Devils Picnic - Hardcover

Grescoe, Taras

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0002007800 ISBN 13: 9780002007801

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006

Synopsis

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Award-winning writer Taras Grescoe admits that he has alwaysbeen fascinated by the forbidden. Never one to deny his desires, he set out on aglobal journey, determined to track down the foods and substances that killjoygovernments have often bizarrely prohibited. The result is a spread like noother: an aperitif of hjemmebrent, a powerful Norwegian moonshine; awedge of Époisses, a stinky French cheese that can carry a brain-swellingbacteria; a cup of restorative Bolivian cocaine tea; and a host of legendary andsought-after substances that Grescoe risks health and jail time to dig in to.

Grescoe takes us with him around the world to sample damnedfood, drink and smoke, along the way serving up a unique and irreverent feast ofunsavoury characters and customs. The culmination is a deliciously decadentfull-course meal for those brave enough to lay down a blanket, open the basketand partake of the devil’s picnic.

About this title

About the Author

TARAS GRESCOE is the author of four books, including the bestselling Bottomfeeder, which won the 2008 Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize and the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction. Two other titles, Sacré Blues and The End of Elsewhere, were shortlisted for Writers’ Trust awards. His work has appeared in a great variety of major publications including The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Gourmet, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic, The Times (UK) and The Independent. He lives in Montreal. Visit him online at www.tarasgrescoe.com.

From Publishers Weekly

This detailed chef's tour of prohibited pleasures for the palate, from Norwegian moonshine and Bolivian coca leaves to Spanish bull testicles, is laced with magnificent descriptions—some mouthwatering, others quite repulsive. Grescoe (Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec) uses food as a pretext to lead readers on a heady quest to corroborate the libertarian principle of free will. Through his well-researched history lessons, readers learn of the birth and evolution of nine different foodstuffs, and the politics behind their prohibition. Grescoe paints colorful portraits of contemporary cultures by walking the land, sampling the fare and providing firsthand interviews with various food experts: aficionados, suppliers and officials charged with enforcing interdiction. His narrative makes a convincing case that most restrictions are based on unwarranted or outdated health concerns, or political agendas that profit the government (up to 86% of the price of liquor in Norway can go to taxes!). And while he successfully illustrates the arguments used by supporters of legalization, he surprises himself by conceding that certain governmental intervention can indeed be a necessary evil (e.g., protection of endangered animals). With amusing anecdotes and exotic imagery, this walk through the garden of "forbidden fruit" is a savory and powerful scrutiny into the psychology, markets and politics of prohibition.
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Edition details

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 0002007800
• ISBN 13: 9780002007801
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 360