Rating: 
Summary: Running out of steam. . .
Review: "Encore" is the third of Mayle's Provence books, and he's definitely running out of material. This book is much more a collection of essays than "Toujours," and indeed Mayle might be better off publishing similar future work this way. I can envision the chapters of this book appearing as articles in The New Yorker, but I found a whole book a little tedious. Some chapters are fascinating still--I particularly liked "How to Be a Nose," about a school for the blind that trains students to work in the perfume industry, or the chapter on olive oil, "Discovering Oil." Much less interesting is the chapter on the NY restaurant critic, which turns into a guidebook on special shops to buy gourmet items. Mayle is also quite defensive about the criticism he's received that his books have turned the region into a tourist destination, and his final chapter maintains all is as before "A Year in Provence." Maybe true, for a wealthy British writer before real estate prices soared!
Rating:
Summary: Running out of steam. . .
Review: "Encore" is the third of Mayle's Provence books, and he's definitely running out of material. This book is much more a collection of essays than "Toujours," and indeed Mayle might be better off publishing similar future work this way. I can envision the chapters of this book appearing as articles in The New Yorker, but I found a whole book a little tedious. Some chapters are fascinating still--I particularly liked "How to Be a Nose," about a school for the blind that trains students to work in the perfume industry, or the chapter on olive oil, "Discovering Oil." Much less interesting is the chapter on the NY restaurant critic, which turns into a guidebook on special shops to buy gourmet items. Mayle is also quite defensive about the criticism he's received that his books have turned the region into a tourist destination, and his final chapter maintains all is as before "A Year in Provence." Maybe true, for a wealthy British writer before real estate prices soared!
Rating:
Summary: Amusing yet falls short of the mark
Review: Another success in non-fiction, "Encore Provence" is agile and amusing (aren't all of Mayle's works?). The author takes a bit of an off-the-path route in Encore, opting to focus more on tourist attractions and eating establishments, rather than chronicling his actual experiences with Provençal life. The book ventures beyond the confines of Provence and into the surrounding areas. Suffice it to say, it is more of a lavish tourist guide and less of a novel. Granted, it makes very agreeable reading. In my humble opinion, however, "Encore" doesn't reach the brilliant apex of Mayle's previous two masterpieces: "A Year in Provence", and "Toujour Provence", both of which I found equally enjoying. Regrettably, "Encore" definitely lacks the pinnace of its predecessors. Nonetheless, it's redeeming qualities are still evident in it's many entertaining anecdotes, and it's indisputably informative pages when it came to "touristy" points of interest (to those who long to know the *real* Provence).
Rating: 
Summary: Peter Mayle is as refreshing as ever!
Review: I don't quite understand why others have given Mayle's most recent book on Provence such a negative rating. I find his prose to be as amusing as ever, and as a francophile myself I enjoyed learning more about my favorite region of France. Mayle always manages to transport the reader with his evocative passages. I particularly liked the chapter where Mayle goes to visit a school of perfumery and instructs the reader on some of the ways of the ancient skill. Even a trip for a corkscrew is a joy for him. I feel transported back to France each time I read his books. Good job!
Rating:
Summary: Losing steam, but still worth reading
Review: I loved his first book, but this one seems less fresh or maybe it is me, the reader, that brings a less fresh response. Still I found enjoyment in many descriptions of local characters or delightful meals. Other passages dragged a little, dwelling on insider stories that I couldn't always follow.
Rating:
Summary: Losing steam, but still worth reading
Review: I loved his first book, but this one seems less fresh or maybe it is me, the reader, that brings a less fresh response. Still I found enjoyment in many descriptions of local characters or delightful meals. Other passages dragged a little, dwelling on insider stories that I couldn't always follow.
Rating: 
Summary: You really have to be a franchophile to love his books!
Review: I read this book when it first came out and loved it as as I have loved his past French writings. I am re-reading it again and can understand how some people may get a negative feeling about his latest piece. But I do believe his French stuff is more for a small niche of readers who either have spent time in France or are serious francophiles. I have lived 5 years in Paris and am a tour guide in France and whenever I read his books, it definitely takes me back to a Provence that I too have known to love. I can understand his chapter when he goes up against the NY Times food critic but it sure sounded like she was one of these people who would also use the old stereotype that the French are rude! Au contraire! And Mr. Mayle doesn't translate his French idioms! This book is for Francophiles and Francophones! So if you love France as much as some of us do, go out and buy this wonderful, delicious book!
Rating:
Summary: I Love Peter Mayle, but this was a little thin
Review: I read this on my trip to Provance. I loved his first two books, but this time, I felt as though he was just trying to fill a third book. Still he is a great story telleer and some of them were really great!...I also read while there,and would reccommend, Running in Place: Scenes from the South of France by Nicholas Delbanco.
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 third helping
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.
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