Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    The Art of Sleeping Alone: Why One French Woman Suddenly Gave Up Sex
    The Art of Sleeping Alone: Why One French Woman Suddenly Gave Up Sex
    The Art of Sleeping Alone: Why One French Woman Suddenly Gave Up Sex
    Ebook124 pages1 hour

    The Art of Sleeping Alone: Why One French Woman Suddenly Gave Up Sex

    By Sophie Fontanel

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    Sophie Fontanel, bestselling novelist and iconic editor of French Elle, tells the provocative story of her decision to stop having sex—a choice that profoundly changed her view of herself and her place in the world.


    At the age of twenty-seven, after many years of having (and, for the most part, enjoying) an active sex life, beloved French author, journalist, editor, and fashion blogger Sophie Fontanel decided she wanted to take a break. Despite having it all—a glamorous job, plenty of dates and boyfriends, stylish clothes, and endless parties to attend—she still wasn’t happy, and found herself wanting more. She chose to give up her sex life, and in so doing shocked all of her friends and colleagues. What she discovers about herself is truly liberating and raises a number of questions about the expectations of the society in which we live. As she experiences being the only non-coupled one at dinner parties, weekend getaways, and summer vacations, she muses inspiringly on what it means to find hap­piness and fulfillment alone.

    Provocative and illuminating, The Art of Sleeping Alone, which spent eight weeks on the bestseller list in France, offers advice on love and sex while challenging modern-day conven­tions of marriage and motherhood, making this an ideal read for anyone who has chosen to do things a little differently.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherScribner
    Release dateAug 13, 2013
    ISBN9781451696295
    The Art of Sleeping Alone: Why One French Woman Suddenly Gave Up Sex
    Author

    Sophie Fontanel

    Sophie Fontanel has been an editor at Elle France for more than a decade. A novelist and essayist, she lives in Paris. The Art of Sleeping Alone is her first book to be published in English.

    Related authors

    Related to The Art of Sleeping Alone

    Related ebooks

    Relationships For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    Related categories

    Reviews for The Art of Sleeping Alone

    4/5

    119 ratings13 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Really made me to look back all my past experiences and think what I wanted and got from my romantic relationships, what it means to me and what made me role. Loved this book. ☺

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      The book felt as if we were reading excerpts from her journal. At times, it was hard to follow. She made some interesting points, but overall, it wasn't worth the read.

      3 people found this helpful

    • 3/5
      t
    • 2/5
      while the prose was beautiful, the author spoiled an opportunity to discuss a period of abstinence with her judgement and pretentiousness.
    • 5/5
      awsum
    • 5/5
      Awesome?
    • 5/5
      great
    • 5/5
      Now you can buy all new Affordable party wedding dresses at Dress Wind – An Online wedding dress store, which gives you the liberty to choose from hundred’s for designs and get yourself a new look onetime anywhere in the world. Just order your dress and get your order in 4 to 8 days. We are affordable yet very high clothing quality dress manufacturer in the wedding dress industry. Having years of experience and desire to serve well makes us different. We create latest designs and we follow latest trends in dress designing. Wedding dresses, Prom Dresses, Party dress, special Occasion dress, we have everything for you. Our price is most affordable and our designs are elegant. Visit our website and check for yourself. With over 7000 designs we can assure you that our highly experienced craftsmen are the best in the industry and create each design very carefully, with perfection to fit our customers. Here is the website link: dresswind.com
    • 5/5
      v
    • 5/5
      Alright
    • 4/5
      It helps to know what this book is not. This book is not a single girl's guide to getting over a bad break-up. This book is a gentle, philosophical muse on the irony in the social importance of sex, based on the author's experiences.

      I appreciated this book because, first, she was courageous to talk about something most people don't want to talk about. Which is absurd because in an age when social culture is beginning to embrace non-traditional sexual relationships it's still not okay to not have sexual relationships.

      I also enjoyed the light, nostalgic tone with which the author explores the self-empowerment that she finds in celibacy. Or to paraphrase her, all that love that you pour into someone else can now be poured into self. The paradoxes that she presents are much more relative to social norms than most people realize, and I think the reason this was a best seller in France is because she dares to say things a lot of women think but are afraid to say.

      The social norm is that women are generally "preyed upon" while young, then nagged and chastised to get married and have children by well-meaning family and friends, and then pitied as spinsters as they age if they have no husbands. (Men, too, experience pressure over their sexual prowess, but in different forms.) How did something so intimate become such a social "badge" of accomplishment?

      The author's claim is that there is more to life than sexual relationships, and women can experience a wonderful sense of empowerment and fulfillment by not focusing on hunting down and fighting to maintain sexual relations. Which is the third reason I appreciated this book: it's inspiring to the sense of self.

      She doesn't spell out everything in her little tales, and often leaves the reader to discover the deeper meanings beneath the memories. It's a short, easy read. Mainstream America might not be ready for it, yet, but I enjoyed it.

      5 people found this helpful

    • 2/5
      There is a line in the book where Henrietta says "They don't see how you live so they make assumptions." Or something along those lines. I related more to Henrietta and the distraught married friends than to the narrator, because throughout the book more is observed and judged externally and very little is divulged or reflected upon internally. For a memoirs I feel as though I don't actually understand the psychology of the memoirist after reading. This is especially disappointing because the topic being discussed is so interesting. In the end, the narrator felt negatively defined by the very positive presences of her co-stars.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 3/5
      A beautifully written book; however, I was quite disappointed that Fontanel didn't share more about how she personally felt during her period of abstinence.

      1 person found this helpful

    Book preview

    The Art of Sleeping Alone - Sophie Fontanel

    .abook_preview_excerpt.htmlmYSo/A2;؅6`,r$Jb"$5=='^ $UQm'i5E^zU8y||r1.t\̚ӺhLl(Og<-&[_ƶyvmStgt1紅ttasscL ~]}= ?9cgYbNvbH$oT3ljv̒X5Wm[YЀLBXb6A>JKFE1 x4_HN\O |aù%E{/FZ-[9RLӖ qm.˅pr' l Zܱ]cU99Ğ\k5`ޘ﨩&=/+5%lp݈ok;7 1f?o>x(d߮ߝ U%&k𰎞:\m;7mA*'@h1;c*1@eBGhbOh>V#k϶8C`cq1At!o_uxhNOA#pzUnngd0^3}UaxZm|@#pno8\zt[Loqe xhEΝ?eFy 3=gXHƉWes;8^|dt:mŽ3.Ol_78"Īչq={Py׆~vNg$]P^0xxuNrBP ~$`ΝxզYQ4rzX#AU[Y})J$e xBSCOdJZ-LHLv6^d_pdSΎl{YĢB:oD[9D =$ ~2SfҩӤX0J,/+[aBZ%^}UFa A ;qBKsG2EdxSR:W[_ʽZI%@ĸ1x 5b#$z/4e7! cWw|='lfn 4ACeak@ʇ@$B"ƪ"lx9^[L?JSG'tA~v,.(]1E]Q֜E3i:ve/ê"UY"[9(DRC\v"1KԶx',] iW`UkSdZG Dj΅k;BK(oIxA'Ƹ K~N)C yN!Eft@H $Io 0LNwPä 43B 1}J;jk.3>Idhm)촅@fK=MCs0K0a=& NAT\6H ZMa >RQNne`r9*vcP`6}ށR> ~\02ًch= J*E?9ɐr(֤\!24eKn DQ4P}Ė<_xWem{v U{ ~>$GMYSJW;*(Tz$ n'`_ܠXlr;u v._uչMpE9Kai/:VF/S!w=Np'PUT"A &w2L h2QweFzc3@,3 @b$('GfJBG^SUAthFE/ph$zyɽ- !ŏڼпmɄu%9_l8E]mJj|ߍ%'6fHe[P{{a9v{2 '^y C)u0F,V#h@ހf [NQ9ୈ?j{[O;eJO26Mŋ"mw(~ @ ܇']+/qZ+oϷ衦}X:p.,,/ϴR:Zn;?m,dJ6
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1