Edible Stories: A Novel in 16 Courses - Softcover

Mark Kurlansky

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1906142874 ISBN 13: 9781906142872

Publisher: Gibson Square Books, 2011

Synopsis

Robert Eggle finds himself standing one day in a hole in the sidewalk, rain plastering his clothes to his body, with no memory of who he is, his former life as a food critic, how he got there, or where he should go next. Trying desperately not to be unknowing to people who seem to recognize him including his wife Margaret, he has to survive by holding on to what he tastes. He finds his preoccupations narrowed down to his loss of taste, and the puzzling gastronomic tales people regale him with. Why is it important not to be too gourmetA"? And what is the real purpose behind red sea salt? There is his ex-wife Margaret, who becomes the unwilling obsession of a man from Papa New Guinea with an unusual appetite, and Emma, his neurotic fan who sees a conspiracy in creme brulees. In this world where love is celebrated with peppered, slow-cooked menudo, and where friendships are forged over fat-free muffins, Edible StoriesA" serves up a delectable tale of quirky individuals whose lives intersect in amusing, poignant, and surprisingly thrilling with a man who remembers nothing but the texture of the food he has eaten.

About this title

About the Author

Mark Kurlansky is a highly-acclaimed Canadian writer and journalist with an all absorbing passion for food. He is the author of international bestsellers Cod, Salt. Edible Stories is his first novel to be published in Britain.

From Publishers Weekly

Kurlansky (Salt) moves from his acclaimed nonfiction to a linked collection of spotty-quality fiction. Food is the unifying theme, but in the least successful efforts--"Crème Brulee," "Espresso," "Boudin," and "Hot Pot"--the foodstuffs are smothered by weak characters that are conveyed with less skill than the often lyrical passages devoted to the victuals. In the better pieces, the sensory and cultural anchors that food provide are gorgeously explored, as in "Osetra," which charts the gustatory awakening of a Puerto Rican shoplifter, and "Menudo" in which a stolid and driven U.S. senator bridges a cultural divide with unexpected tenderness. In a contrarian vein, the sludgy salmon brew of "The Soup" reinforces the gap between the last speaker of an Alaskan native language and the inept but earnest anthropologist trying to prevent the language from dying out. "Red Sea Salt," "Orangina," and "Cholent," meanwhile, introduce equal measures of comic ridiculousness and sly wit to varying degrees of satisfaction. While certainly lighter than Kurlansky's engrossing nonfiction, this remains a mostly successful consideration of the role food plays in life. (Nov.) (c)
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Edition details

• Publisher: Gibson Square Books
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 1906142874
• ISBN 13: 9781906142872
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 320