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| A Year in Provence | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter Mayle
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $13.00
Buy New: $0.01
You Save: $12.99 (100%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (132 reviews)
Sales Rank: 14979
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.8 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 0679731148
Dewey Decimal Number: 944.920838
EAN: 9780679731146
ASIN: 0679731148
Publication Date: June 4, 1991
Release Date: June 4, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 A Humorous Look at Cultural Differences in the South of France February 8, 2008
This book was a wonderful journey for me. I have traveled in the South of France and remember how beautiful the region is, yet how different its people are from a cultural standpoint. This is a fantastic read for anyone who wants to learn more about French culture, especially Provencal culture. For an interesting look at Parisian culture, I recommend "A Year in the Merde" by Paul West.
food lovers book January 28, 2008
This is a very well written book. I like the sense of humor of he author. If you like food, you'll like this book. Food seems to be a major theme. It has very good descriptions of the area and the people. I felt like I was living there and getting to know their neighbors along with them.
I also enjoyed "A Good Year". More quirky humor and a great date film.
 Not badly written, just boring. January 18, 2008
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
The fault may be mine. I think travel diary is just not my genre. I appreciate stories driven by plot and rich characters (the only rich character in this story is the food!). I kept asking myself where the book was heading, but basically it was just heading to the next dining experience, home improvement project, or inconsiderate guest. If I hadn't been reading the book for a book club meeting, I never would have bothered finishing it.
That being said, the writing does flow nicely. The book is well written, and some of the experiences are fun to read. If you enjoy travelogues, you will probably enjoy this book.
Warning: If this book were a movie, it would be rated PG-13 due to one strong expletive that blindsides you as you are reading along.
 A Year in Provence - a delight October 1, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Over a decade has passed since A Year in Provence was published but time has not dulled the images, humor or humanity of Peter Mayle's wonderful story of an English couple's misadventures as they seek the good life in Rural France. The people, the food, and the land all come alive as the Mayle family struggles to rebuild an old farmhouse and blend in with the locals. This is the book that re-ignited interest in one one of France's most beautiful and gracious regions.
GOING TO THE DOGS IN THE LAND OF THE FROGS September 3, 2007
Peter Mayle's delightful expose of his first year as "foreigners" in Provence proves highly entertaining reading--for serious or armchair travelers. This month-by-month account proves a painfully honest narrative: how a perfectly respectable English couple "goes native" in just twelve months in Southern France. Clearly a cautionary tale this book catalogues the clandestine allures faced by naive Anglo-Saxons who have clearly absorbed too much semi-tropical heat to retain their Northern European rationality.
Read and be warned of the psychological horrors of gradulaly
slipping from productive, English sobriety and a lifestyle of moderation, into the fathomless pit of culinary worship with its acolytes: bread, wine, garlic, truffles, olive oil, cheese and game birds.
So this charming, apparently normal couple emigrates to southern France, where they are baffled by Provencal accents, attitudes and the
natives' flexible view of Time. The Mayles are thrown in without adequate warning to deal with sly peasants, avid promoters, local civic pride, excitable construction workers, rude drop-in guests and the seasonal invasion of European tourists: German campers and snobby Parisians who consider the entire globe beneath their notice.
The Mayles' first year concludes with the renovation (well, almost completed) of an old stone house, during which time they have earned the grudging respect of their colorful neighbors. Unfortunately, the standards of the once safe and sane British Empire have definitely disintegrated into shameless dedication/degradation to the gods of food and drink. The plotline can be briefly summed up: Going to the dogs--as some might say, (despite the fact that the couple actually brought their own dogs from home) in the land of the Frogs. If you read this book you'll never need to visit Provence in person, and yourfunny bone will be well fed, but your tummy/waist line will surely miss out.
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