“How Have I Not Read This?” Summer 2021 Book Club Pick
Summer is here, and as we all emerge from more than a year of struggle and quarantine, we could not be happier to travel together to a beautiful place with a special Bastille Day installment of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group’s “How Have I Not Read This?” book club.
Peter Mayle was the author of fifteen books. A recipient of the Légion d’Honneur from the French government for his cultural contributions, he lived in Provence with his wife, Jennie, for more than twenty-five years. Peter Mayle died in 2018, and among the unforgettable books he left behind is the beloved bestseller A Year in Provence.
In this witty and warm-hearted account, Peter Mayle tells what it is like to realize a long-cherished dream and actually move into a 200-year-old stone farmhouse in the remote country of the Lubéron with his wife and two large dogs. He endures January’s frosty mistral as it comes howling down the Rhône Valley, discovers the secrets of goat racing through the middle of town, and delights in the glorious regional cuisine. A Year in Provence transports us into all the earthy pleasures of Provençal life and lets us live vicariously at a tempo governed by seasons, not by days.
We hope you will join Jennifer, Martin, Jonathan, and the rest of us in reading (or revisiting) A Year in Provence and discussing it at our special Summer meeting of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group’s “How Have I Not Read This?” book club. Read along with us at #HowHaveINotReadThis
Find out more about the book.
Event Details:
• WEDNESDAY, JULY 14. Register here and add to your calendar.
• EVENT START: 12:00 PM ET (or shortly after once all are checked in)
• Hosted in partnership with E. Shaver Booksellers. You can order A Year in Provence from them HERE.
• NOTE: This is a virtual event that will be hosted on Zoom—you will need access to a computer or other device that is capable of accessing and sufficient Internet access. If you have not used Zoom before, you may consider referencing Getting Started with Zoom.
Featured Participants:
JENNIFER MAYLE… After pursuing several passions on her career path—fashion and 18th Century porcelain to name but two—Jennie changed course into advertising working on TV commercials. Her final switch was to the film production side which led, a few years later, to her opening her own production company, Jennie & Co. One of the directors to join the company was anxious for her to meet his ex-boss, the creative director of an extremely well regarded small agency. The creative director was Peter Mayle, and the rest is history. She is now proud to be the sole director of Escargot Copyrights Limited which handles Peter Mayle’s literary estate.
MARTIN WALKER, after a long career of working in international journalism and for think tanks, now gardens, cooks, explores vineyards, writes, travels, and has never been more busy. He is the internationally bestselling author of the Bruno, Chief of Police series and divides his time between Washington, D.C., and the Dordogne.
JONATHAN SEGAL is Vice President and Executive Editor at Alfred A. Knopf, where he has worked since 1989. Prior to that he worked for Simon & Schuster, and for The New York Times. Seven books that he has edited have been awarded Pulitzer Prizes, and the list of remarkable authors with whom he has worked includes both Peter Mayle and Martin Walker.