Book description
In this poignant, delicious memoir, American tax preparer and food writer Steve Hoffman tells the story of how he and his family move to the French countryside, where the locals upend everything he knows about food, wine, and learning how to belong. Steve Hoffman is a perfectly comfortable middle-aged Minnesotan man who has always been desperately, pretentiously in love with France, more specifically with the idea of France. To follow that love, he and his family move, nearly at random, to the small, rural, scratchy-hot village of Autignac in the south of the country, and he immediately thinks he's made a terrible mistake. Life here is not holding your cigarette chest-high while walking to the cafΓ© and pulling off the trick of pretending to be Parisian, it's getting into fights with your wife because you won't break character and introduce your very American family to the locals, who can smell you and your perfect city-French from a mile away. But through cooking what the local grocer tells him to cook, he feels more of this place. A neighbor leads him into the world of winemaking, where he learns not as a pedantic oenophile, but bodily, as a grape picker and winemaker's apprentice. Along the way, he lets go of the abstract ideas he'd held about France, discovering instead the beauty of a culture that is one with its landscape, and of becoming one with that culture.
About the Author
Steve Hoffman shares one acre on Turtle Lake, in Shoreview, Minnesota, with his family, an ill-behaved puggle, and roughly 80,000 honeybees. He is a writer, tax preparer, and occasional French villager. He is the winner of the M.F.K. Fisher Distinguished Writing Award at the James Beard Awards, as well as an IACP Bert Greene Award for narrative culinary writing and five Association of Food Journalism awards.
EchoEmissary
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Esquire
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Star Jammer
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Night Train
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Goatee Shield
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Waylay Dave
ListenBook's extensive statistics feature adds a new level of insight to my audiobook habits. The statistics feature in ListenBook provides valuable insights into my audiobook habits, helping me learn and grow. Sharing audiobooks with friends through AirDrop is a delightful feature. Sharing is caring!
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QuestWeaver
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BlackExcalibur
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IceDog
The extensive statistics feature on ListenBook helps me track my audiobook consumption habits β so cool! This audiobook app is an absolute lifesaver! It brings my favorite stories to life with unparalleled convenience. Audiobook joy made simple β this app's ease of use is commendable. The ability to download audiobooks directly is fantastic. ListenBook is very convenient. ListenBook is the best audiobook player Iβve ever used. The app is reliable, fast, and packed with features like customizable themes and playback speed. The sleep timer is a lifesaver for bedtime listening. Great job, developers!
Undergrad Split
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StarStrider
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Grabber
The app's versatility in downloading audio is impressive. It streamlines the process and saves time. Looping playback has revolutionized my language learning journey. I'm making rapid progress.
101
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Old Regret
I'm impressed by ListenBook's commitment to providing a silky-smooth playback experience. This app is a blessing for those with busy schedules β it's like time travel through stories. The app is super intuitive. I was up and running in minutes. A serviceable audiobook that met basic expectations. The narration was clear if somewhat unremarkable, and the production quality was standard without any noticeable technical issues. It kept me moderately engaged during workouts but didn't leave a lasting impression.
Playing a wide variety of audio formats
Works on all devices with iOS 13 and newer
Huge amount of features for a small price
Frequent updates to add new features and improve existing ones
Advanced playback controls
Live sound processing
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice and noise reduction
Translated into more than 20 languages
If you love listening to fiction audiobooks, ListenBook has features to make the process easier.
Edit book data: title, author, cover
Use equalizer to make the sound comfortable for you
Adjust the playback speed
Enjoy dark and light app themes
Supported formats: MP3, M4B, AWB, FLAC, OGG audio files and many more (must be DRM free)
Auto-Bookmarks make it easy to find your place
AirPlay support allows redirection of audio output.
VoiceOver support
Dark mode for night owls
Convenient bookmarking system helps you mark the most important places.
Unlimited bookmarks for each audiobook
Put your own cover on the wager
Share your audiobook with friends
Lock-screen control
Customise app with extensive options
Sleep timer with shake to reset, set custom notification sounds, and a few unique options
Auto rewind depending on paused time, customize rewind times to your liking
Removing background noise from recordings made in classrooms and meetings
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice for a better listening experience