The first thing that drew me to this book was its clever title. The book is the story of Renee, a widowed concierge who thinks very little of herself, but is otherwise profoundly smart. She is embarrassed by her knowledge and actively tries to hide it from all the tenants of her building. When Ozu, a new tenant, moves in he figures out her secret and in doing so, slowly makes his way into Renee's life. 
 The story is intertwined with the story of a girl who is the daughter of one of the tenants in the building. Paloma is an arrogant, but intelligent girl, who has decided to kill herself. Her part of the book is mostly written in journal format as she has decided to write down profound thoughts she has in the days leading up to her death. As the two meet and find the likeness in their thoughts and learn to see themselves as the truly are, the book leads to an ending that I did not find myself liking. 
 The book can get very philosophical at times and there were entire page sets that I had a very hard time getting through. But within the philosophical trash, there were some poignant and truly profound thoughts. Despite this books unexpected ending, I rather enjoyed the books many references to French life and Renee's plucky and depreciative nature.