Two Towns in Provence: Map of Another Town and A Considerable Town

by M.F.K. Fisher

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.

Genres: Travel, France, Food, Nonfiction, Memoir, Cooking, Food Writing

512 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a prolific and well-respected writer, writing more than 20 books during her lifetime and also publishing two volumes of journals and correspondence shortly before her death in 1992. Her first book, Serve it Forth, was published in 1937. Her books deal primarily with food, considering it from many aspects: preparation, natural history, culture, and philosophy. Fisher believed that eating well was just one of the "arts of life" and explored the art of living as a secondary theme in her writing. Her style and pacing are noted elements of her short stories and essays.

Reviews

[Clay Olmstead · Rating 3 out of 5]

Insightful look at a time, a place, a people. It's written as though there's a gauzy curtain pulled in front of everything, as though the reader will never quite be able to experience the things described. That's probably accurate, but it makes the book a little irritating (for me). Still well worth the read, if you want to understand the culture or if you're planning a trip to Aix or Marseille.

[Fishface · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was OK, but not my favorite MFK Fisher. An interesting read, as always, but somehow this one didn't really grab me.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

It only took me 15 months to complete this lovely collection of (travel? life? food? philosophy? history?) of two short works detailing the time M.F.K. Fisher spent in Aix-in-Provence and Marseilles from the early 1930s to the mid 1970s. The amount that life changed over the course of the twentieth century is astounding, but in places as old as this (or, inhabited continuously as long as two or more millennia) there is much that stays the same. I love how opinionated and brave Fisher is. Life intrigues here and is bound to grab it with both hands and pull. She does not suffer fools gladly, but at the same time is full of laughter for the ridiculous parts of life. And, the descriptions break my heart. The world becomes real to those who pick up the book and savor a few pages at a time.

[Vivian]

Surrendering to the Did Not Finish pile.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel offers an intricate account of the author’s time spent in Aix and Marseille. His reflections are rich with historical insight, often weaving personal experience with the broader cultural and historical significance of these two cities.

As someone who has visited Marseille and many other places in France, I was immediately drawn to the setting. His observations capture the spirit however as the book progressed, the level of descriptive detail became overwhelming. What began as an enjoyable literary visit through southern France gradually turned into an experience where the depth overshadowed my ability to simply enjoy the journey.

A thoughtful, deeply observant work—but best appreciated in measured doses.

[Jennifer Marciello · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book during college when I was studying abroad in Provence. I fell in love with Fisher's writing and her ability to convey both emotionally and physically what it means to be a foreigner. I loved the book and am looking forward to reading it again. If you love food, or France, or just life in general than please read this book!

[Amandine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully written prose and thoughtfully constructed for a travel memoir, unlike many that are written today. I may be giving it more credit after having lived in Aix-en-Provence as an expat for several years; she was right on the mark and it was interesting to see how the town was during the 1950s and early 60s.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful! I read this on the airplane to and from Deutschland. I especially liked the one about Aix-en-Provence.

[Jim · Rating 5 out of 5]

M.F.K. Fisher's Two Towns in Provence is actually two books bound together: Map of Another Town about Aix-en-Provence and A Considerable Town about Marseille. The book on Aix is by far better, though there are parts of the Marseille book that are delightful, especially a fantastic tour of the seafood restaurants of the port area.

Fisher's two books are far better than the stuff subsequently churned out by Peter Mayle about Provence, which strike me as real-estate puff pieces. With Fisher and her two daughters, Provence was a real place, warts and all, and infinitely more attractive than Mayle's Disneyfied Provence.

Having read this two-fer, I wish I could fly to France and experience it for myself. This is what great travel literature does.

[Lysergius · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to confess to approaching this book with some trepidation. A travel book about Aix and Marseille by an American woman. Hmm... As it was I was pleasantly surprised by the confidential tone of the writing and the evident pleasure she takes in being in France, speaking French and enjoying the two magnificent towns, especially Marseille.

I realise now that she is a writer about food, since her major preoccupation in the book seems to be food, in all its varieties, as found in France. Her descriptions of the meals that she at and the restos and cafes that she frequented are heartwarming as are her descriptions of the two towns. There seems to be little thta puts her off her stride. This is classic travel writing at its best. Makes me want to read more M.F.K Fisher.

[Libraryassistant · Rating 3 out of 5]

This turns out to be 2 books bound together, so I finished Map of Another Town and have now separated the second, A Considerable Town, off to itself.
I’ve been meaning to read MFK Fisher for years and had picked this up at the last library sale before the pandemic. I very much enjoyed much of the writing. Very evocative of a place and a now long ago time. It was a tough time for France, though, and for the author in many ways. Sometimes the emotions she reports were a bit confusing to me, but she is very honest about it all. Sometimes even the things she loved seem to have been unbearable.
Not what I expected, but worth reading anyway.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this part travel book and part memoir, Fisher brought Aix and Marseille alive. Fisher was an extraordinary writer with a great prose style and an ability to bring the people she wrote about to vivid life. Her descriptions of the two cities are highly visual, and of food and drink are sensual. If you spent time in France as I did in the 60s and 70s, her experience rings quite true, although embellished for the reader to expand this book's effective ness.

[Joanne Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you're familiar with Aix and Provence in general, this is not only a nostalgic read, but a historical one. The area has changed massively since Fisher wrote about it, and the slow pace of life, the buildings, the characters seem charming and quaint. A lovely book, non-fiction - more like a memoir - and Fisher is a very detailed writer.

[Keri · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a book group recommendation. I really wanted to like it. I've been to Provence and fell in love with it. We didn't have time to visit Marseille so I was hoping to visit vicariously. I read about 25 pages, then skipped to other parts thinking maybe it was just the beginning that was boring. Nope. I just could not get into this book. It felt like I was reading a text book, stiff, dry. I'm very disappointed.

[Mary Donahoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

I need to learn more about this author. This is an almost heartbreakingly sad account of a person adrift in a foreign country. But her openness to new adventures and people, and her need to write about them, saves her.

Sadly too, she’s writing about a lost culture. Maybe reading this would give you a lens through which to view current Marseille and Aix.

[Melanie Vidrine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always makes me want to return to the south of France, again and again.

[Lydia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes I got a little bored with the descriptions but every once in a while there’d be a sentence so unique and perfect you couldn’t help but keep reading.

[Jan J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Makes me want to go back to France.

[Regine]

Lively, but not my type.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodreads has been bothering me to finish this book for over a year, so I am glad to finally get it finished. But I'm also glad because I really liked this.

The reason for the day is actually pretty easy to explain-- this book collects two separate manuscripts, one on Marseille and one on Provence. I read the shorter one, and was lukewarm enough about it to wait a year before diving into the second ms. But the thing is, the longer ms, the one I waited to read, is really great, and also points up some of why Fischer isn't as well-known or -respected as Joan Didion or other women of that shared generation who write memoirs. You see, the problem with non-fiction and the reason I don't write it is that you're stuck with yourself.... and that's not always a person anyone needs to write about.

I think Fischer has an amazing sense of self-- the essay "The Foreigner" speaks of my experience and Fischer's in an incredible way-- what it feels like to be outside the scrum, an outsider, as Gang of Four had it, at home, we're tourists. But it makes for every essay that connects with the existential loneliness in a profound way, there are three whose emotional temp is lukewarm, even when they are interesting. There are, in other words, a half-dozen amazing essays in this collection-- alongside the essay I mentioned, I loved "The Velvet Tunnel""The Outlook Across," and one about feet. But there are lots that really are about Aix, and Aix in '61, which is, understandably a hard sell. The best essays start someplace totally removed from where they end, and accumnulate meanings and and contexts as they develop-- they are models of unself-conscious indirection, maps of a very beautiful mind. And the ending of this manuscript, teased over the course of many essays, almost sells Fischer's need to leave Aix. It's very very close to what it would take to make the whole book hang together.

Really, this is a challenging and wonderful book that I feel is a little too recondite to get the attention it deserves, so that I'd have someone else with whom I could share my appreciation.

[Bill Hammack · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found M.F.K. Fisher's Two Towns in Provence for a 50 cents at local library book sale. Her work had always been on my radar screen, but never really interested in her books focusing on cooking. I love travel writing, so this I tried this. This is two books combined: A Map of Another Town and A Considerable Town - the later about Marseilles. I had been to Marseilles and drawn exactly the conventional conclusions that she opens the book with: A port city that one should only pass through, a place filthy and disreputable place. An so I was curious to find out what she thought interesting about it. I find it fascinating. What talent it takes to write without out a narrative. There is no journey here, no chronology, and yet it captivates because what she has to say is so well said, so meaningful, and so revealing - she reveals herself in an honest way. I have hesitated, so far, to read the other book it contains because I enjoyed this one so much and don't want to diminish the pleasure.

[Allyson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected to love this particular author but instead found her rather pompous, arrogant, and annoying which really irritated and disappointed me. I had long delayed the reading of these two volumes, here conveniently combined and am now completely underwhelmed.
While I recall Aix as a beautiful town which she makes a point of describing nicely, instead my overall impression from her words was of darkness, gloom, and unhappiness.
My read or her intent?!
The volume on Marseille felt a nice sparkling contrast despite her discussion of that city's reputation for toughness and thievery. It felt light and airy and happy which helped ease my overall slight dislike of this read.
I am unsure whether I simply have little taste for her voice or if my expectations coloured my reading experience unfairly.
A nice cover and heft to this paperback, but I found the included B&W illustrations unattractive and superfluous.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not one but 2 amazing books. MFK Fisher is not too well known these days, but she is certainly a forerunner to Peter Mayle, Frances Mayes and their ilk yet with a more romantic, wistful and interior style. I had started to read this several times since 2008 but , for whatever reason, I couldn't get through the first few pages. It might have been that I didn't have the patience at the time for Fisher's luxurious , if somewhat languorous, prose style. This time, however, I brought it with me on a three week stay in Aix-en-Provence and Marseille and fell in love with her stories of the people, food and landscape of this area of Provence. Maybe I just had to be ready or maybe I just had to BE THERE. In any case, by the time I finished I was sorry to say goodbye (to the book & to Provence!)I am now seeking out more of her work.

[Rennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I suspect this was not the MFK Fisher to start with, having never read her before. There were some wonderful individual lines in these two books, especially ones around the loneliness of being an expat or never quite blending in a place, and I liked that I got an overall sense of what living in these places really felt like, and that it reminded me in some ways of my own time living in France, but other than that I didn't get so much from these. They were like fleshed-out diary entries with no context. What was she even doing there? Why was there a husband who flitted in and out of a couple of stories and then disappeared? I was often confused too, the writing style was really strange and stilted.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping that this book (really, two books) would be more like Peter Mayle's books, or like Under a Tuscan Sun, but it wasn't anything like. I enjoyed reading about Aix-en-Provence because I spent part of a summer there and loved the town, but the author was entirely too circumspect about the factors that were determining her comings and goings in France. Why were her daughters living apart from her during her first stay? She never explains. But at least the first book is a personal narrative, which makes it much more interesting; the second book, covering her time in Marseilles, is little more than a standard travel log, and I couldn't even get through it.

[Margaret Pinard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though parts were random and disconcerting, in general this book kept my attention with its stories of the author's wanderings with her children, encounters with French stereotypes, and musings on topics as diverse as history, sociology, and self-awareness. I especially liked how she compared the things she saw in Aix and Marseille at different times, since she visited them so often- 1929, 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Very interesting, and made me want to go there even more!

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another 4.5 stars. This is one of my reference books. I love her writing and this is about Aix and Marseille. I prefer the Aix but Marseille is seen in beautiful honesty. Also loved Long Ago in Dijon . . . the tone is like nothing I've read. I am almost scared to pick it up sometimes. I love Dijon.

[Mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

Erudite but ultimately self-absorbed: the lack of clear focus in these narratives leaves them wallowing a bit too much in Fisher's anomie. Still, not bad little sojourns to dip into now and again. Fisher is like a companion you grow fonder of the less frequently you see her.

Her culinary books sharpen her wit with more specific themes.

[Kathy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Fisher is known best as a food writer. Maybe her food books are better, and maybe this unfinished rating is partly my fault. I was expecting a travel book about these two areas of France, not an introspective and self-focused section of a woman's life. It just couldn't capture enough of my interest to get through the second book (that is, the second town) included in this volume.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally finished this book. It has been a labor of love to finally finish this intrsopective on the areas on Aix-En-Provence and of Marseilles. Looking forward to having my own experiences there instead of reading about them. I am certain to visit the ancient destinations as well as enjoy the current dat vibrancy and food available much as is described in this book.