As They Were.
Inscribed to William Shawn
Fisher, M.F.K. As They Were. New York: Knopf, 1982.
8vo.; topstained light grey; edges untrimmed; ¾ taupe paper-covered boards; khaki cloth spine; stamped in gilt; illustrated cream dust-jacket, art by Judith Clancey. In a specially made cloth slipcase.
First edition of this late selection of twenty personal essays, some of which originally appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Gastronone, House and Garden and House Beautiful. A presentation copy, inscribed to her editor at The New Yorker, who surely found some familiar friends in these pages: For William Shawn, mentor/from MFK Fisher, pupil/with grateful respect and love/Mary Frances Fisher/Glen Ellen/1982. A compelling presentation copy in fine condition by a woman who rarely inscribed her work.
The dust-jacket prints a synopsis of these pieces, and concludes, “To read this book is to enter into the memories of M.F.K. Fisher – places, images, feelings, flavors, encounters that have played a mysterious part in the shaping of an extraordinary writer.” In these short memoirs Fisher reflects on her life and travels; she takes her readers from her girlhood in California, thence to France from top to bottom. Examples include “Young Hunger,” “Three Swiss Inns,” “Pacific Village,” “Two Kitchens in Provence,” “About Looking Alone at a Place: Arles,” and “Gare de Lyon.”
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