Debra Ollivier

One of life’s greatest mysteries: What do French women know that makes them so much cooler than everybody else? According to Debra Ollivier, author of the Los Angeles Times bestseller What French Women Know: About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind, it has nothing to do with food, or fashion, or fragrances, or any other word that begins with the letter ‘f.’ No, they are so cool because, in Ollivier’s memorable phrase, they “don’t give a hoot” — that is, they are nihilists.  Seriously though, the book purports to present a counterpoint to the “va-va-voom stereotypes” of French women, and in so doing, open up a little cultural headspace for thinking about femininity both Franco- and Anglo-. Ollivier will be at the Alliance Française de Pasadena this Friday to read from and talk about the book. She is a dual citizen, and divides her time between Paris and Los Angeles.

Debra Ollivier: What French Women Know
Friday, January 29, 6 p.m.
Alliance Française de Pasadena
34 E. Union St., Kendall Alley, Old Pasadena
Tickets $10 for non-members
Call 626.683.3774, or visit afdepasadena.org