Pamela Druckerman

“When my mother in Florida mentions that she's off to play golf, I think: Golf? In the age of Trump?”

“The French don't think everyone should have the same bank balance, but they're offended by extremes of inequality.”

“Childhood and adolescence are nothing but milestones: You grow taller, advance to new grades, and get your period, your driver's license, and your diploma. Then, in your 20s and 30s, you romance potential partners, find jobs, and learn to support yourself.”

“I think, in writing a memoir, you kind of give order to your life.”

“When my kids correct my cultural missteps, I sometimes suspect that they're not embarrassed, they're gleeful.”

“Just as dressing well in your forties entails making choices that reflect who you are and not just wearing generic basics, looking good as you get older requires accentuating and enjoying what's specific to you rather than striving for cookie-cutter perfection.”

“This idea - that the only way to mend the relationship post-affair is through therapy - is unique to the American script.”

“It's fine to discuss money in France, as long as you're complaining that you don't have enough, or boasting about getting a bargain.”

“Being an immigrant mother can be hard, but being a poor immigrant mother is much harder. You don't generally get to sit in cafes polishing your French by reading 'Le Monde.'”

“I think kids in France, and certainly in my household, don't necessarily stop interrupting when you tell them, but they gradually become more aware of other people, and that means that you can have the expectation of finishing a conversation.”

“I spend much of my free time listening to podcasts of American comedians talking to each other.”

“We Anglophones have reasons for adopting strange diets. Increasingly, we live alone. We have an unprecedented choice of foods, and we're not sure what's in them or whether they're good for us. And we expect to customize practically everything: parenting, news, medicines, even our own faces.”

“Even for natives, French satire is rarely laugh-out-loud funny. Its unspoken punch line is typically that things have gone irrevocably wrong, and the government is to blame.”

“A lot of French comedy is satire.”

“I spent most of my adolescence feeling awkward but never once mentioned it.”

“Although I wrote a book about infidelity around the world, I ended up concluding that fidelity is quite a good idea.”

“Just do what you want more often. Don't be so worried about what other people expect.”

“The main thing my bookcase says about me is that I'm not French.”

“A large part of the creative process is tolerating the gap between the glorious image you had in your mind and the sad thing you've just made.”

“One day I have a revelation. ‘I think we’re actually quite compatible,’ I tell him. ‘You’re irritable, and I’m irritating.”