Upstate House

One Hundred Miles from Manhattan

By Guillermo Fesser (Little Bridge Productions/Epigraph, 2014) Buy It Now

What did ProvenÇal villagers think of Peter Mayle’s take on their home turf? Now Hudson Valley residents have their own smitten expatriate chronicler. Broadcast journalist/humorist Fesser was Spain’s answer to Jon Stewart, so widely beloved that King Juan Carlos I publically mourned the end of his long-running show. Moving to his American wife’s hometown, Fesser discovered the United States with fresh eyes, reporting on ice boating, maple syrup production, Underground Railroad history—and, of course, local characters. His tales of life in exotic Rhinebeck and beyond became a runaway Spanish bestseller; this English-language version is sure to win him stateside fans.