by Laurence Wylie
Dust Jacket - front:
by Laurence Wylie
Dust Jacket - front:
This is a very neat old book about growing up and living in France. This book has been SIGNED by the author. The book was published in 1958 by Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and is a copy of the second printing. The book measures 5 ¾ inches by 8 ½ inches and contains xviii, 345 pages. The dust jacket shows signs of wear to the edges and the spine of the dust jacket is a bit “sunned.” The top edge of the dust jacket has been reinforced at the spine (with brown paper on the reverse side). The top right corner of the front dust jacket flap has been “clipped.” The brown and black cloth cover has the title on the spine in gilt. The actual cover shows minor signs of wear, mainly to the top and bottom of the spine, hardly worth mentioning. The signature of a previous owner is on the front free end page. The pages show no signs of rips. Exceptions noted, the overall condition of this 46 year old book is very good.
Excerpt – Dust jacket:
If you want to understand a country like France the best thing to do is to settle down for a year or more and get to know the mayor, the butcher, the school teacher. Failing this, the best thing to do is to read Laurence Wylie’s warm and human account of life in the French town where he, his wife, and his two small sons lived for a year. His exciting and accurate story of Peyrane and its people shows how the every-day family details and incidents make up a general way of life.
In some ways Peyrane and its people will call to mind the paintings of Van Gogh and Cezanne, the film The Baker’s Wife, the Broadway success Fanny. Mr. Wylie, however, describes for us actual personalities. His mayor, town clerk, blacksmith, postmistress, and peasants are alive today. In Village in the Vaucluse we see how these people live and learn how they feel about life. We learn how and why a baby is swaddled. We are introduced to the drama of a game of boules. We market with the women. We share the grief of the community at the funeral of Monsieur Roche.
Some of the happenings Mr. Wylie tells us about might puzzle the uninformed traveler to France. Why did the Gleizers throw money in the street? Why was Alphonese Peretti’s messy school work pinned to his back? When Olivier Borel went off on a binge with other adolescents of the “Peyrane Jug”, why did the townspeople nod approval? Why did the Communist Chanon and the Catholic Jouve team up against the moderates in the election? Only in France could these things happen, and Mr. Wylie tells us what they mean. Seen as a larger whole, they make perfect sense. Even French political behavior ceases to mystify when we see it at its grass roots level.
Village in the Vaucluse is an unusual book. It is accurate and objective—and it has liveliness, drama, and humor. For anyone who plans to travel in France, for aony9one who wants to understand France and the French, Village in the Vaucluse is basic—and delightful—reading.
End excerpt
Note: The final illustrations:
Left: The school
Right: Monsieur Arene in his store
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