Offers a study of the je-ne-sais-quoi. This book describes the rise and fall of the expression as a noun and as a topic of debate, examines its meanings, and presents its 'pre-history'. It argues that the je-ne-sais-quoi serves to capture first-person encounters with a 'certain something' that is as difficult to explain as its effects are intense. Richard Scholar's wonderfully rich and challenging study of the je-ne-sais-quoi ... the elegance, detail and...scholarship of Scholar's book.