Summary
Gastronomy is a wonderful starting point to study France and the French. As the retired school master from Provence says, The religion of France is food. And wine, of course. And they put their money where their mouth is, spending a greater proportion of their income on food and drink than any other nation in the world. Literally hundreds of gastronomic fairs and festivals take place throughout the year all over France - a frog fair, an hommage to the sausage, to the turnip, to the quiche and the noble Camembert.
Peter Mayle was born in Brighton, England on June 14, 1939. He began his career in advertising as a copywriter and rose to the executive ranks, but left advertising in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young adults. His educational books including Where Did I Come From? and What's Happening to Me?
His travel memoir, A Year in Provence, received the British Book Awards' Best Travel Book of the Year in 1990 and was adapted into a television mini-series. His other nonfiction books included Toujours Provence, Encore Provence, Provence A-Z, and French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork and Corkscrew. His fiction books included The Marseille Caper, The Corsican Caper, and A Good Year, which was adapted into a 2006 film of the same name starring Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard. Mayle died on January 18, 2018 at the age of 78.
(Bowker Author Biography)
