Don't juge book by ... it's popularity

London, Warsaw, Geneva, Milan... every bookstore I have visited  in the last couple of months seemed to be filled with "Eat, pray, love" a novel by E.Gillbert.

[ Nice and quite interesting story about a women who decides to leave old life behind and indulge herself in a soul/self searching trips to Italy, Indie and Indonesia. Therefore she goes to Rome to eat, learn italian and have fun, then a monastery in India to cleanse her body and mind. At the end it's Bali and new her with new attitude and new way of life.
 Yes, you have heard similar stories before, but read this book anyway because despite shallow introduction there is a deeper sense to it. And there is a movie coming with Julia Roberts, that's how popular the book is!]

But not in France. Rien, nope, nada...

Why? The book was such a success elswhere than it should rock in France, right? Wrong. Few simple reasons why frenchies won't read this book:

• They don't like to be told what to do and how to live. "Eat, pray love" can be easly classified as a self-aid book that will tell you how to life a better life. French people already have the best life ever, so why read that book? Useless.
• They don't know how to categorise this book. Should it go to a summer read section? Fiction? Reality? Either you are a writer and you tell a nice story based on your experience or you are an expert on the suject and you write an essey. Someting in between won't work.
• They don't like the title. Going to Italy to experience good cuisine? Are you for real? Why she won't come to France?
• They don't like the title. Pray...world to contradictory to even mention it without being jugded.
• They don't like the title. Indonesia won't teach you how to love. Does French lover ring a bell?

Don't juge a book by it's popularity elswere. Every market has it's own rules, traditions and customs - ignoring that won't help you. Think globally but act locally. Always.