Acquired Tastes

May 4, 1992
On assignment for GQ (where these tonic pieces first appeared), Mayle sallied forth to sample the little luxuries of the richest, the best that life is reputed to offer. With unabashed gusto he praises good cigars, grand hotels, Parisian bistros, second homes, antiques and fresh truffles. With swank savvy he reviews the advantages and drawbacks of servants, the pleasures and costs of mistresses. His excursions comprise an informal buyer's guide to single-malt whiskies, pure Mongolian cashmere, deluxe shirts and hand-made London shoes. For ballast, Mayle ( A Year in Provence ) presents curmudgeonly diatribes on lawyers, tipping, New Year's resolutions, writers' gripes, Christmas (``the universal expensive habit'') and Manhattan's giddy spending opportunities. This delightful celebration of the little (and not-so-little) extravagances that make life worth living scintillates with wit, brio and trenchant observations on the best and the second-rate.

Robin Sachs delivers a delicious rendering of Peter Mayle's droll pronouncements on the joys of having enough money to pamper one's most exotic tastes. In his sexy rugged voice, Sachs offers Mayle's mouth-watering recipe for preparing truffles as well as advice on the proper way to eat true caviar (with iced vodka, of course) and how to eat pate correctly. With patrician elegance and undisguised smugness, Sachs relates Mayle's thoughts on keeping a mistress; live-in servants; second homes; choosing an excellent cigar; the pleasures of custom-made shoes, suits, and shirts; and the difference between four-ply cashmere and something that feels like your grandmother's overstuffed armchair. An updated forward by Mayle and charming musical interludes introduce these amusing pieces, which first appeared in GQ in the 1990s. S.J.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine