Peter Mayle spent fifteen years in the advertising industry in London before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people. Peter was a former Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO creative chief. He is the British author famous for the series of books detailing life in Provence, France. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages.  His 1989 book A Year in Provence became an international bestseller. Peter also wrote probably the most a hilarious book on advertising called UP THE AGENCY which talks about the fun and excess in advertising in the 1980's.

His novel A Good Year was the basis for the 2006 film of the same name directed by Ridley Scott and starring actors Russell Crowe and Marion Cotillard.

Yesterday, the Malaysian Home Ministry has asked bookstores to immediately stop the sale of Peter Mayle's book Where Did I Come From, a book explaining the facts of life, Ministry Deputy Secretary General Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Radzi was reported to have said they had started studying the content of the book and sales had to stop until a decision was made. “If the contents are found to have elements that could harm the moral of the community, we would ban it," citing taking action under Section 7, Subsection 1 of the Printing Presses and Publication Act 1984. 

The book, published in 1984 has sold more than a million copies, describes the reproductive process from intercourse to birth and is heavily illustrated and most reveiewers have said that it was useful but some reviewers said it had too much information about love making. 

Umno Youth Community Complaints Bureau chairman Datuk Muhd Khairun Aseh added, “The book clearly indicates the private parts of human beings and specific details of how two person are making love. It is written in simple language and was placed on shelves for children under the age of 12." He cited it as a violation of Section 292 of the Penal Code, which deals with distribution or sale of pornographic materials.