The President's Hat

But remember this isn’t a political novel, rather, it should be read as a kind of fable. Antoine Laurain

I loved this story of the transforming power of a hat in the lives of the people who wear it. It is hilarious and entertaining yet based on psychological insight into the human mind.

Ste in 1980s France, it begins when a man’s wife and children are away and he decides to treat himself to a fancy meal. He is shocked when President Mitterrand is seated in the next booth. He imagines he is one of the men at dinner with the president, dragging out his meal to revel in his proximity to power. After the president leaves, the man notices that the president had left behind his hat. He decides to keep the hat.

The hat gives him a sense of show more dignity and power. At work the next day, he uncharacteristically stands up to a coworker, impressing his boss who offers him a promotion.

But he leaves the hat on a train, and it is picked up by a woman who puts it on her head. It gives her the moxy to change her life, and she leaves it on a park bench where a man finds it, and his life is altered as well.

One after another, the hat has a magical ability to alter people’s self perception, allowing them to take risks and move on.

The conclusion has a surprise twist.

I sped through this delightful book.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley. show less

A fable for adults. Can a hat make a difference in one’s life? Apparently.

It begins when a man, alone for the evening, has dinner at a restaurant and President Miterand and his party happen to sit next to him. After they leave and Daniel finishes his wine he reaches for his coat and realizes that the president has left his hat. Daniel, almost without thinking, puts it on and wears it home. The next day he impresses his boss with his analysis of a financial plan and gets a promotion. He feels it is due to the hat, which gives him great confidence.

But a few days later he leaves the hat on the train, and it is picked up by a woman who is on her way to meet her married lover. The hat works its magic once again and the woman is the better show more for it. And so it goes. The hat moves from one person to another, and each person who temporarily wears the hat has a significant improvement in their situation.

I found the entire story charming and fun. I loved roaming the streets of Paris along with each person who had possession of the hat. I liked learning about each one of them, what made them tick, why they felt “less than” and how they found their courage to move on and up. It left me feeling happy and optimistic. Just delightful. show less

I wanted to read a French translation novel during the 2024 Olympics in Paris and The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain was given to me by a friend who loves France so it was the perfect choice.

Published in 2012 and set in 1980s Paris, the author offers us a simple enough premise, a hat is lost and found by a number of characters in succession who find their individual circumstances beginning to change when they start wearing the hat. One character observes:

"Wearing a hat gives you a feeling of authority over someone who isn't, he thought to himself." Page 35

I was so invested in the first character to find the hat that I was annoyed when it left his possession, almost to the point of wanting to put the book down permanently. However, show more once my irritation subsided I was able to continue the story with renewed interest.

I enjoyed seeing how the individual wearers of the hat began to prosper and make changes to improve their lives, leaving the reader to wonder if there was any power in the hat or if each of the characters brought about their own changes in fortune.

I wasn't familiar with the politics of France in the 1980s - and I'm still not - however the content of this slim volume does include a lot of political commentary from various characters. Thankfully this didn't overpower the narrative and I appreciated the 1980s references. I particularly delighted in this unexpected reference to an awesome song from the '80s:

"In the marble hallway, they handed their coats to some girls with incredible legs and followed the music: rock, or maybe it was pop, the words spoken off-beat in German with a chorus that went 'Rock me Amadeus', as far as Bernard could tell." Page 155

I love that song! Also unexpected was an epilogue at the end that neatly filled in some of the character arcs for the reader, but also raised a question or two that niggled.

The President's Hat by Antoine Laurain is a short, feel good novel that asks the reader to question whether they could transcend the lucky hat idea and make wholesale changes to their own lives themselves. Having just read 12 Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson, I know the answer is a resounding yes, however Laurain leaves it to the reader to arrive at their own conclusion. show less

What gives someone power? Is it their innate personality? Is it something learned? What if it was at least partially contained in something outside of themselves like their hat, for instance? In Antoine Laurain's novel, The President's Hat, newly translated from the French, at least some of Francois Mitterrand's power resides in his Homberg and when he leaves it behind at a restaurant, inadvertently sending the hat on an adventure through a series of different people needing to tap into some of its residual power, it makes for a creative and whimsical tale.

Daniel Mercier stops at a rather elegant Parisian brasserie while his wife and small son are away, thinking to treat himself to a lovely meal and a good bottle of wine. As he's show more savoring his solitary meal, he notices that President Mitterrand and his party are at an adjacent table. Daniel thrills to his proximity to the most famous and powerful man in France and when Mitterrand forgets his hat, Daniel picks it up and wears it out of the restaurant. It becomes part of his daily attire and Daniel notices that with the hat comes a confidence and a decisiveness he's never before felt at work. And with this newfound self-assurance, which he attributes to the power of the hat, Daniel earns a big promotion at work. But then he, like Mitterrand, inadvertently forgets the hat on a train where it is picked up by Fanny Marquant, an aspiring writer who is travelling to a scheduled tryst with her married lover. Mitterrand's hat gives Fanny the courage to finally end it with her lover and inspires her to start a new story both in her life and on paper, the latter being one that she will submit for a writing prize. But Fanny too loses the hat, leaving it on a park bench for famous nose Pierre Aslan to find and to smell. Pierre has lost his most prized ability: the ability to create magnificent perfume. But by the power of the hat, Pierre starts to come back to himself, to be the man his wife married, to see himself once again as a spectacular nose. But Pierre loses the hat as well, to an error made by a cloakroom attendant. And so the hat is off again. Meanwhile, Daniel is desperately searching for the hat. But so is someone else.

Everyone who wears the hat changes his or her life for the better as a result of the certainty and aplomb they each feel when wearing the soft, felt creation. They are linked by the journey of the hat as it touches each of their lives for a short time but they are also connected through Daniel's search for the valuable Homberg. The novel is a fun and clever one, twisting and turning with fate, grounded very firmly in the France of the 1980s. Whether the hat is truly the source of the positive changes in each of the wearers' lives remains open for interpretation but as it passes from person to person, it illustrates the changes wrought in France by Mitterrand's presidency. A charming allegory, this is well written and delightful and those who are looking for an original novel and appreciate a little serendipity in their reading will find this a thoroughly enjoyable diversion. show less

Wieder so ein Buch, das mich einfach überrascht hat. Im Rahmen eines Lesetreffens am Ende des Monats wurde es rausgesucht und ich dachte mal, bevor ich den nächsten Stephen King anfange, lese ich erstmal das hier. Es ist kein Buch, das ich mir sonst einfach so rausgesucht hätte. Es gehört nicht zu meinen Lieblingsgenre und überhaupt wäre es wahrscheinlich gänzlich an mir vorbeigegangen. Wie gut, dass einem Leseclubs, Leserunden und dergleichen, die Möglichkeit geben, aus seinen eingefahrenen Gewohnheiten auszubrechen. Und bei diesem Buch war ich noch sehr viel froher darum.

Mit seinen 240 Seiten ist das Buch nicht sehr lang. Und tatsächlich hab ich es in einem Rutsch durchgelesen. Es ist aber auch einfach bezaubernd erzählt. So show more menschlich, so schön. Als jemand, der sein Leben lang mit schlechtem Selbstwertgefühl zu kämpfen hat(te) und immer noch Tage hat, an denen ein „Nein, so nicht“ höher und breiter als die Chinesische Mauer erscheint, fand ich mich in allen 3 Figuren wieder. In dem schüchternen Daniel, in der liebestechnisch gestrandeten Fanny und im in Depressionen versunkenen Pierre. Einzig mit Bernard hatte ich nicht sehr viel gemein, aber auch sein Erlebnis mit dem Hut konnte ich nachvollziehen und fand es toll. Es wirkt einfach geschrieben, aber die Sprache fließt so schön. Die Geschichte ist leicht mit einer nicht sofort erkennbaren Wehmut und Schwere. Und es ist einfach nur schön. Ein besseres Wort fällt mir nicht ein. Antoine Laurain schafft mit diesem kleinen Büchlein einen Zauber zu beleben, den man oftmals in Büchern vermisst. Als wäre es ein weit entfernter Gedanke, den man zu greifen versucht aber nicht erreichen kann, unsicher ob es eine vage echte Erinnerung ist oder ein vor langer Zeit geträumter Traum. Und dann ist es einfach da. Ganz klar. Man lächelt. Man fühlt ein warmes, vertrautes Gefühl im Bauch und fühlt sich so entspannt und gelassen, wie schon lang nicht mehr. Vielleicht, weil man das Gefühl hat, man wird verstanden. Vielleicht, weil man sich mal nicht erklären muss.

Fazit:
Es ist egal ob es der Hut ist. Jeder Mensch, der sich in diesem Buch nur ein kleines bisschen wiederfindet, weiß, dass es ein Hut sein kann. Oder ein im Vorbeigehen erhaschtes Lächeln. Eine Geste. Etwas, das einem plötzlich eine Klarheit im Kopf verschafft, die man vorher so nicht kannte. Eine Sicherheit und Ruhe und Kraft. Es kann nicht einfach so da sein. Es war schon immer da, nur man selbst hat es im inneren Chaos nie gefunden. Und wahrscheinlich auch nie wirklich danach gesucht.

Für mich ist der „Der Hut des Präsidenten“ die Überraschung schlechthin. Ein Buch, das ich so nie gelesen hatte und jetzt froh bin, es gelesen zu haben. Definitiv eines meiner Highlights dieses Jahr. show less

This is a whimsical tale about the power of a possession. Daniel Mercier is having a bachelor dinner at a Paris brasserie while his wife and young son are out of town when in walks Francois Mitterrand with some other heads of state and sits at the banquette next to Daniel. Daniel slowly plays out his dinner to listen in on the conversation and enjoy the proximity to fame. After Mitterrand has left, Daniel discovers he left his fashionable homburg hat behind. Without much forethought Daniel grabs it and walks out. In the inside is the monogram F.M. which helps prove the story to his wife when he meets her at the train the next day. Daniel wears the hat for a few weeks and feels bold and important and this new found confidence earns him a show more promotion and relocation at work. He is suddenly impressive and noticed. In the relocation process, he loses the hat in the train, where a young woman Fanny Marquant picks it up and wears it due to falling rain. It too inspires her to confidence and self-assertion causing her to jilt a loser lover and write a novel. She purposely leaves the hat on a bench to see what will happen. It is picked up serendipitously by Pierre Aslan, a famous, though washed-up fragrance creator. He too is inspired by wearing the hat and his life's trajectory takes off again. Last to acquire the hat by a cloak room switcheroo is Bernard Levalliere who wears it and begins to challenge his aristocratic bourgeoisie lifestyle and starts to collect contemporary leftist art. How the talisman of the President's hat intersects these lives and foments change is funny and charming. There are some surprises along the way as well, which the omniscient narrator drolly lets the reader in on. Quick and light, the story will captivate and entertain. show less

Set in 1980’s Paris, The President’s hat is a charming story about the hat of President François Mitterrand. One evening Mitterand accidently leaves his hat in a restaurant, and it is picked up by Daniel Mercier, a man who dined next to him. When Daniel wears the hat, he becomes more successful than he ever imagined, which he attributes entirely to the hat. Eventually Daniel loses the hat and is consumed with finding it again so that he may return to the life it provided him.