French women don't get fat, even though they enjoy bread and pastry, wine, and regular three-course meals. Unlocking the simple secrets of this "French paradox" - how they enjoy food while staying slim and healthy - Mireille Guiliano gives us a charming, inspiring take on health and eating for our times.

For anyone who has slipped out of her Zone, missed the flight to South Beach, or accidentally let a carb pass her lips, here is a positive way to stay trim, a culture's most precious secrets recast for the twenty-first century. A life of wine, bread - even chocolate - without girth or guilt? "Pourquoi pas?"