Marseille Mix describes the city of Marseille, its culture, buildings, gastronomy, cinematic images, history, planning, language, music, detective stories, criminology. These aspects of the city interrelate and overlap, to create a complex ever shifting image.

Marseille lies on the edge of Europe, separated from the rest of France by a circle of high mountains. It looks outwards to the Mediterranean, relating more to the exterior world than back to the rest of France. It is one of the oldest cities of western Europe, with traces of prehistoric inhabitation, a trading city founded by the Greeks, a flourishing medieval culture. Once one of the busiest ports in the world, its harbour is now in now largely empty. With its sea-trade almost abandoned, Marseille has lost its traditional purpose. It is like a sea creature marooned on the land, uncertain as to whether to settle or move on.

In seven chapters (in reference to the seven hills surrounding Marseille and the seven seas to the south) the book uses various forms of writing – essay, narrative, description, list, recipe, glossary, conversation – to examine the city and investigate its defining mix.

248 pp, 225 × 140 mm
Paperback
MIT Press, 2022