Acquired Tastes

"The spending habits of the rich have intrigued me for years,: Peter Mayle says. "Above all, I was curious to know if their little luxuries were actually worth the money. Were they paying for something special, or did the real pleasure, the fizz in the veins, come from the giddy feeling of being able to have whatever you want whenever you want it, and to hell with the cost?" He set forth to find out, and the fruits of his research are presented in this delightful book.

In ACQUIRED TASTES, he tells you where to buy the world's best caviar and how to order a pair of thirteen-hundred-dollar hand-stitched, custom-made shoes; he invites you for a stay in London's ultra exclusive hotel, the Connaught, and takes you home to Provence in December, in search of fresh truffles.

Along the way he covers everything the well-heeled---and those vicariously so inclined---need to know, including the costs of keeping a mistress in style, the pros and cons of household servants, proper limousine etiquette, the finer points of choosing and smoking a true cigar, the perfect second home (it's a nice place to visit but you can afford to live there?), what the rich have in common with Mongolian mountain goats, and much more. And with inimitable wit and wry aplomb he offers some practical suggestions everyone of good taste and fine breeding can afford, such as how to be the perfect host to the house guests you absolutely can't avoid, the only three New Year's resolutions you'll ever need to make (you're guaranteed to keep them), and the fine art of tipping; how to tip, whom to tip, how much to tip, and --- the most important question of all---why tip anyway?

From gastronomy to matrimony, from the sartorial to the baronial, ACQUIRED TASTES is Peter Mayle's most delicious book yet---an irreverently spiced smorgasbord of rich dishes you're sure to enjoy.