French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew | Peter Mayle

French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew | Peter Mayle | C?est genial

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	French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew Peter Mayle Vintage, 2002 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 46 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Another Great One from Peter Mayle

Absolutely the BEST!!! Great to see he is turning out more good books. Word of warning-don't read this book when you are on a diet. Your appetite for food will go WILD!!

C?est genial

"French Lessons" is not Mayle's best book, but it is not one to be passed up, either. I recommend "A Year in Provence" and "Tojour Provence" for a better flavor of Mayle's love affair with France. For the art and fiction aficionado, "Chasing Cezanne" is quite a hoot. Peter Mayle has turned me into a Francophile with his wonderful books about everyday life in Provence. Mayle describes the French as wonderfully expressive people who are eager to share their knowledge and passion about food and everything else that may come up in conversation. I have a feeling that Mr. Mayle could find that positive reaction in people where ever he went in the world because his approach is curious, friendly, and whet with a tremendous appetite for life (as well as for alcohol, cheese, bread, etc.) Mr. Mayle gives me motivation to conquer my reclusive habits in order to better enjoy my stay in Provence some day on my way to Giverny.

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Disappointing: Is Mayle Running Out of Ideas?

I have read every Mayle book and thus eagerly bought French Lessons with the hope that the downward trend of Mayle's efforts would be turned around. It was not, and it is getting worse. Mayle has been coasting on the extraordinary A Year in Provence for many years. He seems to have lost a good deal of his wit and cleverness in French Lessons. One gets the impression that he was pressed for another volume (which would certainly be a best seller irrespective of its merits due to Mayle's prior successes), had neither inspiration nor energy to maintain his prior efforts, and figured he might as well arrange for and then write about a few potentially enjoyable--and tax-deductible--excursions in France. He may have had fun, but the reader really doesn't receive his or her proper share of it. For a much better book of this genre, try Pasquale's Nose, Extra Virgin, or Driving Over Lemons.

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Light and fun -- Mayle rebounds

Since "A Year in Provence" is such a charming memoir I was prompted to read Mayle's subsequent works in the now Provence series. However, while amusing, the latter works pale in comparison with the jewel like quality of the original. Though entertaining "Tourjours Provence" was a disappointing "sequel." Last year after reading "Encore Provence" I felt that Mayle had squeezed out all the juice he could get from the "Provencial" rind. So, with trepidation and low expectations I bought "French Lessons" and was pleasantly surprised.

While not nearly as clever or heart warming as his initial work, "French Lessons" is fun, entertaining, and will heighten your appetite. It is an ideal work for the Francophile, or simply the reader who wishes to travel vicariously to France. It is a perfect summer beach, or long plane ride book.

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reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, page 9, 10

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