Anything Considered

Mayle, Peter

ISBN 10: 0679441239 / ISBN 13: 9780679441236

Published by Alfred a Knopf Inc/Borzoi, Westminister, Maryland, U.S.A., 1996

About this Item

Fine in Fine jacket 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. pp.303 clean tight unread copy. Seller Inventory # 006801

Bibliographic Details

Title: Anything Considered

Publisher: Alfred a Knopf Inc/Borzoi, Westminister, Maryland, U.S.A.

Publication Date: 1996

Binding: Hard Cover

Book Condition: Fine

Dust Jacket Condition: Fine

Edition: Second Printing Before Publication.

About this title

Synopsis:

Bennett is an English expatriate living in France with a champagne taste and a beer bankroll. Happy-go-lucky and a bit roguish, he places an ad in the International Herald Tribune offering his services -- any services. He pursues a response from a wealthy Englishman named Julian Poe who has developed a means of producing truffles and is close to cornering the immensely lucrative truffle market. Bennett signs on and finds himself in Monaco, where he is able to live in a style to which he has always wished to become accustomed (including eating to his heart's content -- a Mayle trademark!). Soon the Sicilian and Corsican Mafiosi intrude and Bennett is joined by the beautiful and experienced (in all ways) Anna. Ham-fisted goons, gendarmes working at cross purposes, French village busybodies, and an order of monks dedicated to the god Bacchus all play a role in the surprising, and more than a little satisfying, denouement.

Review:

Peter Mayle continues to mine the romanticism of Provence for his literary success. A former advertising executive, his Year in Provence told of his time there and brought him unexpected acclaim. Then came three more tales from Provence, Toujours Provence, Hotel Pastis and A Dog's Life. In his latest work, Mayle finds another good reason to write about Provence: its food and wine. This tale is an adventure that manages to send its heroes through a series of wine-tastings and excellent restaurants as they seek to save the black truffle. It's an adventure many of us would love to take.