Rating: 
Summary: Not the best in the series but still entertaining
Review: Mayle covers Provence again with a third book. This is, I think, the weakest of the three, if only because Mayle is starting to run out of anecdotes. There are some priceless ones in here, most notably the one about the handsome young butcher who increases the meat on the table for every married man in town, but this is more of a travelogue and a description rather than a first-person recounting. It's the weaker for that.Mayle also complains about the ever-increasing tourist traffic in August while never bothering to consider whether he bears any responsibility for this. He does face down his accusers over the issue of whether he has helped "spoil" Provence and comes up with some good counter-arguments. He also verbally eviscerates a writer for the New York Times who writes an article claiming that Mayle's Provence exists only in his imagination. That chapter has a darker tone than most of his other writings, though it's not surprising that someone with Mayle's gift for the clever phrase is so capable of sharply-worded sarcasm. On the production side, David Case's almost-too-perfect accent, verging onto the snobbish to this American's ears, is toned down to a more conversational tone, which suits Mayle well. My version of the cassettes were produced by Random House, which has none of the handy enhancements provided with the previous books by Books-On-Tape. I am thinking particularly of the friendly reminder that one has reached the end of a tape or the side thereof, which Books-On-Tape is very good about. Here only an abrupt silence is provided to give one a clue to flip over or change.
Rating:
Summary: A modest, fun travel book
Review: Not as good as the first book, "A Year in Provence." The charm that covered every page of the original is spread much too thinly in this one. The stories about local people and their unique culture are rare in "Encore." Nonetheless, it's a handy and amusing travel guide for someone planning a visit to the region.
Rating:
Summary: More travelogue, less character portraits
Review: I have read Mayle's other "Provence" books, and was absolutely charmed by them, wanting to book a flight to the south of France immediately. What charmed me the most, however, was not particularly the scenery and locale, but the interesting, quirky folks that figured so heavily in his other books. He tells us less about these folks in "Encore," and more about the out-of-the-way places that standard tour guides won't mention. The charm and wit are of course present, but the interesting neighbors are less of a factor. Oh, we have Marius, funeral connoisseur, and the story of the murder of the town butcher, who was just too attractive to the wives of some of the men in the village. These are the stories I very much enjoyed in the other books, and found missing in this one. Nonetheless, the descriptions and details are generously laced with Mr. Mayle's wit and clear love of the place. Should I ever book that flight to France, I will surely take the volume along as a guide to the "true" Provence.
Rating: 
Summary: Great prep for Provence travel
Review: This third installment isn't a departure from the previous books, but rather enhances the Provence mystique. "Encore" twists with both story-telling in a fictional sense and factual narrative. The detail on the truffle market and olive oil industry was engaging and leaves you hungry for more. This is an enjoyable read and especially timely for someone readying for travel to Provence. Mayle does a great job of listing excellent restaurants, markets, vineyards and other sight-seeing destinations.
Rating: 
Summary: L' Petit donna, the lady, vraiment
Review: This is the most funniest book I ever read in a very long time. On my Christmas break, I spent a lot of time reading this book. I found the recipe's to be quite delicious and familiar. The book was a little facetous. The funniest part was when the author stated that "The bland was leading the bland." I found this statement to be quite funny and facetous. A lot of people always talk about "the blind leading the blind." In retrospect, food does not taste very good when there are people in the kitchen that do not know how to cook. The phrase is quite similar to a "chicken running with his head cut off." In other words, this a person that do not know what they are doing. Another interesting part was the subtitle,"The Perfect Corkscrew." This part was quite intriguing. It had my attention. I was all ears and eyes. How do you actually be a nose, anyway? Tell me please what is involve, do people go around sniffing people's things to be a nose? Maybe there is a little bit more research involved with being a nose. For the final analysis of this short but sweet book review, "Green Thumbs and Black Tomatoes" was the best part, it kind of remind me of what I cook with. It can be quite similar to ones ancestry. Good-bye
Rating:
Summary: L'Petit donna, the lady, vraiment
Review: This is the most funniest book I ever read in a very long time. On my Christmas break, I spent a lot of time reading the book. I found the recipe's to be quite delicious and familiar. The book was a little facetous. The funniest part was when the author stated that "The bland was leading the bland" I found this statement to be quite funny and facetous. A lot of people always talk about the "blind leading the blind." In retrospect, food does not taste very good when there are people in the kitchen that do not know how to cook. The phrase is quite similar to " a chicken running with his head cut off." In other words, this is a person that do not know what they are doing. Another interesting part was the subtitle" The Perfect Cork Screw." This part was quite intriguing. It had my attention. I was all ears and eyes. How do you actually be a nose anyway? Tell me please what is involve, do people go around sniffing people's things to be a nose. Maybe there is a little bit research that is involved with being a nose. For the final analysis of this short but sweet book review,"Green Thumbs and Black Tomatoes" was the best part, it kind of remind me of what I cook with. It can be quite similar to ones ancestry. Good-bye
Rating:
Summary: HERE'S MAYLE WITH DEFT PEN AND QUICK WIT
Review: Rejoice, armchair travelers - Provence's most engaging booster is at it again! With deft pen and quick wit intact Peter Mayle offers another paean to his promised land, Encore Provence, in which, among other Provencal perks, he delineates the salubrious effects of a 3-hour lunch, and the gastronomical satisfaction found at a village boulangerie. After a four year hiatus in America, Mr. Mayle has returned to the lavender fields and picturesque dwellings of his chosen paradise on earth - southern France. As he describes his second residency with great good humor and affection, Encore Provence becomes a billet-doux to the places and people of that region. No longer the wide-eyed, exuberant Francophile we found in A Year In Provence(1995)and Toujours Provence (1991), he is now a more sophisticated, experienced resident - on to recalcitrant workmen who say neither yes or no, but only "c'est possible," and now convinced that "hurried eating has ruined more digestive systems than foie gras." That enlightened mecca where wine's first sip is greeted with a "shudder of appreciation" has welcomed him home. He warmly returns its embrace, as he delightedly attests through anecdotal narrative and assiduously drawn, smile-provoking portraits of idiosyncratic Gallic friends. For starters, we learn of a handsome village butcher who favors housewives with more than choice cuts. Such generosity results in his untimely demise, but "everyone turned out the day they buried the butcher. They all had their reasons." We are inducted into the mysteries of buying a new car, cheerfully informed of the essentials of a proper village, and taken on a cook's tour of Marseille, where it is suspected "that not only fish are changing hands at the daily market on the Quai des Belges." Lucien Ferrero, we discover, has "a nose in a million," having "personally created more than two thousand perfumes," and we accompany the author as he zealously pursues the elusive perfect corkscrew. When asked by future visitors when the best time is to come to Provence, Mr. Mayle sidesteps that persistent query with "after lunch." "Only then," he explains, "can you take full advantage of the long and unencumbered afternoon that lies ahead. The bill is paid, the last mouthful of rose' swallowed, the empty bottle upended in the ice bucket as a farewell salute to the waiter." The author finds that one of his most daunting tasks is trying to convince guests of the necessity of a siesta, for they've arrived in Provence "with their work ethics intact and their Anglo-Saxon distrust of self-indulgence poised to resist undisciplined, slightly decadent Mediterranean habits." For those wishing to be convinced - the line forms behind me. As always, Mr. Mayle is a witty, convivial, boon companion. Save for one chapter in which he lambastes a former New York Times food critic for her criticism of the area (perhaps a gentle braising would have sufficed rather than a full roast), Encore Provence is pure pleasure.
Rating:
Summary: Can't get enough of Monsieur Mayle's Provence!
Review: Another gem by this talented humorist. I especially enjoyed his account of going to see Pavarotti in Orange! Now I know why he always carries that HUGE hankerchief...Add this to your collection of repeat-reading as you yearn for the Cote d'Azur (in spite of the horrendous traffic)!
Rating:
Summary: I laughed at the shotgun murder ... and felt good about it!
Review: Twelve years ago, Peter Mayle gifted us with "A Year In Provence", an account of this expatriate Brit's plunge into Gallic life, revolving around the pleasures and pitfalls of establishing a residence in rural France in an old country house that was somewhat of a "fixer-upper". Several Provence-related books later, and after a period of time living on Long Island, Peter and his wife return to the land they (and we) love. The result is "Encore Provence". The latest book doesn't hold together as well as "Year", the elements of the latter forming a more cohesive whole. However, "Encore" is certainly much better than some of his other books written in the interim. In "Encore", Peter briefly revisits several topics covered in the original, as well as several more which were apparently overlooked. The range is quixotic: the cultivation of olive trees, an explanation of the three grades of virgin olive oil, the smelly art of selecting fragrances for designing perfumes, foie gras as the key to longevity, discovering the perfect corkscrew, touring Marseille, the almost-underworld of the village truffle market, how to execute the Provençal full shrug, the obligatory elements of the Provençal village, and, umm ..... the shotgun murder of an amorous meat cutter. And, of course, many hedonistic references to the local food and wine. All are treated in the utterly charming and dryly humorous Mayle-style that makes his books so delightful. Bravo and merci beaucoup, Mr. Mayle! You've provided another enjoyable spice to my life.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent collection of Provençal abstracts
Review: I found this book a great source of facts and abstracts about French and Provençal life. Not a travel guide, but still a great choice for not only those traveling to Provence, but those that have loved Provence in the past and are looking to revisit it through their armchairs.
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