Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not as great as A Year in Provence
Review: I didn't think that this book was quite as good as A Year in Provence. But it was still very amusing. I'd recommend reading A Year in Provence first before reading this book so you better understand everything he is referring to.
Rating: 
Summary: Pas mal, mais....
Review: I knew we were in trouble when Mayle's sequel to his delightful "Year in Provence" opened with vignettes on constipation and suppositories. Oh, Mayle's fresh and breezy style is here, and he still has an eye for small but telling details, but this is mainly a retread of the same ground he worked in the much more cohesive "Year in Provence." We are told, yet again, about annoying guests, fraud in the truffle trade, and the arrogance of outsiders who are invading Provence and turning it into a playground for the rich, which is rich coming from a man who has plenty of money to finance his enviable lifestyle and quests to discover the origins of pastis!
All that said, Mayle has a talent for evoking place, and his descriptions of memorable meals will leave you salivating. But you can get all that, in better form, in A Year in Provence.
Rating: 
Summary: peter mayle is great!
Review: i love everyone of peter mayle's books! If you like travel books, and havn't checked him out - you should!
Rating:
Summary: peter mayle is great!
Review: i love everyone of peter mayle's books! If you like travel books, and havn't checked him out - you should!
Rating:
Summary: Goes well with Driving Over Lemons
Review: I loved nearly every page that I read. The chapter about Vogue and real estate didn't hold my interest quite the same as the other chapters but I won't fault the book for one off chapter. Anyone reading this series looking for another similar and equally good book to read, I highly recommend Driving Over Lemons.
Rating:
Summary: A Second Helping......Bon Appetit!
Review: If you've ventured through my reviews previous to this you know of my deep seated love and enthusiasm for Mr. Mayle's first novel " A Year In Provence". Being such a big fan I was more than slightly apprehensive when his second installment was released. I had prepared my self for a huge letdown! Fortunately, once again, I was wrong. Don't misunderstand me...while I enjoy this book immensely it simply doesn't match up to his first novel. The "flow" of the first novel isn't there and some pieces feel as though they've been plastered together. That being said...WHO CARES! Mr. Mayle's talent in story-telling is still with us and some of his chapters, such as hunting the elusive tuffle, attending a Pavorotti concert and digging up gold Naopoleon's in his own yard make for a wonderful adventure which I greatly enjoyed. Overall, the book has the same cozy, warm feeling that his first novel so vividly captured and I now have my own hardbound copy as well. But, than again, I'm biased! I tend to enjoy his novel's due to their naivete,innocence and of course his tendencies to expand upon French culture. What's not to like? So, if you enjoyed his first you will undoubtably like this as well. And if not....well, you wish to stay away. Overall, I think Peter Mayle has done us, and his bank account,a very big favor by letting us enjoy he and his wife's misadventure's in Provence and here's hopeing they'll be many more!
Rating:
Summary: Almost As Good as Being There.
Review: Like Provence, Mayle continues to charm with further adventures from the land of food, wine, and sunshine. If you haven't read "A Year In Provence", I'd suggest starting with that as many of the "characters" he introduced make return visits here. Less structural than his first book, these chapters come off as varied meditations on random events that occur day to day; A birthday picnic, a new found pet,the search for gold in his backyard, and of course the various gastromical pleasures to be found throughout the region. I didn't find it quite as good as the first book, but still he has a way of making you feel like you're sitting down with an old friend.
Rating:
Summary: Almost As Good as Being There.
Review: Like Provence, Mayle continues to charm with further adventures from the land of food, wine, and sunshine. If you haven't read "A Year In Provence", I'd suggest starting with that as many of the "characters" he introduced make return visits here. Less structural than his first book, these chapters come off as varied meditations on random events that occur day to day; A birthday picnic, a new found pet,the search for gold in his backyard, and of course the various gastromical pleasures to be found throughout the region. I didn't find it quite as good as the first book, but still he has a way of making you feel like you're sitting down with an old friend.
Rating:
Summary: Simply delightful!
Review: Now this is a book to take in the car! Mayle returns to Provence and, unconfined by his self-imposed chronological organization of A Year in Provence, which went month-by-month, produces a delightful, anecdotal account of life in his adopted country. We get to hear about singing frogs, an attempt to train a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig to hunt truffles, as well as various wine-tasting festivities, and particularly a special party for Mayle's birthday that changes his mind about picnics once and for all. It's a delightful book, great for listening to in the car and almost certainly an entertaining light read.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully wry British wit.
Review: Peter Mayle has written a very entertaining view of rural French people and life in Provence. His view contrasts sharply with the idea most Americans have of that region -- very glitzy and refined. Instead he paints a picture that pretty much excludes the tourists that flock to the area in July and August. Very humorously and quite accurately, he paints a charming picture of people who lead pretty plain lives that seem driven mostly by pleasures of the palate and a lack of concern for problems of the world. His verbal renditions are packed with French, which adds a lot of flavor but might turn off those who speak no French. This book is most delightfully enjoyed as a book on tape, read by a Brit, who also has command of French. It will be enjoyed by anyone who has traveled to and through Provence. Those who have not been there, may or may not appreciate his very colorful, wry, and vivid British descriptions.
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