Provence A-Z

A Francophile's Essential Handbook

De: Peter Mayle

Narrado por: Peter Mayle

An indispensable, richly informative, and always entertaining audio sourcebook on Provence, by the writer who has made the region his own.

Though organized from A to Z, this is hardly a conventional work of reference. It is rather a selection of those aspects of Provence that Peter Mayle, in almost 20 years there, has found to be the most interesting, curious, delicious, or down-right fun.

In more than 170 entries, he speaks about subjects as wide-ranging as architecture and zingue-zingue-zoun (in the local patois, a word meant to describe the sound of a violin), and as diverse as expatriates, Aix-en-Provence, the Provençal character, legends, lavender, linguistic oddities, the museum of the French Foreign Legion, the museum of the corkscrew, the origins of "La Marseillaise", and a bawdy folklore character named Fanny.

And, of course, he tells us about food and drink: vin rosé, truffles, olives, melons, bouillabaisse, the cheese that killed a Roman emperor, even a cure for indigestion.

Provence A-Z is a delight for Peter Mayle's ever-growing audience and the perfect complement to any guidebook on Provence, or, for that matter, France.

©2006 Escargot Productions, Ltd (P)2006 Random House, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

"Mayle is the self-appointed pied piper of Provence for Anglophone Francophiles everywhere, and these entries, from 'Accent' to 'Zingue-Zingue-Zoun', display the same conversational style his fans have come to expect." (Publishers Weekly)

Thin

Humorous. About as much content as one chapter of his books. Makes you long for a larger alphabet.

The Literary Equivalent of Scenic Attractions

an enjoyable presentation with charming and affectionate glimpses of life in Provence. it's not a guidebook but it does give the flavor of a slow ramble through Provencal environs.