The French essays are the better ones.

A lot of drinking. (No judgment.) ( )

M.F.K. Fisher is one of my favorite authors and probably my favorite food author. I read this some years ago, in fact probably more than once. One of the pieces is my all-time favorite piece related to food. "I Was Really Very Hungry" is about the waitress in a small country inn where Fisher went once alone to have lunch. Whereas Fisher is passionate about food, this waitress was obsessed about the perfection of a meal. Five stars for that story alone!

I'll leave the five stars because of that and a few of the others and because her writing is so good and the way she invokes place is too. But I was disappointed that I didn't like all the essays as much as maybe I did the first time. But then, who remembers the first time? I vaguely remember reading about Aix before (and since I've been there, enjoyed the visit with her). I've never lived in Arles, but I've visited there many times so I very much enjoyed her description of the people and the place. The people of Arles were unnecessarily cruel to Vincent van Gogh when he lived there. She never mentions anything about that, but she also found them unsympathetic. ( )

This was a good read, and likely a good introduction to this author, whom I have not read before. It was a collection of essays. Some of them were focused on food, as that is what she is known for, but some reached further afield. There were stories about surviving storms, meeting angels, being alone in a French town during the off season, her house, etc. It is quite good. ( )

Her prose is magic, especially when she writes about a sumptuous meal or wine ... or both. It’s interesting that we meet virtually no friends or family members — people don’t seem to interest her as much unless they’re along as trusted companions at dinner time. So often she’s alone in her reportage ... except for us: we’re right there with her. ( )

Reading the shipboard chapter side by side with Ship of Fools could be interesting. ( )