Customer Reviews

Provence A - Z

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3 star:		(3)
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t was at a show of paintings by Cezanne and Pissarro at the Museum of Modern Art that I realized I wanted to spend my declining years in the South of France. Specifically, in Provence. My bedroom was the key image: a big bed, whitewashed walls, a shuttered window. And this, most of all --- a view of rolling fields of lavender.

This was not a fantasy of a late-life invalid. Of course I'd write. Probably about Provence. And then I remembered: Peter Mayle has already been there, done that. Indeed, he owns the franchise on Provence.

I would be annoyed by Mayle's dominance, but the thing is, I know him ever so slightly and he just might be the most pleasant guy on the planet. Opens the good wine for guests. Laughs at your jokes, etc. And is so not a greasy careerist, eager to sell out a beautiful patch of France for a bag of Euros. Listen to Mayle tell the story of his success:

I was doing some work for GQ magazine and I had a little bit put aside. We sold our house in England. But I had an idea for a novel that I had sold to a publisher in England. I was going to go out to Provence, lock myself away and whack out this novel and financial things would be more comfortable. I got there and was so distracted by what was going on that I didn't do anything on the novel. My literary agent kept ringing me up and asking to see pages and I eventually sent him some pages on why I couldn't start the novel. He took them to the publisher and said this actually is a much better idea than the novel and the publisher agree. "If he can do another 250 pages like this we've got something." They gave me a "modest advance" -- so modest in fact that it was self-effacing. We had a two-man publication party -- me and the publisher -- and he printed 3,000 copies and said, "There'll be a few left over but I'll give them to you at a discount so you've got them for Christmas gifts." About six weeks later, I was back in France and he called and said. "We sold them all. We're reprinting another 1,500 copies." Gradually it snowballed and then the paperback came out and sold a million copies in England...

And then Knopf picked "A Year in Provence" up for the American market, and you know the rest.

In "Provence A-Z," Mayle shares the offbeat information he has gathered while living in Provence for almost two decades. Very little of it is the stuff you find in guidebooks. Much of it is information gathered in cafes, where Mayle is fond of pastis (at 45% alcohol, the most intoxicating drink in the house). All of it makes you want to fly to Paris --- tonight, if possible --- and then take the TGV down to Aix. (Cautionary note: There are 16 million visitors to Provence each year. Try not to go in August.)

Here's a sample of Mayle's gleanings:

-- the origin of a bamboo forest near Nimes

-- the charms of Beaumes-de-Venice, which is so much more than a dessert wine

-- the genius of the bouffadou in lighting fires

-- the Provencal sun tan (Picasso, Mayle notes, was "the color of a well-cured cigar")

-- what to do with leftover ends of cheese

-- how to cook eggplant on a barbeque

-- the male goat "can copulate up to 40 times a day" (cheer up: each encounter lasts for only a few seconds)

-- the world's only corkscrew museum

-- the soaps of Marseilles, the best rose wine, salt from the Camargue

-- a hundred intangibles: the smell of a cafe, a hidden path, an afternoon nap, neighbors and so much more

And here, both to whet your appetite and to show you that there is no such thing as a "small" subject when a fine writer is at the top of his game, here is Peter Mayle on the subject of the air --- yes: the air --- in Provence:

A man in a bar once told me that the air in Provence was the purest air in France, perhaps even in the world. He was a large and somewhat aggressive man, and I thought it wise not to argue with him. In fact, I was delighted to believe what he had told me, and for several years I would pass on the good news to friends and visitors. "Every breath you take of Provençal air," I used to say, "is like ten euros in the bank of health." It wasn't until I started to research the subject that I discovered the truth.

Here it is: The départements of Bouches-du-Rhône, the Vaucluse, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, and the Var make up one of the four most polluted zones in Europe, a distinction they share with Genoa, Barcelona, and Athens. (Source: Greenpeace France.) Apart from the emissions coming from heavy traffic on the routes nationales and the autoroutes, the principal villains are to be found in the industrial complex --- l'industrie-sur-mer --- that straggles along the coast from Marseille to the Gulf of Fos and the oil refineries at Berre.

How bad is it? By August 2003, there had been thirty-six days during the year on which the level of air pollution exceeded the official limit of 240 micrograms per cubic meter. More was to come as the summer heat wave continued. And, so we were told, the pollution was not necessarily confined to the area immediately around those who produced it, but could spread as far away as sixty to ninety miles.

Since each of us breathes about thirty pounds of air each day, statistics like this make uncomfortable reading. And yet, walking every day in the Luberon as I do, it's difficult to believe that such a thing as pollution exists. The air looks clear and tastes good. Vegetation seems untouched. Butterflies thrive. Birds and game go about their business, apparently in rude health. Can it be that the mistral is protecting us by blowing away the foul breath of industry? I must consult the man in the bar. He will know.

I'd like to meet that man. And see Mayle in situ. Shall we gather in the late afternoon at that bar?

This is a collection of short essays about the culture of Provence in alphabetical order. I think it is typical Mayle, intelligent, bright, and whimsical without being "cute". It's a writing you can sample in at odd times.

Beware all who begin reading this: I'm totally incapable of writing an unbiased review of anything authored by Peter Mayle. I'm a dedicated Mayle-ite, unabashed, unrepentant, and completely under the spell of this witty, charming chronicler of his Provencal experiences.

Thus, it is with the greatest reluctance that my comments re Provence A - Z are less than laudatory. For me it is precisely what the title implies - an alphabetical listing of words with each followed by a brief definition, description or explanation.. Some of the included listings were of interest to me; others were received with my version of a Gallic shrug.

We begin with "Accent" and learn that French is not truly the language spoken in Provence as we might expect but what is spoken is "a rich, thick, pungent verbal stew, simmered in an accent filled with twanging consonants." The closing listing is "Zingue - Zingue - Zoun," which we are told is used to describe the sound of a violin.

Yes, there are frequent flashes of the Mayle humor throughout. But, for this reader, Provence A - Z is adulterated Mayle, and I much prefer him pure - straight, if you will, without soda or water simply because he is one of the world's premier raconteurs, an amiable travel guide, and blessed with an unerring eye for humor in the most improbable situations.

If you've not read Mayle, I encourage you to let your introduction be A Year In Provence or Encore Provence - both are pure Mayle, pure pleasure.

- Gail Cooke

Peter Mayle's "Provence A-Z" is a collection of personal interests and discoveries. There are amusing stories of construction complexities, the celebration of truffles and humorous stories of wild pigs eating perfectly ripe melons. Peter invites you into his world and as he explains the reality of Provence he keeps the fantasy of the perfect vacation alive and well. Since I recently made my own tapenade it was interesting to see a new recipe. There is also an explanation of why tomatoes are known as pommes d'amour. There are stories of unique fruits and visions of hills that are home to two thousand types of butterfly. I loved the story of the new puppy and you can't help but smile when you think of all the adventures Peter has on a daily basis. Overall, this collection of writing makes winter days seem a bit warmer and it is perfect as a cozy read by the fire.

~The Rebecca Review
Once I spent a weekend in Provence

An enjoyable collection about things in and of provence. Peter Mayle has done another winner.
An easy read and quite informative.

I took Peter Mayle's book Provence A-Z with me when I travelled through the region a few months ago, stopping at the places he seemed to highly recommend and rereading passages pertaining to what I saw. My trip was tremendously enhanced. But Mayle's great gift is the fun he has with the language, and the obvious pleasure he has writing about the area he loves.

I love Provence now, too. Thanks, Mr Mayle!

Here's a book of a couple of hundred entries, from A to Z of course, about life in the Provence region of France. Each entry then has from a short paragraph to a few pages of description. The author is Peter Mayle who has almost made a careet of writing about Provence. He's a Brit who moved there many years ago. He was going there to write a novel, but instead wrote a book on Provence which to the surprise of many turned into a best seller.

This started a trend with 'A Year in Provence' and 'Toujours Provence' being the best known. Like expats everywhere who have permanently moved from their homeland, Mr. Mayle is in love with his new chosen country. It shows through his selection of words to include in the book and in the dedication with which he has given these words their Provence meaning.

It's almost enough to make people who don't like France ready to go visit.

Mayle's first book on Province was the first I purchased that he wrote. For many reasons it was a great success and I too enjoyed it thoroughly. I purchased several others over time and found them deteriorating per "too much of the same thing". Yet, this book is just delightful! While similar in theme, it's refreshing and fun to read.

This one is comprised of a number of vignettes on highly varied topics about Provence, arranged as a dictionary in alphabetic order - thus the tile. A few small drawings are inserted here and there for artistic emphasis. No topic is more than two pages. Many are much shorter. Placed on a coffee table, by the bedside or in a guest room, it would readily be a book someone could pick up for a few minutes (or awhile) and immediately be entertained if they had even passing interest in the South of France .

It's light reading, in the same Mayle style. There's tongue-in-cheek humor in places and always in good taste. Speaking of taste, it even includes a few (but no too many) recipes for some traditional items that define French cooking. I'd say buy it!

I have been interested in Peter Mayle's writing since reading A Year in Provence several years ago. Provence is a part of France that I find beautiful and interesting, and I like his style of description and storytelling. I'm very satisfied with my purchase.

This is not a book to read from cover to cover, but one to enjoy in snippets of time. Mayle always provides a 'vacation in France' in his charming, witty books, but this one provides sound-byte sized vacations as you wait in line for school pickup, at the drive-thru, in the doctor's waiting room, or even when you mute the annoying commercial on TV. The mini-essays are presented alphabetically, each defining or explaining something wonderfully French in Mayle's beloved style. Great way to keep a smile on your face when all you have are fragments of time for reading.