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About Manana, Manana: One Mallorcan Summer
Product Description Having battled and succumbed to the mañana pace of rural Majorca in his best-selling Snowball Oranges: A Winter's Tale on a Spanish Isle, spring sees Peter Kerr and family relaxing into a supposedly simpler way of life, growing oranges on their little valley farm, Ca's Mayoral. However, even after their tragicomic initiation, Spain has not yet finished with them. Embarrassing subtleties of the language, brushes with the local police, the unfortunate outcome of a drinking session . . . there are surprises aplenty to test the resolve, stamina and, perhaps more importantly, the sense of humor of this venturesome (the author would say 'foolhardy') émigré family. Their eccentric and colorful new friends are always on hand to help out--for better or worse--and add spice to this engaging account of tranquilo life. Here is the charm of Majorca: where you seldom do today what can be put off 'til mañana. From Publishers Weekly Kerr's memoir begins where Snowball Oranges: A Winter's Tale on a Spanish Isle left off. Spring is approaching; the neighboring rooster, General Franco, is crowing earlier and louder; and the author, a Scottish farmer who, with his family, has left his homeland to grow fruit in Mallorca, is up to greet the gorgeous island dawn. Thus begins this series of vignettes about the difficulties and satisfactions of trying to slow down and learn the ways of a charming but often mystifying Mediterranean isle. As Kerr and his family try to adjust their Scottish farming experience to the Mallorcan climate, they are on a steep learning curve, both cultural and agricultural. Offered advice and assistance from all kinds of charming, irritating and eccentric locals and expatriates, many of whom assume that the Kerrs, like most transplants to Mallorca, have money to burn, the family manages, eventually, to learn how to make a living with their fruit trees and enjoy local customs on their own terms. Whether they are confronted with demonic folklore in a local restaurant, navigating the politics of dealing with the police after a devastating burglary or standing up for themselves as they practice diplomacy with their sometimes difficult neighbors, the family remains lighthearted and resilient. More a series of episodes than a continuous narrative, the book lacks dramatic drive. But Kerr's writing is mildly humorous and evokes a spirit of place that will appeal to both armchair travelers and vacationers who'd like to know the best eating establishments on the island, as well as anyone considering emigrating to a foreign land. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Booklist Kerr, a Scottish transplant to Mallorca, continues the diverting story of his family's adjustment to tranquil island life that he began in Snowball Oranges (2002). Their first summer on the island brings more adventures and more customs to learn, along with the hard physical labor of semimechanized farming. Kerr manages well enough with Spanish, although the local dialect is still a mystery to him, while his wife's pronunciation leads to comic confusion of food items with male body parts. For all the history and beauty of the landscape and the wonderful growing conditions, the true treasure of the island is its people, whose warmth and generosity are tempered with shrewdness and humor that keep those trying to fit in both amused and confused. A break-in and theft and continuing "negotiations" with the previous owner keep the Kerrs grounded as they prove, to their neighbors' surprise, that they are real farmers, not wealthy dilettantes, building what they hope will be a real life. Danise Hoover Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved Review "Ever dreamt of a new life in the sun? This is the story of one couple who tried it . . . with hilariously unexpected results . . . a warm-hearted mixture of disaster and hilarity." -- The Daily Mail "Kerr's writing . . . evokes a spirit of pla
