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Two Towns in Provence: Map of Another Town and a Considerable Town Paperback – August 12, 1983

by M. F. K. Fisher (Author)
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 45 ratings
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This volume brings together two delightful books—Map of Another Town and A Considerable Town—by one of our most beloved food and travel writers. In her inimitable style, here M.F.K. Fisher tells the stories—and reveals the secrets—of two quintessential French cities.

Map of Another Town, Fisher’s memoir of the French provincial capital of Aix-en-Provence is, as the author tells us, “my picture, my map, of a place and therefore of myself,” and a vibrant and perceptive profile of the kinship between a person and a place. Then, in A Considerable Town, she scans the centuries to reveal the ancient sources that clarify the Marseille of today and the indestructible nature of its people, and in so doing weaves a delightful journey filtered through the senses of a profound writer.
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Previous page
  1. Print length
    512 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Vintage
  4. Publication date
    August 12, 1983
  5. Dimensions
    5.1 x 1.1 x 8 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0394716310
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0394716312
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[Fisher] is a national treasure." —Newsweek

From the Inside Flap

This memoir of the French provincial capital of Aix-en-Provence is, as the author tells us, "my picture, my map, of a place and therefore of myself...just as much of its reality is based on my own shadows, my inventions." A vibrant and perceptive profile of the kinship between a person and a place.
A Considerable Town
M.F.K. Fisher scans the centuries to reveal the ancient sources that clarify the Marseille of today and the indestructible nature of its people A delightful journey filtered through the senses of a profound writer.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Vintage; Later Printing edition (August 12, 1983)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 512 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0394716310
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0394716312
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.1 x 1.1 x 8 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 45 ratings

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
4 out of 5
45 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

DeeCee
5.0 out of 5 stars Two beautiful books (bound as one) by the incomparable MFK Fisher ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 14, 2014
Verified Purchase
Two beautiful books (bound as one) by the incomparable MFK Fisher about her years in Aix-en-Provence and Marseilles with her two children. She evokes not only two places she loves, with all her sharp observatory skills and emotional insights, but along the way gives us rare glimpses into her personal life. Any MFK Fisher fan or lover of Provence should cherish this writing.
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Joan C. Curtis
4.0 out of 5 stars Two Cities Come Alive with Beautiful Writing
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2016
Verified Purchase
I recently finished MFK Fisher's Two Towns in Provence. The book was written in the early 1970's and shares Fisher's experience in Aix and Marseilles France during several visits in the 1930's, 1950's and the 1970's. My guess is little has changed in those towns since then. Fisher is a beautiful writer. Even though this book is mainly a travel memoir, it paints a wonderful picture of life in those Southern French towns from the point of view of a lone American woman with her two little girls.

She begins in Aix, the city of fountains. Her descriptions captivated me. I could almost hear the trickle of water throughout the town. I could imagine the narrow cobble-stone streets with French men and women scurrying along, carrying a loaf of fresh bread under their arms. The shops and restaurants came alive with Fisher's details. When she was there in the 1950's while her children were quite small, France was still reeling from the the war. Everyone Fisher described, whether a waiter, an innkeeper, a shopkeeper, a homeless man on the street suffered during that time. They all had different stories. Aix is a city I'd love to visit and her descriptions made me even more anxious to do so.

Marseilles, on the other hand, is not a city high on my list to visit. Fisher seems to have had a love/hate relationship with that city. She points out the beautiful spots as well as the ugly places. Being a large port, Marseilles attracts the lowest of low. She does not brush lightly on those people and their effects on the city. But, her love for Marseilles rings out loud and clear.

To me the book was long for a travel memoir. What could she possibly say in over four-hundred pages. I expected it to be over in a couple of hundred. But, she kept going and so did I. It's not a fast read but it is a beautiful read. It reminded me of a journey by ship. Slow and methodical.

Here are a few of the beautiful excerpts I particularly liked:

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious...the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists...this knowledge, this feeling is the center of true.

"We are subtly catatonic, each in our own way, perhaps a little drunk on white wine and regret..."

"At night it glows, as do many great modern fountains, with white and colored lights which turn it into a kind of glorified wedding cake, audible if inedible."

"The sunlight poured in through the beautiful windows, and stripped Madam's face like a scalpel, seeing viciously into the essence of her, the skin within the skin."

As I read Fisher's accounts, I wondered about her life. Why were there no men with her? She had two little girls but no fathers. She travelled with her sister at times and talked about her. Later, I read about her life. Her oldest daughter Anne's father was never acknowledged. By the time she was born, Mary had been married and divorced and widowed. After divorcing her first husband, she married Dillwyn Parrish. That was a good marriage until he developed Buerger's disease--a very painful circulatory illness that caused him enormous pain. He shot himself. Later, Mary met Donald Friede with whom she fell in love and married. That's when her second daughter, Kennedy, was born. But, that marriage, too, didn't last.

In other words, Mary was a single mom who travelled to France, lived there for long periods with her children, and wrote beautiful books. Men came and went in her life, but she was an example of an independent, successful woman.

In Two Towns in Provence, you'll learn about the people, the art, the churches, the doctors, the festivals, the shops, the food, and so much more. Fisher gives us a rare glimpse into French culture and does it with an amazingly beautiful style.
13 people found this helpful
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Trobador
4.0 out of 5 stars Very well written, but a bit too much from the outside looking in.
Reviewed in the United States on February 28, 2021
Verified Purchase
When one passes through a new town or city for a few days, most human interactions will take place with service people: taxi drivers, waiters, hotel clerks, store clerks, perhaps a doctor. When one spends months or years in a place, it is normal for closer relationships to develop.

Mrs. Fisher, a highly gifted and sensitive writer, seems not to have developed close friendships in either Aix or Marseille, despite her many months spent at different times in those places. And so her evocations, so richly detailed in so many ways, lack an important dimension of roundness. She refers to herself as a "ghost" at several points, and so I do experience her in large measure.

But the prose is lovely, and one reads these pages with pleasure. I actually preferred the grittier Marseille portion; I found the Aix chapters a bit too laden with personal sorrow, despite her evident and well-expressed affection for that beautiful small city. Enjoyable, despite the latent melancholy.
One person found this helpful
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Evic846
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read for MFK Fisher fans!
Reviewed in the United States on October 4, 2017
Verified Purchase
More for my MFK Fisher collection!
2 people found this helpful
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Linda
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on July 2, 2017
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This book is on the Road Scholar reading list for my trip to France. I found it boring. She spends way too many words on things that could be described more succinctly and I don't need or care for her opinions of people she encountered. After slogging through a third of it, I skimmed the rest looking, hopefully, for something of value for my upcoming trip. Very disappointing.
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Susan M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Love France? Read this book!
Reviewed in the United States on August 26, 2014
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A must if you like food, people, France and evocative Provence. My book group here in the Luberon are reading it now and we will discuss it, where else?, at LES DEUX GARÇONS.
2 people found this helpful
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Alan Boehmer
4.0 out of 5 stars Nice read
Reviewed in the United States on March 1, 2014
Verified Purchase
An artfully written autobiography of MFK in the two towns covered. An abundance of local color that will be of interest to anyone traveling to these places.
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Top reviews from other countries

Joan C
5.0 out of 5 stars For lovers of France and good writing.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2007
Verified Purchase
This book is a lovely descriptive account of the author's life in Marseille and Aix en Provence with her children, during the years after WW2. Although the author is generally know for her food writing, this book will appeal to anyone who loves France, and gives a wonderful picture of those years, when the country was recovering from the hardships and trying to get back to a normal way of life.Difficult to put down!
7 people found this helpful
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