Cooking in the Wrong Century

Reviews / Votes

Very funny, very stylish and very moving. Teresa Praeauer is a novelist of unusual elegance and charm - who can make the reader sadly aware of time passing even while leaving them delightedly hungry -- Adam Thirlwell, author of The Future Future Deliciously unsettling and thoroughly enjoyable. It's so much fun to see this meticulously planned dinner party go wrong -- Ayseguel Savas, author of The Anthropologists Astute observations on the absurd theatre of aspirational living in the age of social media abound in Teresa Praeauer's Cooking in the Wrong Century. Culture, under Praeauer's gaze, is a mood that can be blurred by candlelight and the Thelonious Monk Septet: it's irresistible, disorienting * New Statesman * Clever, amusing and delightfully compact. To be consumed in one sitting, it pairs wonderfully with a glass or four of fizz * Daily Mail * Every fear you've ever had about hosting a dinner party crops up in this half dream, half choose-your-own-adventure, in which the events of the evening are affected by minor differences: which guests arrive first, and which are late? Who has had a drink on the way? Do they take their shoes off at the door? The characters' conversation follows similar strange, winding tangents to the surreal narrative. Get the cremant open * GQ * Astute, witty and as pleasurable as a case of Cremant. An irresistible novel - I loved it -- Claire Powell, author of At the Table There's a sensibility akin to Vincenzo Latronico's Perfection in everyone's obsession with names and cultural touchstones, as they share selfies on social media (#FoodPorn #BestFriendsForever) . . . The tone of this moreish story swings between sadness and satire * Guardian * A greatly magnified and irony-laden slice of life. This impressive novel feels at once modern and eternal, like a perfectly balanced and freshly honed chef's knife * Kirkus * Beautiful writing and an interesting concept * Stylist * Takes on gender roles, social disappointments and the memories evoked by food * TLS * An entertaining, finely observed chamber play and a great culinary reading pleasure -- Nora von Westphalen * ELLE * Splices fleeting sincerity with gleeful satire all while digging up the true intents of Vienna's thin upper crust . . . Praeauer is both witty and wise; she has a gift for sharp dialogue * The Berliner * An elegantly written, deliciously sardonic read which I very much enjoyed. The discomforting gap between the fantasy of a convivial dinner party and the awkward reality of tricky, unappreciative guests was beautifully observed. The witty dissection of social media was scalpel-sharp and very entertaining -- Jenny Linford, author of The Missing Ingredient Unusual and compelling . . . an intelligent social farce about a dinner party * Spectator Takeaway Newsletter * Astutely analyses social interaction and presents it in a humorous and ironic way -- Laura Sodano * Vogue Germany * With her well-seasoned, original menu Teresa Praeauer proves herself to be an amusingly sophisticated hostess and stimulating companion at this literary dinner -- Irene Prugger * Wiener Zeitung * Teresa Praeauer is one of the brightest candles on the cake of contemporary German literature . . . This is breathtakingly funny, comical and very, very insightful -- Denis Scheck * MDR Best New Books * Hardly ever has such an intellectually precise novel about taste been written -- Paul Jandl * NZZ * Entertaining, witty, amusing and clever. It offers plenty of material for the next table conversation -- Annalena Esser * WDR3 Gutenberg's World *