1 comments about Southern France (Charming Small Hotel Guides).

1. This `charming' series sparkles with photographs that stress the beauty of the finest - but not necessarily the costliest - small hotels across Europe (by country). Most hotels get a full page with a clear, revealing photograph, one or two beautifully written descriptive paragraphs and a shaded section with contact info, prices, etc. (Library Journal)

No comments about Fast Talk French (Lonely Planet ).

5 comments about A Goose in Toulouse: and Other Culinary Adventures in France.

1. I was ecstatic about receiving this book for Christmas, as it was heavily touted on the local NPR station and on this site. My enthusiasm was not rewarded.

   Mort Rosenblum has been to lots of parts of France and, on the way, taken good notes. He also is convinced that his experiences point to the decline of 'the better days' in French cuisine, etc. and that you will care. What he doesn't do, however, is help you care by telling you what brings that decline about, how to regain this Eden, if it's inevitable, what the moral to his tale is, etc.. In short, the cause is a nice platform for him to try out his tedious and bombastic style while he tells you what it's like in France a la Rosenblum.

   Cuisine is, of course, not dead in France, though the country continues to change in the face of an evolving Europe and modernity encroaches, as ever it has. Rosenblum tells you that, but without taking the next logical step: urging you to go see it. If you can't go to France to experience directly all that entails for the lover of food (which you should, with an open mind and gastronomical vigor), pick up a humble and compelling tale like M.F.K. Fischer's _Long Ago in France_. If you do, you'll spare yourself the patronizing ramblings of Rosenblum that often strain for creativity and languish until they pass into the bizarre, as in this analogy, "Still, if Roquefort is marbling its way into the United States, the way those blue pockets spread in wheels of cheese, there is still some way to go."

   The only way you can like this book is if you don't have an affinity for food writing or France to be offended or if your generous nature overwhelms your critical mind. Mr. Rosenblum needs you to say, "ain't that man clever." If you can't, you'll not gain from his book.




2. I thought this book was excellent. I could not put it down. The author gives a realistic view of the present state of French cuisine. His background as a reporter shines through. His vast historical knowledge and penchant for facts and statistics gives the book credibility that many other food books do not really have.

   His having captured the essence of French food and culture allows you to walk away with the feeling that while big fast food conglomerates have a growing presence, all hope is not lost. The conversations with everyone from Alain Ducasse to the captain of a fishing boat in Molene gives you pretty good idea of how the French feel about the unification of Europe, the laws coming from Brussels and about what lies in their future. He paints a picture of France beyond the tourist trap that is present day Paris and other excellent food beyond foie gras.

   The author gives a very balanced view of the French. It is obvious that he is in love with France and all that goes with it but is not blind to it's faults. He often refers to the ego of the French and offers no apologies for many of his other criticisms.




3. One of the best things I can say about this book is that I made it through to the end. While I love books about France and the French people, I feel that Rosenblum missed his mark. While his writing was good, it lacked passion, and was quite self-indulgent.

   His travels take us on a culinary tour de France, but he seems detached and seems somewhat of a French cooking snob. If you don't know the names of the famous 3 Star Chef's and restaurants he takes his readers to, you feel a bit like an outsider looking in through the window. While there are some interesting side trips, like a visit to a truffle market, and an escargot farm, these are basically stories from a reporter's notebook. He is constantly trying to get the answer to the question about the changing role of food in France. The answer: like everything else, it is changing...and it is remaining the same.

   With so many good books about France and cuisine, I would put this one down low on my list. Try - Paris To The Moon by Adam Gopnick; French Impressions: The Adventures of an American Family by John Littell; or Ruth Reichl's Tender on The Bone, or just about anything by M.F.K. Fischer.




4. This book is written by a mainstream journalist like R. W. Appel of the New York Times or Calvin Trillin of the New Yorker. As such, Mort Rosenblum looks at things culinary much more from the economic, social, and even political point of view rather than as an epicurean such as James Villas or Ruth Reichl. For that reason, the general reader will find much to interest them herein. These are not essays for only the foodies among us.

   My strongest impression on reading this book is that the author is describing many of the situations which drive people, at least citizens of France and the European Union, to organize protests at world economic summits or other meetings or organizations aimed at promoting globalization. Economic conditions in France and regulations imposed by the European Union appear to be leading to the disappearance of small scale agriculture in France, the kind of agriculture which is largely responsible for the artisnal foods and wines for which France is so famous. The great irony here to my mind is that in the same last 15 years, there has been a great revival of interest in both local and international artisanal products among Americans. Whitness the great reputation and influence of Chez Panisse and the movement to support local farmers and markets plus nationally available artisanal products such as Maytag blue cheese and specialty bacons.

   Another irony is that the European Union regulatory bodies are having much the same effect on smaller agricultural businesses in Europe as American regulatory agencies have on local products. They appear to be driving out of business the very agriculture which so clearly distinguishes European agricultural products from the American. The issue of cheeses from unpasturized milk is a perfect example. American customs prevents the import of any such products into the U.S. except for Rocquefort (since the French have convinced the FDA that the penicillin in this cheese kills off anything normally eliminated by Pasteurization). The problem is, the economics of producing Rocquefort is becoming so difficult that there is some danger that true Rocquefort may disappear, i.e., be too expensive to produce.

   The great tragedy I sense in the disappearance of artisanal products from small scale agriculture is that it means that the relatively inexpensive pleasures one can gain from the great foods of the world are in danger of either disappearing or becoming too expensive for the average middle class foodie to afford. I would really mourn seeing things like Rocquefort or Brie go the way of caviar, simply too expensive and too rare to enjoy outside of a very expensive venue.

   I strongly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary essays in general and essays on things culinary in particular. To those reviewers who found the work too dispassionate, I would point out that Rosenblum is writing journalism and not polemics. Being informed of the `desertification' of the French countryside and the reasons for same was more than enough. I will look for agendas (and recipes) in other works.




5. When I stumbled across this book by pure accident, I read through it from cover to cover non-stop, before traveling to France for the first time. After arriving in France, I was deeply appreciative of the background knowledge I had from the book as I experienced one culinary adventure after another, in both Paris, and in rural regions of France. If I had not read the book, it would have been impossible for me to absorb the knowledge I gained from it, through my brief travels there. Upon returning home, I was transformed forever, by my gastronomic experiences and came to realize then, and only then, how the ingredients that make up our food traditions here in America have completely lost what the French have managed to preserve but are working so hard to hold on to. We owe it to the French and this author for revealing their struggles, to continue to lend our support for the preservation of the traditions of France that provide us with so much pleasure.

4 comments about London Sketchbook: A City Observed.

1. This is a beautiful work of art for anyone who loves to look outside the well known sites of London, although that is there as well. I thorougly enjoy picking it up and having a read about the various sections and looking at the illustrations that will remind you of your time there or desire to go. The layout and illustrations brings to mind what a Grand Tour participant would have created upon visiting a new city.

   Wonderful, just wonderful.




2. We love London, and this sketchbook reminds us of our past trips. The text by Marcus Binney also supports the sketches. Although they are only considered sketches, I love the artwork. I am now getting other sketchbooks by Graham Byfield, and by the publisher, St. Martins Press.



3. the quality of the book is one of the best features to me. It is a very heavy paper stock and really helps carry the sketchbook feel, along with the little hand written notes on the sides. overall a great book for anyone who loves london.



4. Graham Byfield's watercolor impressions of the city of London beautifully captures the spirit of the city, be it Central London, the East End, West London, North London, or South of the River. The watercolors are sumptuous to look at [the Houses of Parliament, Buckingham Palace, Trafalgar Square, St James' Palace, Berkeley Square] - each is a work of beauty and paints a vivid picture in one's mind. The notes accompanying the watercolors provide us with more information on the buildings and make for interesting reading. All in all, a wonderful collection of watercolors about London, and a must-have for collectors.

No comments about Paris (Grand Collection).

No comments about French Tales.

No comments about Where Paris CityGuide (Where Cityguides).

5 comments about Into a Paris Quartier.

1. Like Jan Morris' "A Writer's House in Wales" which is part of the same National Geographic Directions travel series, this is a quick-reading, relaxed, and very personal look at a part of the world with special significance to the writer. And personal this is -- Diane Johnson practically gives the reader directions to her own front door. I hope this hasn't created any security problems for her.
   
   Johnson walks her reader through a history of her neighborhood, St.-Germain, Paris' sixth arrondissement, and its mix of history, literary associations, and notable architecture. It's all interesting enough, but I felt somewhat disconnected from it all, and am not convinced I came away from the book with a really good sense of what the neighborhood is all about today -- as opposed to in D'Artagnan's day, which she spends almost as much time discussing.
   
   Maybe the problem is that this view is *so* personal, we have to care about or be interested in the author to really get the most out of seeing her home and her neighborhood through her own eyes. Because I've never read any of Diane Johnson's novels or other books -- and in fact had never heard of her before I picked up this title -- I didn't really have much invested in her as a guide. After finishing the book, I still don't.
   
   I have a number of books about various Parisian neighborhoods stacked up in my to-read pile, and I will be interested to see how this one ends up comparing to others in the genre. On its own merits, though, it is a fast and ultimately lightweight read: a nice breeze through the town, but not, perhaps, a tour I'd immediately recommend to other reader-visitors.



2. Nice book. The writing isn't very clever, nor humorous. Pretty straight forward. However, if one knows the 6th as I do, I found the book very informative and I felt like I learned a lot about this wonderful arrondisement! If you don't know the 6th district, I'd pass on reading the book. If you do, I think it's a must read.



3. This book is absolutely marvelous! Especially for those who travel to Paris and like to stay in the St. Germain des Pres district, as I do. Ms. Johnson gives many informative bits of info on this area in Paris. It's an absolute delight to read!



4. I read the reviews of this book after reading the book. I read the book while planning for and staying in an apartment in the St. Germain des Pres neighborhood. I have read Ms. Johnson's fictional series as well. Like those books, I found this to be a pleasant conversational recounting of her relationship with her neighborhood.
   
   What I have enjoyed about Ms. Johnson's albeit modest fictional works is her feel for the shared spaces of the American living in Paris, as an ex-patriot or accidental player in the space, with the French and with Parisian life. They seem to be stories of what happens the space of the intersection and the effect on both the American players and the French. I found the same quality in this book.
   
   Into a Paris Quartier isn't a guidebook or a profound memoir. It's a conversational piece written in the greatest part from the subjective point of view of the author's influences and experience. Take it for that, and I think it meets expectations. Ask for something more or different and you probably really want to read a different book.



5. I wish I had read these reviews before purchasing this book (these reviews do not appear for the paperback version). I was so disappointed by this book. The storyline is disjointed and the writing style (those long, rambling sentences) is downright annoying. I liked the photo on page 74 and not much else. I wanted to sell my copy of this book, but used paperback copies are going for 49 cents. I guess that tells you something.

No comments about Imaginary Cartographies: Possession and Identity in Late Medieval Marseille.

3 comments about Travelers' Tales France: True Stories.

1. We found this book very enjoyable in preparation to spending 2 months in France. Good cultural introduction. We read it out loud to our kids and found that it was a good jumping off point to other books and authors excerpted in the book. Best read before you go. Don't carry it with you.



2. Both TT: France and TT: Paris are perfect companions on a trip to France. They put you in the mood to experiment when you travel and provide an eager anticipation of French culture. I've read both and will probably take them on an upcoming trip to France as pleasant refreshers. They're good enough that I've written to James O'Reilly and asked for sequels to both books, hoping to deepen exposure to things French.

   This book is truly eclectic -- stories about French waiters; demolition teams working on removing explosives from the two world wars; the Celtic stones in Brittany; the Wild West atmospher of l'Ardeche; and stories of invasion and Normandy. Just about all of the stories have been published in newspaper or magazine articles, but are very carefully selected to show a new dimension to France. You'll recognize a few of the authors (Jon Krakauer, 'Into Thin Air,' and Peter Mayle, 'A Year in Provence'). The margin notes are also a great addition to the flavor of the book.




3. I'm a little emabarrased that I actually plowed through this book after having been mostly disappointed by their books on Turkey and Paris.

   This book wasn't completely useless. The M.F.K. Fisher piece was really first rate, and there were a couple other items that were pretty solid, but overall, this was just the same old stuff that gets written about tourist experiences that one reads in those little magazines that the airlines publish and put in the pockets in the back of airplane seats for passengers to read.

   A more useful book, in my opinion, would be one that collects anecdotes from people native to France talking about their lives. Books like the "Traveler's Tales" series just end up seeming like a glorified trip to a theme park that just happens to have some really convincingly mocked up French countryside and cuisine offerings. All these traveler's tales come off as people who are terminally on the outside looking in.