's best work since Beneath the Skin.

In Land of the Living, French introduces the reader to Abbie Devereaux -- a young woman held captive. Bound from top to bottom in the dark, she is only able to hear her kidnapper's sinister voice. To make matters worse, she has no recollection of the time in which she had been accosted. She is able to escape from her attacker's grasp, but her nightmare has just begun...

Will she be able to adjust to life after the aforementioned experience? Will be able to get her memory back? Will she be able to find her attacker? There are various twists in this powerful thriller. The climax is flooring.

Nicci French's descriptions of the terror the protagonist goes through are precise. I was able to feel the heroine's fear and hopelessness. I couldn't put this book down and was savoring the pages like an exquisite bottle of wine. Are you in the bargain for a gripping, intelligent thriller? I recommend this fine novel.

The first 50 pages of Nicci French's LAND OF THE LIVING are amongst the most terrifying, chilling passages I have ever read. Nicci French has written nothing short of a harrowing, enthralling thriller in the best tradition of PRESUMED INNOCENT and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

Abbie Devereaux awakes to total darkness. She awakes not knowing who she is, where she is, or how she got there. She awakes to the realization that she is tied, gagged and blindfolded. Her memory is failing her; she is on the verge of knowing what has happened to her, but she can't ... quite ... grasp ... it: "There were other things at the edge, clamoring to be admitted to my brain. Bad things. Restrained. In the dark. Hooded. Ridiculous. Could it be a joke? I remembered stories of students. They get you paralytically drunk, put on a train at Aberdeen. You wake up in London dressed only in your underwear with a fifty-pence piece in your hand. Everyone will jump out in a minute, pull off the blindfold, and shout 'April fool.' We'll all laugh. But was it April? I remembered cold. Had summer been? Was summer still to come? But of course a summer had always been and there was always another summer to come."

What has happened to Abbie is no joke. She has been abducted and is being held by a nameless, faceless man intent on killing her --- and she is not his first victim. He regales her with stories of the other women he has kept, kept to the point that they completely lost their senses, and then he killed them. Abbie tries desperately to hold on to her sanity; she won't let him break her. He is patient and is in no rush to do her in. But she is patient, too. And in a moment of heavenly luck, she escapes.

Now her real ordeal begins. She must convince the police, her doctors, her family and her friends that she has been kidnapped and held against her will. The moments, days really, leading up to her abduction reveal themselves over time to be radically different from the bits and pieces she remembers. French offers tidbits, morsels, and teases that keep one reading and wondering. Her abusive boyfriend has a new girlfriend. Why is he no longer with Abbie? She flitted from friend to friend, seeking comfort and help. How come no one remembers where she was last? Her job is no longer. What happened to destroy her career? And she has a mysterious new roommate that she never sees. Who is this person, and where is she?

As if seeking the answers to all these questions isn't enough, she must solve the crime that has been perpetrated against her, because no one else is willing to help. And her abductor is close on her trail. Need I say more?

--- Reviewed by Roberta O'Hara

Served traditional beef bourguignon to 16 people for New Year's Eve dinner last night using the recipe on pages 26-27 of this book.

The recipe is a bit complicated because of all the separations (liquid, meat, vegetables), and you definitely need to plan in advance, but the results were superb. None of our guests had ever had this dish with as much flavor as this version, so it was a big success.

I used top sirloin, marinated in an inexpensive Cotes du Rhone for two days (yes - two days), browned the beef (big job since I just about doubled the recipe) one evening, and then simmered it in the oven at 300 degrees F the next morning. After letting it cool a bit, I put it in the refrigerator for two days (yes - two days), and then reheated it before our guests arrived.

Did I mention the flavor was wonderful? And since I made a ton of it, we'll be able to have it now and again as we take frozen portions out of the freezer.

Be sure to make lots - if a recipe is as time-consuming as this is to make, you'll want to have a lot of it that you can later just warm up if you want to.

The creamy potatoes with bacon (near the front of the book) is the best potato dish I have ever eaten. I served it at a dinner party recently and the comment was: "awesome". Also, recently I had the twice baked spinach omelet except mine was made with gruyere cheese only, no spinach. It was cooked one day and re-cooked the next. It was fabulous and it is great to know that it can be made ahead. I love Anne Willan!!

This book is a great example of why the Internet recipe sites will never replace cookbooks. Nowhere can you find such beautiful pictures, and wonderful recipes as this book. Ms. Willan has written a meticulously researched cookbook that is just as much at home on the coffee table as it is on the kitchen counter.

I must respectfully disagree with a previous reviewers comments. The "Gateau le Feÿ" does work exactly as written. I've created this beautiful dish a couple of times now with no problem. I could see how this might not turn out if your oven temperature is incorrect, so it might be a good idea to test your oven with an oven thermometer prior to starting this dish. As for the point to wait until they do a new printing with corrections, it should be noted that if there were corrections to be made, you'd think that Ms Willan would have done so when she appeared on Martha Stewart the first week of February 2001, and made this dish, just as it is written.

Having spent my childhood years (1976-81, when I was 5-10) in Algeria, I rushed out to get this handsome book of sixteen essays by Francophone writers reflecting on their own childhood spent in Algeria. Having read the book in one sitting, I have to confess a certain disappointment. While several of the essays are quite good and evocative, a number suffer from a kind of overwrought impressionism. The selections are to be commended for the wide range of contributors (male, female, Arab, Kabyle, Jewish, pied noir), and mainly focus on the era from the end of the first World War to independence.

My favorite essays were Malek Alloula's recounting of the springtime joy of tekouk; Albert Bensoussan's straightforwardly telling of getting lost in the market and making friends with an Arab girl who naturally disappeared to him at age eleven; Roger Dadoun's celebration of cuisine and a trip to the bathhouse; Fatima Gallaire's adventures in the house with her little brother; and Mohamed Kacimi-el-Hassani's essay on the arrival of independence and the confusion it caused in he and his classmates. The other essays do have merits scattered amongst them, most notably a solid vision of how multiethnic and multireligious Algeria has been in the past, but too often the authors forego the opportunity to present a straightforward reflection on their childhood in favor of a hindsighted metaphorical or allegorical scene. Still, those interested in Algeria would be well advised to spend the few hours it takes to read the entire work and find their own touchpoints.

Camus was right: only the sun has been kind to Algeria. Geography, demography and history have not. The thread of green with which desert yields to sea was originally named Ifriqqiya, whence comes "Africa." (Below the Sahel was "Niger.") Over the last 2,000 years its many cultures were side-by-side civilizations speaking in common the tongue of the marketplace but otherwise each their own. Among those cultures were the pre-Muslim Berbers (themselves of many tribes), Jews who condensed over the millennia like dewbeads on a thread, Arabs who arrived with the Qur'an and remained to trade. A handful of Christians remained from Roman times and many more coattailed the reconquista seeking a quick dirham. And finally the French, nominally Christian bourgeois but culturally Imperial Bourgeois. When the Algerians exploded after Dienbienphu showed colonies need not submit, the French left, but only after a ghastly fight. The political scirocco still blows and headlines in red tell of it.

How could one possibly have a happy childhood in a place like this?

A book with the right editor can illuminate the souls politicians and economists forget. The Algeria that Leïla Sebbar finds was a courtyard more than a country, and in it people reconciled their differences and got on with their lives. That's not what the history books say, but historians, too, know how sensation sells.

Ms. Sebbar is an Algerio-French professor and writer who has written of her ancestral land for many French literary reviews. Here she has revived a niche of the Algerian literary world quite popular in the 1950s that withered during the Algerian war: childhood reminiscences.

The sixteen authors in her anthology do not Pollyanna their pens through days of happy yore. There is much between the lines, and even more between those lines. The jacket blurb describes Hélène Cixous's Bare Feet as, "a deeply resonant story about a young girl's search for place in a colonial society," which "recounts how, at the age of four, an encounter with a shoeshine boy awakened her to the harsh realities of her own class standing." Anne Donadey's foreword expands that to, "The protagonist, a four-year-old girl, constantly wonders where she belongs in a world divided between colonizers and colonized ... innocent of and responsible for the injustices of the world in which she is growing up." (p. xv)

Then we get to Ms. Cixous herself, who gives flesh to these: "Suddenly I was a grown woman. ... I resolutely pretended to be the little girl I had been ordered to be. Again the feelings of shame that accompanies our lies invaded me. And it is shame that is the sign of our childhood. ... I saw the face of the little shoeshine boy and I recognized the sparkle in his eyes: it was the lust of hatred, the first shimmer of desire." (p. 58) One is only fleetingly aware until this that, as she is middle-class Jewish and he dirt-poor Arab, social standing hurls a curse even on awakening desire.

There are other references to the social chasms of skin color-the arrival of a room-hushing lily-white French boy in Mohammed Dib's Encounters relates, "We would not take our wide-open eyes-and rightly so-off him anymore, we weren't doing any work, incapable as we were of doing anything but staring." (p. 110) Jean-Pierre Millecam's grandmother's driver, "... whose soul is as delicate as his features pure, suffers from his swarthy skin tone." (p. 165) This reminds of India, where skin color still cleaves societies more visibly than economic standing and more permanently (these days) than caste.

The Algeria of these writers was no happy barrio of race and religion thriving beneath the colonial rubric "the locals." The cities were divided into enclaves-this district in Tlemcen for the Arabic Muslims; that rue in Oran where the Jews lived. Locals, yes, real people the more so. Algerian-turned-Parigot Mohammed Dib describes the arrival of his physician with, "Two imperious thumps on the front door with the knocker ... were not only dealt to the door of the house but also to that of my heart, which would instantly crumble with sadness, just that-sadness-because I already knew how to take my pain in stride. ... As if to announce them, my mother used to boil two needles for the syringes. ... He saved my leg, which by all logic should have been amputated." (p. 107)

Throughout it is writing that enchants. There are so few simple declaratives that they could hardly stand out more if printed in yellow. Annie Cohen's Viridiana my Love is a stream of consciousness romp through word-images like dessert-case sweets. As befitting the Arabic reverence for poetry, the Algerian writers are the most lyrical of the lot. Jemel Eddine Bencheikh writes sumptuously baggaged sentences-caravans, really-between first cap and full stop there is a lot of tapestry, and yet you never lose the main image. His dreamcatching story Tlemcen Up High gives us five stanzas of a uniquely Algerian popular metrical style called the tahwîf, which consists of two sung phrases to each line, originally meant to accompany pushing someone on a swing.

Ironic, the monopoles of cultural imperialism that drew these literary filings author by author to Paris. All these reminiscences were written there, encouraged there, published there. The capsule bios that preface each dolefully announce in the sentence after their name, "So-and-so has been living in Paris since ...." Pushed there by the Franco-Algerian war of the 1960s and the ethnopolitical pogroms thereafter, they now write mainly for Francophone literati. How cheering it must have been for them to disalign from the magnet of Racine, Stendahl, et al, and realign themselves to the multipole that once was Algeria-ethnic, religious, economic, geographic-by way of childhoods regained. These memoires are stunning testimony to the eloquence France ignored but these filings retained.

This is a unique collection of 16 autobiographical recollections by male, female, settler, indigenous, Arab, Kabyle, French, and Jewish writers who grew up in Algeria. Anne Donadey, in the book's foreword, explains how the history of Algeria influenced its writers. Sewn through some of the stories are hints at children's reactions to social distinctions, colonialism, restrictions, and war. Algeria, North Africa's largest country, has been the home to blacks, whites, Arabs, Jews, Romans, Berbers/Kabyles, Europeans, Corsicans, Christians, and Moslems. Jews moved to Algeria in the Sixth Century, the Arabs arrived in the Seventh, naming it the Maghreb for the Western setting sun of the expanding empire. More Jews and Moslems arrived during the Iberian Inquisition, the Turks arrived, and the French took over in 1830 after fighting Abdelkader for three years. Algeria's war for independence from France lasted eight years, from 1954-1962, and it and the murders that occurred before and after independence play a role in the stories. The book opens with Malek Alloula's "My Exotic Childhood" in which the Parisian poet recalls the Tekouk, that springtime season of anticipation, smelling of pine resin and paella, a time of languid craziness that preceded Easter and Summer vacation from school. Jamel Eddine Bencheikh, a Sorbonne poet from a Tlemcen family, contributes "Tlemsen Up High." In it he recalls the springtime celebrations of al-Ourit, where girls would sing tahwif, Jewish women would pass by singing Passover songs and exchange greetings and sweets, young men sought to play pranks, and his grandmother would recount her dreams. He recalls his Summer visits, the colors and smells, and the places he can recall only in dreams. Among my other favorites in the collection of 16 are the following: Mohammed Dib, who was born in Algeria over 80 years ago, recalls David with the Tunisian pastry stand, and the kids' fears of French people, and the fist of the French teacher. "By Independence Clear" by Mohamed Kacimi el Hassani of Zaouia d'El Hamel in Southern Algeria's plateau. In his story he recalls second grade and the Algeria's independence, when all the women baked cakes and sewed flags, his classmates wondered whether they would have to study French, and the author met Colonel Chaabani of the FLN (who would later be assasinated). In Albert Bensoussan's "The Lost Child", he recalls his mother's shopping trips to the market and his family's Rosh Hashana traditions in Algiers, where the ADA (tradition) was to eat fish, sweets, and go to the crowded casbah to purchase and eat jujube fruits that tasted of dates. It is there that the author, who knows little Arabic, loses sight of his mother at the age of six, and is saved by an Arab man (Sidi Lardjouz) and his 8 year old daughter. They become playmates for the next 3 years until... In "Bare Feet", Helene Cixous, a native of Oran, now a director at Paris VIII, she recalls Oran, its sailors and natives, how her doctor father became a pedicure under Vichy. The oppression makes her happy, since she no longer feels an ambiguity as to her social class. Annie Cohen, a native of Sidi-Bel-Abbes, in "Viridiana My Love", recalls housekeepers, their children, and the children of the employers. Roger Dadoun in "The Hammam" provides a story from his Shem chronicles, recalling the hammam (bath), the foods, the Sabbath shopping trips, the stores, the fritters, recipes, the backgammon at Café Benayoum, and the conversations in tetouanais/staonne. Jean Daniel, born in Blidan eighty years ago, was editor in chief of L'Express. He recalls the banality of a fun childhood, his god-like teachers, the Spanish war, and his Jewish father, a grain merchant, who could speak Berber and worshipped knowledge. In all, a quick unique reading experience.

I found this book not only to be filled with the wonderfull works of Claude Monete but it also has a great insight to his life and the imprssion he left on modern art today. This book also contains full fold-out pictures of some of the artists best works. For anyone who has ever enjoyed any of Monets work you will love this book.

This book is a perfect addition to any art library. Having seen "Monet in the 20th Century" in Boston at the Museum of Fine Arts, I was well prepared for the exhibit by having read the book first. I found the exhibit to be an extraordinary example of Monet's achievment in his later years. This book focuses on the works of Monet starting at the start of this century right up to his death in 1928. All through this period of Monet's life and including the representation of the body of work produced within those years, this book never skips a beat. Although not an all-encompassing look at his complete works of that period, this book offers the best look out there of his paintings as well as his development throughout the last quarter-century of his life. I found it to be in keeping with what is already known about Monet's later years, but certainly not devoid of interesting insights. The quality of the book, it's contents, including all of the color plates reproduced within is very good. I would not have an art library without Monet representation, and this is the ideal book for an addition or a starter.

It does not matter to me if Anne Barone is not a doctor, dietician or scientist--her diet and life mentality works for her and seems to be working for thousands of French women. There is no famous study backing up her opinions just the old common sense adage--if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck etc., than it must be a duck. In the same way, if eating cheese, butter, eggs, and bread does not put weight on the French, then it can certainly do the same for you. Anne Barone, in a fun breezy style, explains how to take the French lifestyle of shopping for just enough food, buying fresh and real products, eating slower over a longer period of time by taking smaller bites and using the continental manner of using a fork and knife, so that you too can be fitting into those wonderfull slim black skirts and form-revealing white blouses accented with a pretty scarf or antique pin. Sounds to good to be true? The key as with all things is moderation and good judgement. Anne explains how to think about your eating habits in ways that will help you to maintain good health while eating sumptious meals. In this, her second book, she actually gives portion sizes and sample recipes as well as additional information comparing American ways with those of the French regarding the six major lifestyle departments of culture, being a woman, personal style, cuisine, shopping and home decor, and love--ooh la la!

I find myself referring to this book just before I go to bed and have had time to mull over the events of the ending day--I try to tally up what I did to enjoy my life better, if I ate slower, took smaller bites, decided against that extra bite of pie-- and I find that this time to myself helps me to encourage myself because I know I am on the correct road to health and well-being. How can I not be? Eating real food--not boxed convenience meals? Taking enough time to know when I am full and then stop just beforehand. Yes, it can be done and Anne encourages you along the way with her stories, examples and anecdotes. I recommend this book to all women who want to feel like women and look like those women who turn men's heads! Brava Anne---I look forward to your next book and hope you do a seminar in my neck of the woods soon.

Several years ago I spent time in Paris, and wondered to myself why the only fat people I saw were Americans. It seemed odd, but I forgot about it until I read this book. As we all know, there IS no magic bullett..no ONE THING that will make you thin forever. It's a matter of changing your life, but in reality, the changes shouldn't be drastic, or you'll never stick to them in the long run. It is far easier to make many small changes -- one at a time -- to reach your goals, and this book will help you achieve many of them whether you need to lose weight or not. Ms. Barone has an eye for the subtle differences that make for a chic (and slim) lifestyle. Try this book. There's a lot of surprising information in its few pages.

A few years ago, while vacationing in the Bahama's I observed a table of two French women eating lunch. They were both very slim, tres chic, and obviously not counting calories. Each woman had a full glass of red wine, some rich looking cheeses, a few crackers and a small assortment of other goodies. I couldn't help but wonder HOW they managed to remain so slim eating THAT. I was righteously nibbling on 1/2 bagel with a tad of fat (cream cheese) and some turkey protein thrown in. Yet I had at least ten pounds (ok 20)to lose. As a child I had lived in France and can still remember the delicious croissants, mouth watering chocolates, hearty breads, and rich cheeses the French ate so frequently. How did the women stay so slim? I had also noticed that the majority of them managed to look like a million dollars though I knew many of them were on tiny budgets. How did they do it? Then I came across Anne Barone's book at Amazon! Mais Oui! What a pleasure! I savored every morsel of Anne's delicious book, "Chic & Slim Encore". In the book Anne truly reveals how so many French women come across as attractive, chic, slim, in control, and poised regardless of the physical features nature gave them. She explains how you can eat rich, fatty, (forbidden) foods and remain tiny and terrific! What to look for in clothing so you always dress rich regardless of your pocketbook. How our feminity can be enhanced and appreciated if we so desire. The book embraces many aspects of the French culture and teaches aspects of the French lifestyle that we can use to enhance our lives. You learn how to simplify your life by aiming for quality not quantity. Moderation not accumulation. Buying the best you can afford in small amounts and forgetting the rest. Simple steps you can integrate into an active lifestyle to increase delight in the everyday! The book is a wonderful resource for enjoying and living the good life! Merci Anne!