To "get the hang of" being a woman, "you have to be willing to get rid of your self-doubts and acknowledge your innate gifts and talents," advises the author of the bestselling The Art of Doing Nothing
, in this guide to achieving Gallic-style femininity and sophistication. Advising women to abandon flirtatiousness and, instead, cultivate "mental acuity," to celebrate other women as teacher–soul mates and to adopt her paradoxical interpretation of the sex wars, Vienne describes the sexiness of self-acceptance and of playfulness in bed, cautions against high achievers' obsessive focus on performance, extols the benefits of drifting afternoons spent window shopping and recommends housecleaning in a "nice dress" and heels while regarding the home as "an intimate partner: treat it as you would a lover." Offering similarly whimsical advice on beauty ("become radiant by keeping an incandescent secret smoldering below the surface of all your facial expressions"), she recommends giving in to love as "a prelude to falling in love with life." Divulging the secrets of the classic French woman's wardrobe and how to create a French salon-style soiree, Vienne inhabits a carefully cultivated persona of the cosmopolitan sophisticate. She dispenses advice about success and well-being that will infuriate and titillate in equal measure. (Dec.)
