Love this guy, I have been reading him for years. The Denver Post had this to say about the book; "Oh, What a delicious little book this is. A Luxurious tale of clever deception, byzantine civic politics and, of course, lush and languid passages devoted to food...Like an excellent meal at a belov...
A fun, if predictable caper. There were no surprises in the direction the plot took, or the eventual resolution, but still the story was enjoyable. What keeps me from rating the book higher, beyond the predictability, is how stereotyped every character is. The women in the story are especially in...
Meh. I really enjoyed the memoirs that Mayle has written about restoring an old French farmhouse and discovering life in the south of France. But his novels and mysteries really drain a lot of the charm out of his writing. He skims over the amenities, barely mentioning the pleasures of the foo...
I always enjoy reading Peter Mayle. I had actually read this book several years ago, realizing it after I had started the book, and continued to read as I will read its sequel next. I enjoy the languid feeling I get reading these stories. Even actions that by necessity be hurried - identifying...
I've been a Peter Mayle fan for years. He's given us an insight and appreciation of France and the French, especially life in Provence, like no one else. Wether it's a case of trying to stretch his writing legs a little too much or perhaps the pressure of an eager publisher, Mayle's foray into f...
http://blog.mihaisavu.com/2011/02/02/...Peter Mayle este un autor britanic contemporan, cunoscut în special pentru romanele sale legate de însorita regiune Provence din Franța. I-am citit mai întâi volumul "Viață de câine" și m-am îndrăgostit de stilul dezinvolt și de umorul său special. "Viață d...
A Year in Provence is a book about a couple who decides to leave their every-day-life behind and begin a new life together in Provence. For those of you who don't know what Provence is, it's kind of like Tuscany meets France, but better. After reading this book, I truly hope some day Mike and I c...
Chasing Cézanne is a lighthearted, quick read novel that takes us from New York City, Bahamas, England, Paris and the south of France. Professional photographer Andre Kelly has just completed an assignment in the south of France. Rather than heading straight back to wintry NYC, he decides to drop...
На места прекалено комерсиална, на места повърхностна, като цяло книгата има леко безпристрастна нотка- обръща се повече внимание на описание, отколкото на личното преживяване. Границата между хумора и лекомислието е много тънка. Щастието на цяла нация се заключава в едно добро и обилно ястие. За...
Because living in the south of France, or Normandy, or Italy, sounds so wonderfully exotic and impossible, reading about those who have chosen to do is both wonderful and a cause for jealousy. I read A Year in Provence and Toujours Provence many years ago, and happily both continue to reside on m...
Attention bread lovers!In the first of his famous books about Provence, Peter Mayle shared with us news of a bakery in the town of Cavaillon where the baking and appreciation of breads “had been elevated to the status of a minor religion.” Its name: Chez Auzet.Now, several hundred visits later, M...
After rereading A Year in Provence, my next logical book to read was Toujours Provence, Peter Mayle's follow-up to the wildly successful A Year in Provence. To be honest, while I could remember reading the first book, I had no recollection of reading Toujours Provence and now I remember why.::: W...
The lovely and talented Mr. Russell Crowe was responsible for getting me to read Patrick O'Brian's Master and Commander, which began my ongoing infatuation with the Aubrey-Maturin series. When I learned that his next movie, A Good Year, is based upon the novel of the same name by Peter Mayle, I f...
Anything Considered tells the story of Bennett, an Englishman who enjoys living a luxurious life in France, but unfortunately is running out of money to do so. Bennett puts an ad up in the International Herald Tribune looking for a job. He gets a response from Julian Poe, an extremely wealthy man...
He was puzzled by a piece he’d seen in the newspaper, which he had enclosed, and the article made sad reading. It condemned Provence as a region of clever peasants and bad food, and here was the source of Simpson’s puzzlement. I don’t remember it being like that at all, he wrote, when I was there...
This in turn led him to refine an idea that had been in the back of his mind for some time: a series that featured the homes of the rich and famous. Now, he thought, the robberies could add another dimension to that idea. It was obvious that the victims of those robberies were, if not famous, cer...
And so, for those of you who would like to see for yourselves some of the restaurants, places, and events that I’ve written about, here are a few details. I can’t, unfortunately, give precise dates of the fairs and festivals, as these will change by a day or two each year, but I’ve included conta...
By day, it's a lively, crowded place. Cars prowl the streets in search of a parking spot, housewives sniff and prod the glistening piles of fruit and vegetables laid out on sidewalk stands shaded by striped awnings, cafe regulars study newspapers over their morning beers as dogs sidle between the...
Braziers glowed; candlelight shadows trembled on the walls; vases of pink tulips decorated each table; and there was enough food, Simon thought, for a prolonged siege—terrines, charcuterie, salads, cheeses, a vast daube keeping warm over a bed of charcoal, gâteaux and tarts and a gigantic bowl of...
The only thing he had learned from having Reboul’s car followed was that Reboul was aware of it, and more than capable of dealing with it. “So,” he said to Nikki, “the man’s not a fool, and he knows something is up. I don’t know how good his ferrets are, but there’s a chance they might find out t...