Provence A-Z
Peter Mayle
Allen and Unwin
240 pages, $26.95


PETER Mayle’s made a mint out of living in the French region of Provence and writing 11 books about it.

But good on him.

If you live in, well, let’s just say not your ideal posting locality, you live off books such as his.

I’ve enjoyed all the others and been tempted to launch a hasty resignation 11 times. I’m fighting one off right now in fact.

Mayle has the enviable ability to write effortlessly about the smells, flavours, sights and experiences of living in the French countryside.

This book is, as the title suggests, an A to Z of his favourite things in the region. Basically a collection of short stories he’s written with his usual combination of anecdotal fact and humour.

It’s torture really.