false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1169422832m/40184.jpg 40184 13 "Provence, again?" one may think, seeing Peter Mayle's latest effort. "Has the man nothing better to do than promote a region that's already overhyped and overpriced? Can't he turn his eye to a place that needs a touristic boost, like Bulgaria?"<p> However, there are reasons to plunge into the third Provençal book by Englishman Mayle, formerly a Madison Avenue copywriter whose bestselling <I>A Year in Provence</I> made the area a must-see for tourists and helped to quadruple real estate prices there. After four years in Long Island, Mayle has returned to France with continuing adoration.<p> Mayle discloses a world missed by tourists, be it the questions dry cleaners ask about wine stains or the mysterious murder of a small-town butcher given to making housewives happy with more than his displayed meat. He also incorporates guide-like tips--listing markets, cheese makers, and the essential how-tos of perfume sniffing and olive-oil tasting. What's more, this book gives a peek into the life of a bestselling writer. The role is not always an enviable one.<p> Mayle no longer fits into life in America--the vocabulary alone is enough to throw him off--yet in Provence, he is regarded as little more than a moneyed foreigner. Speared by the British press, he laments, "One of my crimes is to have encouraged people to visit the region ... far too many people ... and people of the wrong sort," an accusation that he denies.<p> And Mayle comes off as positively defensive in his attack of former <I>New York Times</I> food critic Ruth Reichl, who wrote that she was disappointed in the region. The title alone of chapter 3 hints at the sarcastic stabbings to follow: "<I>New York Times</I> Restaurant Critic Makes Astonishing Discovery: Provence Never Existed." Page after page, he roasts Reichl on the spit, creating a hissing Ruth Rotisserie that's most unbecoming from someone of his stature. <p> What most causes him to sputter is Reichl's admission that she "had been dreaming of a Provence that never existed."<p> "Where had I been living all these years?" writes the man who's helped to perpetrate the illusion of a land that is nothing but lavender fields, sunflowers swaying in the breeze, and fascinating characters every millimeter. "The Provence that Daudet, Giono, Ford Madox Ford, Lawrence Durrell and M.F.K. Fisher knew and wrote about--the Provence that I know--doesn't exist.... It's a sunny figment of our imagination, a romanticized fantasy."<p> Maybe. Having recently visited Provence, I agree with Reichl's critical assessment. Therein lies Mayle's ultimate charm. Crack open a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape, delve into <I>Encore Provence</I>, and voilà: it may be better than actually being there. <I>--Melissa Rossi</I> 724544 1999 Encore Provence: New Adventures in the South of France total:808|5:151|4:344|3:265|2:38|1:10| 808 3012 1046 57 4 1 false false Fri Feb 08 08:09:39 -0800 2008 Sat May 31 12:27:48 -0700 2008 4 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Apr 14 15:02:53 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 14 15:07:15 -0700 2009 1 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Mon Jan 19 14:00:34 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 19 14:01:07 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Nov 02 19:16:51 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 02 19:16:51 -0800 2008 You’ve got Mayle!

Peter Mayle’s “Encore Provence” …the third novel in his Provence series. His books are always great fun; reading them is like going on vacation. In this installment of the series, Mayle (an Englishman by birth) writes about returning to Provence after a four year absence, ...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Apr 08 13:49:43 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 08 13:56:56 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 10:40:42 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 10:43:19 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Mar 24 21:48:19 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 09 16:24:37 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 21 22:22:08 -0700 2008 Toujours Provence, the chapters of this book are connected by the setting of Provence and by a few recurring characters, but are otherwise independent. This is perfect for a book to be read in bites, like a little slice of reading dessert. Begin with the man power-washing his underwear, then ...more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Jan 24 10:02:01 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 24 10:03:47 -0800 2009 4 0 false false Tue Mar 25 00:00:00 -0800 2003 Sat Apr 25 10:37:14 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 25 10:39:09 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Apr 02 09:32:34 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 09:33:05 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Feb 23 21:18:15 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 23 21:18:45 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Thu Feb 26 11:57:48 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 11:58:39 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Tue Nov 23 00:00:00 -0800 1999 Wed Aug 12 22:47:24 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 22:48:18 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Fri Aug 14 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 10:07:59 -0700 2009 Fri Aug 14 11:22:25 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Feb 10 17:31:45 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 17:32:02 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jun 25 17:45:15 -0700 2009 Thu Jun 25 17:46:22 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Thu Apr 09 06:32:56 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 06:33:08 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Mon Aug 17 15:41:35 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 17 15:41:40 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Sat Jul 07 20:34:02 -0700 2007 Sat Jul 07 22:07:07 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 false false Fri Jul 11 14:03:37 -0700 2008 Fri Jul 11 14:07:24 -0700 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=40184