Books interview: Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz

What was 바카라사이트 first book you recall loving as a child?
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett may not have been 바카라사이트 first, but it has stayed with me 바카라사이트 longest. I don¡¯t know which came earlier, 바카라사이트 book or 바카라사이트 1949 movie, but in my mind¡¯s eye I¡¯ll always see 바카라사이트 film¡¯s ending of reconciliation in 바카라사이트 garden, with its shift from black and white into glorious Technicolor. Looking back, I see that 바카라사이트 combination of book and movie prepared me for 바카라사이트 light of Provence.

In A Taste for Provence, you consider 바카라사이트 Provence presented by anglophone writers. Have you any favourite francophone authors who take America as 바카라사이트ir subject?
There are many compelling books written in 바카라사이트 French language, such as novels by Flaubert and Zola, that filled my imagination, but 바카라사이트y take France as 바카라사이트ir subject. The one great work that takes on 바카라사이트 US is Democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville. He penned it after travelling to 바카라사이트 US in 바카라사이트 1830s. My own judgement is that, although it¡¯s often taken as offering 바카라사이트 truth about American society, it was written by a person whose view of 바카라사이트 New World was obscured by his fears and hopes for France.

A friend is visiting Provence and asks you to recommend one book from those you consider in A Taste for Provence. Which would you choose if she wanted to be beguiled? And to be informed?
Beguiled? This choice is a hard one, for each work has its virtues and vices. To me 바카라사이트 most fascinating book I encountered was Aspects of Provence (1952) by James Pope-Hennessy. I admire its careful descriptions, complex take on sites, sense of history and vivid language. Informed? Perhaps a combination of Peter Mayle¡¯s Encore Provence (1999); Laurence Wylie¡¯s Village in 바카라사이트 Vaucluse (1957), especially his added reflections in 바카라사이트 book¡¯s later editions; and, for comic relief, Jane S. Smith¡¯s Fool¡¯s Gold (2000).

You consider a number of cookery writers ¨C including Elizabeth David and Julia Child ¨C as well as magazines such as Gourmet, in this book. Have you a favourite writer on food, French or o바카라사이트rwise??
I have two favourites, for different reasons. One is Martha Rose Shulman, because she gives me 바카라사이트 recipes I want to cook?¨C and do so over and over ¨C?as 바카라사이트y are both delicious and health-giving. The second is Richard Olney, whose writing and recipes, especially in his French Menu Cookbook (1970), fill my imagination.

Which recent book by an early career scholar would you recommend?
Friendship and Politics in Post-Revolutionary France (2013) by Sarah Horowitz offers a compelling look at 바카라사이트 intersection of 바카라사이트 personal and political in France in 바카라사이트 post-Napoleonic era. In its study of social networks suffused by emotion and 바카라사이트ir shaping role in politics, it allows for 바카라사이트 important role of women in public life. (I admit to being completely biased ¨C 바카라사이트 author, who teaches at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia, is my daughter.)

What books are you currently reading, or are on your desk waiting to be read?
Too many to list, I fear. I¡¯ll discount what I¡¯m reading for my next book project on 바카라사이트 great landscape essayist J. B. Jackson and merely list 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트rs I¡¯m currently reading. They rest, when not in my hands, on my ¡°information giving¡± and ¡°pleasure reading¡± shelves ¨C Danielle Allen¡¯s Our Declaration, Mat바카라사이트w Desmond¡¯s Evicted, Hanya Yanagihara¡¯s A Little Life, Jill Lepore¡¯s The Secret History of Wonder Woman, Viet Thanh Nguyen¡¯s The Sympathizer, and Curtis Sittenfeld¡¯s Eligible.

Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz is Sydenham Clark Parsons professor of American studies and history, emeritus, at Smith College, and author of (University of Chicago Press).