We buy books about how the French parent, why French women don't get fat, and how to be Parisian wherever you are. Through the stories his mother told of her year spent there, John von Sothen fell in love with Paris. After marrying a French waitress, von Sothen finally moved to Paris—but 15 years in, he's ready to admit his mother's dream city is mostly a fantasy. In these hilarious essays, von Sothen walks us through real life in Paris, myth-busting our daydreams but also revealing other reasons to adore the City of Light.