The Gourmet
Description
<strong>From the author of the international bestseller <i>The Elegance of The Hedgehog</i> comes a mouth-watering tale delving into the life of a monstrous food critic.</strong>
<strong>'A foodie's delight; just don't read it when you're hungry'</strong><cite>Daily Mail</cite>
<strong>'The exquisite descriptions of eating are like nothing you've read before' </strong><cite>Good Housekeeping</i=cite>
After a lifetime of presiding over cowering chefs and pursuing sensual delights, France's greatest food critic is dying. Given just forty-eight hours to live, Pierre Arthens has one last ambition - to recall the most delicious food to ever pass his lips, an elusive taste from his childhood.
From his luxury penthouse at 7 Rue de Grenelle, Pierre casts his mind back over a lifetime of flavour: eating barbequed sardines with his grandfather; the warm, crumbly pastry of an apple tart; his first taste of velvety sashimi. But orbiting around him are a cast of family and acquaintances, each with their own story to tell about the greed and ruthlessness that has paved the way to Pierre's search for the perfect meal.
Reviews / Votes
An exquisite French black comedy * The Times * A foodie's delight; just don't read it when you're hungry * Daily Mail * The exquisite descriptions of eating are like nothing you've read before * Good Housekeeping * Barbery's novel explores the food critic's quest through his upper bourgeoise Parisian eyes and via those with the less savory perspectives of him, in some seriously delectable prose * Electric Literature * Barbery has a knack for describing food, and for evoking the physical and emotional sensations it produces * Financial Times * An ode to the pleasure of good food . . . mouthwatering from beginning to end * Paris Match * A series of witty reflections on the life and career of famous, unlovable French food critic Pierre Arthen . . . lush and satisfying * Publisher's Weekly * Seductive * New Yorker *More details
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