This text explores the landscapes of Provence and Languedoc, drawing on prehistory, protohistory and Gallo-Roman antiquity, focusing on a place or artifact. Archival curiosities invite inquiry and speculation: artefacts are read as realia, and history as an uninterrupted sequence of object lessons.
"A wonderful, addictive book. Gustaf Sobin's prose combines descriptive precision with evocative power, calling to mind the poetic-scholarly writing of Barthes or Bachelard. As he records and links the scattered fragments, some infinitesimal, of a regional past, Sobin offers wonder, regret, and often a sharp critique of contemporary society."--James Clifford, author of Routes: Travel and Translation in the Late 20th Century