CURRENTLY SOLD OUT
About this product
Product Identifiers
PublisherRizzoli International Publications, Incorporated
ISBN-100847842681
ISBN-139780847842681
eBay Product ID (ePID)170123799
Product Key Features
Book TitleGardener of Versailles O/P
Number of Pages296 Pages
LanguageEnglish
Publication Year2014
TopicLandscape, Europe / France, Personal Memoirs, Essays & Narratives
IllustratorYes
GenreBiography & Autobiography, Gardening, History
AuthorA. Baraton
FormatHardcover
Dimensions
Item Height1.1 in
Item Weight18.5 Oz
Item Length8.5 in
Item Width5.8 in
Additional Product Features
Intended AudienceTrade
Dewey Edition23
Reviews"An exquisite storyteller who works in and lives among the gardens, Baraton immediately engages readers...Baraton has filled his book not only with interesting historical details and human stories of the royals who walked the grounds but with insightful, contemporary tales of wise coworkers and eccentric visitors. Whether he's discussing romantic tourists or marveling at bygone gardening techniques, Baraton's eloquence and intelligence shine in this English translation by Murray. Practically required reading for garden travelers, gardeners, history fans, and even memoir buffs. Readers will wish more of his books were available in translation. Delightful." ~ Library Journal , Starred Review "[A] fascinating memoir...[A]n intimate and visceral look into his complicated relationship with one of Europe's most astonishing public gardens...It is a telling glimpse of the challenge, consolation, and occasional horror of overseeing a place of magic." ~ Publishers Weekly "Simply but thoroughly, the author narrates the history of Versailles...He writes poetically about the beautiful power of the grounds he tends. The descriptions of the various sites on the grounds could only come from a man fortunate enough to have lived on and loved the site for almost 40 years." ~ Kirkus Reviews, "Charming...Mr. Baraton is delightful when describing his daily routines--he talks to his trees and has pet names for many of them--and as a writer he is a master of what might be termed the inarguable Gallic utterance...but for a hands-on perspective and sheer fun, Mr. Baraton can't be beat." - Wall Street Journal " What an eccentric and charming memoir ... Baraton has been gardening at Versailles for nearly 40 years. He knows every vista, every bosquet, every fountain on its 2,100 acres. Baraton's book is sweet and breezy." - New York Times " An exquisite storyteller who works in and lives among the gardens, Baraton immediately engages readers...Baraton has filled his book not only with interesting historical details and human stories of the royals who walked the grounds but with insightful, contemporary tales of wise coworkers and eccentric visitors. Whether he's discussing romantic tourists or marveling at bygone gardening techniques, Baraton's eloquence and intelligence shine in this English translation by Murray. Practically required reading for garden travelers, gardeners, history fans, and even memoir buffs. Readers will wish more of his books were available in translation . Delightful." ~ Library Journal , Starred Review "[A] fascinating memoir...an intimate and visceral look into his complicated relationship with one of Europe's most astonishing public gardens...It is a telling glimpse of the challenge, consolation, and occasional horror of overseeing a place of magic." ~ Publishers Weekly "Simply but thoroughly, the author narrates the history of Versailles...He writes poetically about the beautiful power of the grounds he tends. The descriptions of the various sites on the grounds could only come from a man fortunate enough to have lived on and loved the site for almost 40 years." ~ Kirkus Reviews "In his capacious, generous memoir, Baraton beautifully renders the intersection of personal memories with French history and botanical splendors...The gardens of Versailles, however, are not entirely romanticized by Baraton. Darker moments, from the aftermath of a storm to suicides, balance the portrait of a place marked as much by seasonal change as by an irresistible mythology...This engaging account of decades spent cultivating pathways speaks volumes on public and private uses for gardens and of nature's enduring witness." - Foreword Reviews
Dewey Decimal712.609443663
SynopsisINDIEFAB Book of the Year Awards -- 2014 Finalist For gardening aficionados and Francophiles, a love letter to the Versailles Palace and grounds, from the man who knows them best. In Alain Baraton's Versailles, every grove tells a story. As the gardener-in-chief, Baraton lives on its grounds, and since 1982 he has devoted his life to the gardens, orchards, and fields that were loved by France's kings and queens as much as the palace itself. His memoir captures the essence of the connection between gardeners and the earth they tend, no matter how humble or grand. With the charm of a natural storyteller, Baraton weaves his own path as a gardener with the life of the Versailles grounds, and his role overseeing its team of eighty gardeners tending to 350,000 trees and thirty miles of walkways on 2,100 acres. He richly evokes this legendary place and the history it has witnessed but also its quieter side that he feels privileged to know. The same gardens that hosted the lavish lawn parties of Louis XIV and the momentous meeting between Marie Antoinette and the Cardinal de Rohan remain enchanted, private places where visitors try to get themselves locked in at night, lovers go looking for secluded hideaways, and elegant grandmothers secretly make cuttings to take back to their own gardens. A tremendous best seller in France, The Gardener of Versailles gives an unprecedentedly intimate view of one of the grandest places on earth.
LC Classification NumberSB466
