Why are we so drawn to the "French" way of life? How to learn the mythical joie de vivre — the purely French art of enjoying the moment? Journalist, writer, and comedian Viv Groskop has been asking these questions since childhood. Every summer she traveled to France, diligently studied the language, and dreamed of absorbing at least a bit of "Frenchness," becoming a little closer to Françoise Sagan — freer and bolder. Viv gradually discovered for herself and others authors who managed to capture the essence of French culture and mentality. Like Groskop's previous book "Self-Development According to Tolstoy," "Goodbye, Sadness!" helps rethink the classics, finding something new and relevant in them. And behind the funny and witty facade lie lessons of nostalgia from Proust, altruism from Hugo, psychology from Stendhal, and even a lesson on love for mustaches from Maupassant.