Customer Reviews

Anything Considered

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a frothy, fun, food-filled adventure suspense story set in the author's deliciously described Provence along the Mediterranean littoral. An end-of-his-wits ex-pat Britisher accepts an innocuously luxurious job helping to dodge a rich crook's taxes and then his life turns potentially ugly. Mayle never realizes the ugliness; despite the ominous events no one is actually damaged, for the tone and intent is an appetizing entertainment rather than engrossing suspense. The villains are sinister and smooth, the locals are crotchety, while the victims are an engaging couple in love and on the run...and as larcenous at heart as any of the crooks and cops. Peter Mayle has an urbane light touch, almost tongue-in-cheek, but precisely expressed in crystal-clear prose and well-turned with finely crafted sentences. The pb is pleasant to hold, with a flexible letherette feel and generous typography, a true trade pb rather than a pulp novel, although ultimately no more satisfying than a meal of meringue.

Having thoroughly enjoyed Peter Mayle's best-selling non-fictional (mostly) account of life in Rural France (A Life in Provence), I long meant to give his fiction a try. I'm not a real dog-lover, so A Dog's Life didn't intrigue me, and the jacket copy for Hotel Pastis didn't lend it to immediate reading, either. But the cover for Anything Considered, showing a cast of characters straight out of a CLUE game, and the premise--an Englishman in France, desperate for a job, places an advert in the international paper saying that he was looking for employment and "anything considered"--sounded so close to a Wodehousian experience, that I could not resist it. Even the title was similar to Wodehouse.

Unfortunately, while comic and filled with mistaken identities and misunderstood intentions, Mayle's touch with the material is quite different. I enjoyed the novel, but there's something missing to it, as if Mayle had all the ingredients at his fingertips, but didn't turn the temperature on the oven up high enough. There's no faulting his craftsmanship--the words flow smoothly enough, and nothing is so jarring as to ruin the plot--but the art seems forced, rather than organic.

Bennett is the Englishman who is desperate for anything, who finds himself hired by a fellow who simply wants him to live in the style to which Bennett has become accustomed, with the slight deviation of returning a different name than his own when asked. He goes to Monaco, using this man's credit cards, living in this man's apartment, basically enjoying the life of Riley. But there's trouble lurking, something to do with the truffle market and the Mafia. It's all grand fun, but Mayle never quite convinces the reader that his world is an innocuous one, and so the reader keeps expecting the worst to happen, rather than just another close shave.

Rereading the above, it sounds like I hated the novel, which I did not. In fact, I bought Hotel Pastis based on my impression of this book. I just had expected more from Mayle, and was letdown by my expectations, not by his actual book.

This was my first experience reading Peter Mayle, who is best known for nonfiction about Southern France, the setting for this novel. The title comes from an ad placed by English expatriate Bennett (who only uses his last name). Bennett finds himself short on money as his real estate business falters. A sybarite without any particular direction in life, he advertises for unusual employment, adding "anything considered but marriage." One of the replies to this ad is from Julian Poe, a rather sinister English aristocrat whose wealth comes from unspecified sources. Bennett is told all he has to do is live in Poe's apartment in Monaco. This will enable Poe to avoid French taxes and allow Bennett to live in luxury. Things quickly become complicated, of course. Poe is actually part of a scheme to produce truffles,a frightfully expensive but apparently delicious (but all but impossible to grow) fungus. The plot from here turns into an unlikely, tongue-in-cheek spy thriller. Bennett finds an assistant and ally in Anna, a beautiful and resourceful ex-soldier. The two are pursued by several competing gangs of criminals as well as the French police. There is never a fear that anything really bad will happen to the pair. In many ways, the plot is secondary to the lush descriptions of the countryside and the gourmet meals favored by Bennett. I enjoyed it with some reservations. This is the sort of light reading favored by the highbrow set. Mayle is obviously very much enamored of a slow-paced, leisurely life where no one works very hard and the countryside is the material for landscapes, or at least postcards. The town where Bennett lives, Saint Martin le Vieux, is a rich person's idealization of the simple but robust rustic life. The book is very readable and the plot, though deliberately improbable, unfolds smoothly. I enjoyed it, and those not afflicted with my modern urban cynicism will probably enjoy it even more.

"Anything Considered" is a fun story of a jack-of-all-trades looking for work, who stumbles into a sticky situation with truffle poachers in Monte Carlo.

The first sixty pages are a bit slow setting up the premise: Julian Poe, a hideously wealthy Englishman living in France, hires Luciano Bennett to live in Monte Carlo and pretend to be him so that Poe can avoid paying taxes as a full-time resident of France.

In his first week at Poe's Monte Carlo home, Bennett botches the delivery of an important package meant for Poe, and this is where the real story picks up and starts running. The package meant for Poe was a secret formula for growing large black truffles, but it ends up in the hands of Italian poachers. The Italians decide to hold an underground silent auction, inviting other seedy poachers to bid on what could help them corner the global truffle market.

While wholly improbable and fantastic, "Anything Considered" is a terrific read, simply because it is light, fast-paced and funny. If you find yourself too stressed for the melancholy of Goethe or the intensity of Proust, this is a good diversion for taking a breather, running yourself a nice hot bath, and forgetting the troubles of the day.

And, of course, it's a must-read for anyone with a taste for truffles . . .

Being a fan of Peter Mayle's Provence series I was slightly apprehensive about his diving into the work of fiction but at the same time looking forward to his offerings. And, since after reading "Hotel Pastis" I was certain that he was still the author that I had come to enjoy so very much. With the addition of "Anything Considered" his literary skills, at least for me, remain intact! Thank goodness!

This book simply catches all of the magic of his previous offerings. A mystery, love story and comedy I can think of fewer books that I enjoyed so much that I picked up a copy in hardbound to keep and read again...and again. Set, once again, in the French country-side plus Monaco our protagonist Bennett, an English expatriate,lives out his meager existence until placing an ad in the Intl. Herald Tribune where he's offered the chance to live the "high-life" by providing services to Julian Poe, who delves into the illegal truffle trade. What ensues is truly high-comdey with a sprinkling of romance and French travelogue thrown in for good measure.

Overall, the characters are well-thought out and brought fully to life...plus, who could not enjoy a novel where the author is simply having such a wonderful time as Mr. Mayle obviously is! Highly recommended this is...and is there any chance of having this made into a film or BBC series?

A generous,delicious serving of Mr. Mayle!

A bit of mystery surrounding truffles, some intriguing characters, and the French Riviera mix up together in this Peter Mayle book about an Englishman who places a notice in the paper advertising his availability to do just about anything.

He soon gets a response from a mysterious millionaire, who is in need of some English speaking assistance.

I won't ruin the book by going any further, but this is a hard one to put down.

Another great book by Peter Mayle. (It is also wonderful to listen to, as are all books read by David Case. He does a great job at the various English and French accents.) Very entertaining & hard to put down!

Had I realized this book was by the author of the wildly popular "A Year in Provence" I probably would have passed it by, but as it was, I didn't, and the retro jacket caught my attention. This book probably exemplifies light reading to me, an airy comedy with a likable hero and love interest on the run from picaresque international villains. The plot revolves around an unemployed Englishman living in the south of France who gets unwittingly involved in a mastermind's attempt to corner the global truffle market. The book will hold more resonance for those who have traveled in the south of France and are interested in gastronomic delights, but even the rest of us can enjoy the silly story as it floats by.

Let me first say that I have enjoyed reading Mayle's books on Provence. His description of the area is to be admired. However, a book that I read subsequent to his earlier works but before reading Anything Considered raises questions regarding this author's creative skill. Or at least questions regarding Knopf trying to cash in on a popular writer who may possess a gift for observation but little for origination. The first book to note is "Elephant's Work" by E.C. Bentley. Like Mayle's AC, it was published by Knopf, but 46yrs earlier in 1950. Instead of a Brit in France operating under a pseudonym (Bennett, aka Poe), we have an American in the UK suffering amnesia (Severn, aka Taylor). This character w/o known identity becomes involved in the affairs of an affable crime boss who has developed the secret recipe for manmade diamonds. Wait a minute, if we just change that to truffles... Give the boss a loyal friend/bodyguard (Dr. Barlow becomes Mayle's Chou-Chou), a worthy opponent (Ketch becomes Enzo Tuzzi), a secret laboratory, and a motherly housekeeper/maid (Mrs. McBean turned Georgette) and, as they say in Provence, voila. Interestingly, the charming crime leader in Bentley's novel was called The General. (Hey, that sounds familiar. Ever read Hotel Pastis?) Two stars for Mayle and his editors.

I ADORE Peter Mayle. My family and I have a house in the south of France close to Mayle's so I'm familiar with the locales in his books. His description couldn't be better, the characters are zany, and he offers little surprises in every plot. Philosophical tomes can be great at times, but when I need to relax I look for Peter Mayle. He never offers us less than a rollicking good time.