"A marvelous chronicle of Breton lives and life, seen largely through the eyes of a child grown old, remembering how it used to be, in the years between the two world wars. The memoirs are magnificent. . . . The affectionate and touching portraits are not just of one family. . . . but of a whole people. . . . Like that faintly sweet, strong apple liqueur, this book should be savored slowly--set aside and picked up again, chapters read and re-read."--Neil Pickett, The New Republic
"A rich and moving memoir. . . . We can see why this book won acclaim and a prize in France; it should...

Laurence Wylie's remarkably warm and human account of life in the rural French village he calls Peyrane vividly depicts the villagers themselves within the framework of a systematic description of their culture. Since 1950, when Wylie began his study of Peyrane, to which he has returned on many occasions since, France has become a primarily industrial nation--and French village life has changed in many ways. The third edition of this book includes a fascinating new chapter based on Wylie's observations of Peyrane since 1970, with discussions of the Peyranais' gradual assimilation into the...

Laurence Wylie (1919-1995), a renowned scholar and teacher of French at Harvard, assembled this collection of French conventional gestures after studying at the Jacques Lecoq school of mime in Paris. The more than 60 photographs of him portraying the gestures are not only a delightful introduction to French "body talk" but also a stimulating insight into French culture and an excellent way to engage students of French. The Advanced Reasoning Forum is pleased to make available again this charming book first published in 1977.