As They Were Audiobook By M. F. K. Fisher cover art

As They Were

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As They Were

By: M. F. K. Fisher
Narrated by: C. M. Hébert
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Written as a series of vignettes, this rewarding book recounts the life and adventures of respected writer Mary Fisher. Decades of travel through America and Europe supply the fodder for these tales, with wonderful details of the people, places, foods, and thoughts that have flavored her journey.©1982 M.F.K. Fisher (P)2000 Blackstone Audio, Inc. Essays Europe Food & Wine United States Western Europe World Literature Nonfiction

Critic reviews

"Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher is a national treasure. For nearly 50 years she has been writing rare, fine prose about so many things that she is nearly impossible to define." ( Newsweek)
"A breath of poetry wraps us as she relives for us a lifetime....She is the attentive spectator of her own life as well as its narrator." ( Philadelphia Inquirer)
"Listening to Hébert's delicate reading of the decades-old reminiscences...is like sharing an evening with a gracious gourmet." ( Booklist)
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Where are there more audiobooks of M. F. K. Fisher? I listen to many good books here. This is my favorite, these early writings of M. F. K. Fisher, in combination with a reader who could be her.

The best writer, the best reader for this writer.

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Would love to read more M FK Fisher books; luscious sensory writing; more essays please

Most delicious book read in many years;

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What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Boredom and frustration.

Any additional comments?

While I'm generally a fan of M.F.K. Fisher, this particular collection just seems incredibly self-indulgent, and of no particular interest to anyone but Fisher herself. In that context, if one has read Fisher widely, as I have, it's just tedious to get through, and one can see why so many of her contemporaries in the culinary world brushed her off as not to be taken seriously.

The stories in this collection have largely appeared elsewhere, and one has the sense that the collection was put together as a new title simply to provide Ms. Fisher with an infusion of cash.

Try Two Towns in Provence instead. I love that one -- especially the Aix-en-Provence years, and revisiting Aix with her daughters.

Amazing that this is currently the only M.F.K. Fisher available in audiobook form, as it's surely the least interesting of everything Fisher wrote.

As for the narrator, she generally does a pleasant and competent enough job, but has some annoying mispronunciations throughout ("manzanita" comes to mind in particular).

Tiresome and Tedious

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