Zero Cool

Thanks for that. And... you know... if your daughter is single... ;)

Well technically that would be shipping myself :p

Well I did always wonder what it'd be like to be a mail order husband ;)

Yeah, that's me :)

Yeah, I'm glad I found the forum. Living in France is a new interest of mine. I actually read the book because I was curious how the author lays out the differences between American and French women when it came to dating, relationships, and sex. I used to teach social skills back in Boston, so that's something I like learning about. Despite the Amazon reviews, I actually really liked the book.

Aaaahhh right. Well I was hoping to keep the discussion on the actual question at hand, but to answer your post... I didn't know what she would do in her research. She was posting as me because it seems funny to say she's posting this for someone else. I wasn't planning to jump onto a forum, but I found this one interesting, that's all. Hopefully you can forgive the transgression :)

No idea what you mean by that.

Haha, here come the conspiracy theorists. I guess no forum is complete without those. No, I don't work for any publisher and don't care about promoting anyone's book. Some of us are busy, darling. Here's the explanation: I am the person who recently read the book (audiobook actually), and have been intensely curious about this matter ever since. The person posting the original question is my assistant. I asked her to go and research the improvement versus cultivation thing, and she found this site. When she updated me on her findings and gave a link to the thread, I found it interesting and decided to chime in myself for some discussion. Mystery solved. Here's a Scooby snack ;) Both the book about French Women and the three "before" movies (Before Sunrise, Sunset, and Midnight) sparked my interest in potentially living in Paris in 2014, so I'm only starting my journey now. I really appreciate everyone chiming in. I did email the author and ask her the same question, but she hasn't gotten back. I will try again, and if she replies I'll definitely post it here.

I've read that book. It seems like the author was saying that the French are not that interested in improving themselves. She did say they are interested in cultivating themselves. Now that you pose this question, I want to know the answer as well. What the heck does cultivating yourself mean?