Garlic, Mint, & Sweet Basil

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Description

Available for the first time in English in Howard Curtis's brilliant translation this collection of personal essays shows Izzo at his most contemplative and insightful. He writes beautifully about the city he loved, the sea to which he belonged, and the literary movement that made him famous. A must-read for all lovers of Izzo's Marseilles Trilogy.

Reviews

Praise for Jean-Claude Izzo

"A real delight."
--Andrea Camilleri, author of the bestselling Inspector Montalbano series

"[Izzo's] essays...reveal a man of deep feeling and humanity."
--The Guardian

"What makes Izzo's work haunting is his extraordinary ability to convey the tastes and smells of Marseilles."
--The New Yorker

"Mr. Izzo was a marvelous food writer...His books are filled with winning descriptions of Provencal meals run through with the flavors of north Africa, Italy, Greece."
--Sam Sifton, The New York Times

"Just as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy made Los Angeles their very own, so Mr. Izzo has made Marseilles so much more than just another geographical setting."
--The Economist

"In Izzo's books...Marseilles is a 'ville selon nos coeur, ' a city in tune with our heart...A cosmopolitan, maritime city, greedy, sensual and warm."
--Michel Samson, Slow Food

"Our last true romantic, Jean-Claude Izzo transmits warmth to his readers, as if granting them a mouthful of pure love."
--Le Point (France)

Praise for Jean-Claude Izzo
What makes Izzo s work haunting is his extraordinary ability to convey the tastes and smells of Marseilles.
"The New Yorker"
Our last true romantic, Jean-Claude Izzo transmits warmth to his readers, as if granting them a mouthful of pure love.
Le Point (France)
Just as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy made Los Angeles their very own, so Mr. Izzo has made Marseilles so much more than just another geographical setting.
The Economist"
"What makes Izzo's work haunting is his extraordinary ability to convey the tastes and smells of Marseilles." --The New Yorker
"Our last true romantic, Jean-Claude Izzo transmits warmth to his readers, as if granting them a mouthful of pure love." --Le Point (France)
"Just as Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy made Los Angeles their very own, so Mr. Izzo has made Marseilles so much more than just another geographical setting." --The Economist

Author Bio

Jean-Claude Izzo was born in Marseilles, France, in 1945. Best known for the Marseilles trilogy (Total Chaos,Chourmo,Solea), Izzo is also the author ofThe Lost Sailors,A Sun for the Dying,Garlic, Mint, & Sweet Basil, and one collection of short stories,Living Tires. He died in 2000 at the age of fifty-five. Award-winning translator Howard Curtis has worked on more than sixty books from French, Italian and Spanish. Among his recent translations for Europa are works by Jean-Claude Izzo and Santiago Gamboa.