Saturday, January 20, 2007

Currently Reading/Listening to ...French Lessons

Peter Mayle's French Lessons , narrated exquisitely by Simon Jones . I've either read or listened to most of Mayle's books, including the famous A Year in Provence, Encore Provence, and others. One can't help but be impressed by his vocabulary and wonderful sense of humor. IN this case, I feel I'm learning loads more about fine foods -some of which I deign not to eat, like snails - augmenting an enticing education earlier this year by My Life in France by Julia Child as relayed to her niece and published posthumously- again, wonderful on audio. Perhaps the most encouraging aspect of that work was learning that Julia stumbled upon her vocation in her forties and vaulted to marriage from the post of an obscure civil servant at the state department.

I'm inspired to not only tackle more ambitious creations in the kitchen, but also hungry to travel/ polish my language skills- German beckons in addition to French. Currently trying to find berths on a cruise ship so Kevin can do massage to support my life of pampered luxury in a nearby stateroom.

Ah, almost forgot reading Kitchen Confidential last week, a true-life look at restaurant kitchens and the hectic drug fueled mania of a chef. Found myself scouring the cover photo for signs of track marks on his arms- how is it possible for Bourdain to appear so healthy after beating on his body and smoking for umpteen years? To my surprise he's written quite a few books.

From Publisher's Weekly: Chef at New York's Les Halles, Bourdain pulls no punches in this memoir of his years in the restaurant business. His fast-lane personality and glee in recounting sophomoric kitchen pranks might be unbearable were it not for two things: Bourdain is as unsparingly acerbic with himself as he is with others, and he exhibits a sincere and profound love of good food.

In the car I'm tuned in to Dick Francis' Under Orders, featuring character Sid Halley. Francis used to satisfy, and I do appreciate the clipped British English narration, yet find his writing and characterizations are nowhere near as wonderful as, say, M.C. Beaton's Hamish Macbeth- not the TV show, mind you, which is a pale reminder of the books- the audios. My only quibble is that I wish they would stick with a Scottish accent male narrator for that series.

Of course, any Scottish mystery writer would have my ear, if not my eye, before an American one. Anglophile snob, you say? Perhaps, but who can ignore the enriched vocabulary and virtual travel opportunities?

Homicide by David Simon

Homicide by David Simon

This week's nonfiction buffet for me- and what a feast. Simon's wry, understated writing style captured me far more than any episode of the television show ever did ( most of what I recall was the deadpan acting of Andre Braugher). Thanks to the web, I discovered that one of the seminal characters/real cops in the book, Jay Landsman, is now an actor on HBO's The Wire , and followed up on others such as Donald Worden, the 6'4" prternatural detective with the photographic memory.

One of the rare books to accurately capture the gritty, foul-mouthed nature of police work, particularly the atmosphere around a station. It stands a a tribute to the mind-dumbing detail and persistence required of real detectives.