France is a seductive country, seductive in its elegance, its beauty, its sensual pleasures, and its joie de vivre. But Elaine Sciolino, the longtime Paris bureau chief of The New York Times, reveals that seduction is much more than a game to the French: it is the key to understanding France. Seduction lies at the essence of the French approach to human relations, and it is the ever-present subtext for how the French relate to one another - not just in romantic relationships but also in how they conduct business, enjoy food and drink, define style, engage in intellectual debate, elect policitians, and project power around the world. While sexual repartee and conquest remain at the heart of seduction, for the French seduction has become a philosophy of life, even an ideology, that can confuse outsiders.

'A book to be savored by every hedonist. A must-read introduction to French contemporary culture.' --Alain Ducasse, chef and restaurateur

'Crackles with the sharp, rueful wit of an outsider who has achieved some insight into Gallic do's and don'ts largely by running afoul of them herself. Carefully researched and lucidly argued, La Seduction develops a wonderfully suggestive theory of French pleasure.' --The New York Times Book Review