Book Description
How does one live after surviving injustice? What satisfaction comes from revenge? Can the past ever be left behind?
Masterfully composed and imbued with extraordinary feeling and understanding, The Iron Tracks is a riveting tale of survival and revenge by the writer whom Irving Howe called "one of the best novelists alive today."
Ever since he was released from a concentration camp forty years earlier, Erwin Siegelbaum has been obsessively riding the trains of postwar Austria. His days are filled with drink, his nights with brief love affairs and the torments of his nightmares. What keeps him sane is his mission to collect the menorahs, kiddush cups, and holy books that have survived their vanished owners. And the hope that one day he will find the Nazi officer who murdered his parents--and have the strength to kill him.
A haunting exploration of one survivor's complex, wrenching, inner world,
The Iron Tracks is distinguished by the depth of insight and the distinctively stark, elegant style that have won Aharon Appelfeld recognition as one of the world's great writers.
Amazon.com
During the Second World War, Erwin Siegelbaum's parents were killed by Nachtigel, the man who ran the Nazi camp in which they and their son were captive laborers. Now, more than 40 years later, Erwin lives his life on and off the trains of south central Europe, performing each year the same migratory circuit of stations and towns, inns and markets--of friends and enemies, comrades and rivals: "Since the end of the war, I have been on this line, as they say: a long, twisted line stretching from Naples to the cold north, a line of locals, trams, taxis, and carriages. The seasons shift before my eyes like an illusion.... My route is fixed, more fixed every year. Imprinted on my body, it cannot be shaken."
Erwin is a businessman of sorts. Trusting to a remarkable intuition, he ferrets out and purchases Jewish relics and antiques, then resells them to Jewish collectors in order to fund his perpetual travels. But he has another vocation as well, the secret reason for all his years of peregrination: to hunt down Nachtigel, and to execute him at last. Of his tormentor, and of all who collaborated in the attempted extermination of the Jewish people, he says, "As long as they live, our lives are not our lives." And so Erwin makes his annual round, at times hounded by nightmares and by melancholy, at others solaced by the simple beauty of the world in which he finds himself: "I can sit in a buffet and imagine, for instance, what's happening in distant Hansen, how the snow is falling there and softly covering the narrow lanes. Or Café Anton, where they serve warm rolls in the earliest hours of the morning, with coffee and cherry jam."
And so, too, we follow him, ever more fascinated by his concerns and his memories, ever more apprehensive about the possibility of a confrontation with Nachtigel. For the great year has arrived at last: Nachtigel has come out of hiding. If we are ambivalent about Erwin's plan to kill the killer, Aharon Appelfeld will not tell us which of our contradictory responses is the right one. This is, after all, a story about the hopeless tangling of identities and loyalties endemic to the human condition--about how a victim may become a murderer for the sake of justice, and how a man devoted to the preservation of a precious heritage may be more deeply committed to destroying than to building anew. --Daniel Hintzsche
Customer Reviews:
From one of the world's greatest novelists.......2002-05-28
Aharon Appelfeld is one of the world's greatest living novelists, and this novel demonstrates his many virtues. Like his previous works "The Age of Wonders" and "The Immortal Bartfuss" it is short, it concentrates on Holocaust survivors, and its style is sparse, elliptical. Erwin Siegelbaum is in late middle age and has spent decades riding the trains in Austria. He makes his living by finding Jewish memorobillia in the now Judenrein countryside and buying them from gentiles who cannot recognize their value. It is a depressing business, since the Austrian countryside is drab, ugly, and ungenerous, even without the vicious anti-Semitism that Siegelbaum encounters. One converted Jew wishes that it could be wiped away like Sodom and Gommorah, and Siegelbaum at the end of the novel wishes that he could burn one town down to the ground. At the same time he is searching for vengeance against the Nazi officer who murdered his parents.
The legitimacy of this quest is not questioned by Siegelbaum, but by the end it is clear that it is not a sufficient or adequate solution to Siegelbaum's miserable, loveless life. What, after all is it like to avenge one parents, not in the abstract, but one's own actual parents? As in his earlier novels, there is the inevitable sickening ambiguity. His parents, Communist organizers, were not cruel to him, and they made considerable sacrifices for their cause. But they were often naive about the Ruthenians they tried to organize, they attacked Jewish capitalists, and were of course compromised by the Stalinist nature of the party. Erwin's father shortchanged his education, because he saw a normal education as an evil bourgeois plot (a view, given the nature of authoritarian Europe in the 1930s, that is not entirely inaccurate). His mother is burdened by a world-weariness that drains life from her before her death in a camp. After the war Siegelbaum encounters his parent's former Communist comrades and in his wandering he experiences the dissolution and decay of their ideals. If he is trapped by the past, others cannot be bothered to remember it (he encounters a quarter-Jew who is surprised to find out that the Old Testament did not mention Jesus.)
And so Siegelbaum rides the trains, bribing the waiter to switch the radio to the classical music station. Zionism or Orthodoxy do not bring him comfort and solace("Religious Jews frighten me"); his connection to Judaism that forced upon him by history and inertia: "My memory is a powerful machine that stores and constantly discharges lost years and faces. In the past I believed that travel would blunt my memory; I was wrong. Over the years, I must admit, it has only grown stronger. Were it not for my memory, my life would be different--better I assume." Recently however "A glass of cognac, for instance, separates me from my memory for a while. I feel relief as if after a terrible toothache."
Siegelbaum's connections to women are brief: "Love for a station or two is love without pretense and soon forgotten. Any contact beyond that pollutes the emotions and threatens to leave behind recriminations. Women, I regret to say, don't understand this. They do themselves a disservice, and me too, of course." This passage perfectly captures a certain variation of masculine bad faith. There are many other finely observed passages, whose absence of metaphor or stylistic eccentricity more sharply reveal Appelfeld's psychological acuity: "At night, before going to sleep, [my mother] would read me poems by Heine. I doubt that I understood anything. But the sounds flowed softly into my ears. I would be cut loose from the waking world and slip into deep sleep. Even in difficult times, when she grew morose, swallowing drink after drink, she would pick up a book and read, like someone preparing for better times." There is the disconcerting atmosphere of the small town of Gruendorf: "There seems to be no air like Gruendorfýs, and during my first stays here I didnýt even realize why. But now I know: it is the subtle fragrance that rises from the poppies. An odorless smell, a smell that has no obvious sign, but that directly works on the nervous system. In the past I used to flee from the place immediately, but I soon learned that flight was no use." But perhaps the supreme value of Appelfeldýs message in his not his observation, but his restatement in a uniquely subtle and unmeretricious way of a vital truth. Sacrifice may be a sign of virtue, but suffering does not make one a better person. In few other authors work is it made clear that being a victim is not enough, one has still suffered but is not redeemed thereby. "If I had a different life, it wouldnýt be happy. As in all my clear and drawn-out nightmares. I saw the sea of darkness, and I knew that my deeds had neither dedication nor beauty. I had done everything out of compulsion, clumsily, and always too late."
Bizarre, disturbing, compelling--a unique voice........2002-03-03
Bizarre, disturbing, compelling--a unique voice.
Bismark once noted that "war is diplomacy by other means" but Applefeld would phrase that a bit differently, I believe. Something like "Peace is war on smaller scale", perhaps.
Intrinsically, this book is about the underlying and ancient hatreds and grievances that have dogged central Europe for more than a century and were in essence not changed a whit by the war itself.
Erwin Siegelbaum's parents were killed in the Holocaust, a fate he himself barely managed to avoid. Erwin's makes his living traveling throughout central Europe visiting local fairs and markets looking for unrecognized treasures of Jewish iconography, which he buy's on the cheap and resells to rich Jewish collectors at a premium. This keeps him constantly on the road pursuing his real occupation-looking for the man who he believes is responsible for his parent's deaths so as to extract revenge.
The book is full of irony-Erwin exploits his religion and his fellow Jews for his living to pursue an avocation not altogether consistent with his religion's message of tolerance and forgiveness. He is constantly mistaken for a non-Jew and subjected to rabid anti-Semitic rants of his other passengers whom he also tries to exploit to fine his nemesis. And so on.
Applefeld is an Israeli citizen who writes in Hebrew. Even translated, the pace and mannerisms of the translation yield a sense of authenticity and Old World feel to the text. His prose is concise and spare-yet emotional and evocative at the same time. It all adds up to a very unique and original writing voice.
This is not a happy book-it is stressful, haunting and depressing. It is also insightful and compelling reading. You will finish exhausted and emotionally drained. If that's your cup of tea, then this is your novel.
Authentic.......2001-02-26
I have read three books about the Holocaust in the last several days, 2 that are exceptional, and one that was exploitative trash. The interesting aspect is that the two works that were so emotionally effective, works that left this reader feeling the weight and oppressive horror that is genocide were both novels. They were novels by an extraordinary writer and a survivor of the camps, Mr. Aharon Appelfeld. I do not know the numbers, but I would venture to guess that the non-fiction book which is commented on somewhere on my personal page, will outsell this work 100 to one, or maybe even a higher ratio. The non-fiction work is either the appendage to a lawsuit, or the bacillus that spawned it, either way its type of history is cheap opportunism. The fact the book is full of histrionics, incompetent business documentation, and shrill sound bytes, ensures it will sell. The issue it covers is valid; it's the Author's methods I take issue with.
"The Iron Tracks", is a terribly disturbing look at one man's life to avenge the death of his parents. It is a journey he set out on alone, and one he sees through to its conclusion, again on his own. Like his main character that also survived the camps the Author writes this book because serious subjects, horrifying subjects need to be documented repeatedly. And for those who ask how many books are enough, the answer is there will never be enough, enough of this type. As to the other I refer to the answer is in its specific case, one is too many. Releasing a book within 24 hours of a lawsuit against the company the book is about is the vilest sort of marketing there is, for remember this is about the murder of millions. This is not a topic that requires marketing, Madison Avenue manipulation, and greed to drive it. The horror of Genocide is absolute the evil is absolute. To speak or write of it brings the full weight to bear no enhancements are needed.
Erwin rides the same trains endlessly for decades in search of the man and his demise that he believes will end his decades of suffering and wandering. He constantly meets with other veterans of the war who believe that the Genocide was not only correct and justified, but also actually accomplished. He traces his self described oval with his annual stops, and how the oval is chipped away at as his sharing he is a Jew is freely confided with those who have welcomed him for decades, but now turn their backs without hesitation. In his decades long hunt he also retrieves the lost objects of Judaism, be they rare illuminated Haggadah, a mezuza, or a kiddush cup.
This is only the second work I have read by Mr. Appelfeld, but based on this and, "Katerina"; I intend to continue through his published works. The subject matter he has spent his career as a writer sharing with the world's readers is the type that appropriately leaves a reader emotionally exhausted, bearing a sense of futility, and trying to summon the question why, once again.
Read both Authors' work and decide for yourself.
Compelling.......1999-10-21
The translator did a remarkable job in capturing the mood of this novel. The reader is drawn into the sad, hazy and alienated world of Jewish Holocaust survivors in Europe after WWII - a world of memories, death and the insurmountable venom of anti-Semitism.
Brilliant!!.......1998-04-16
I've found that lately I've been reading many books in translation, something I've rarely done outside of school. But I've discovered that when I read something really well written in translation, the book is doubly good--not only does the author deserve credit, but the translator does as well.
I've also never read an Israeli novel, or at least not one originally written in Hebrew. Perhaps because Hebrew is such a phlegmy and un-poetic (at least in my experience) language and I never thought it would translate well. I was wrong. Given the right translator it all works out ok.
From what I've read, Appelfeld was a child during the Holocaust where he saw his mother killed. Following the war he emigrated to what was then Palestine. Since then he's written quite a few novels about the Holocaust, most--or perhaps all--written in Hebrew.
The "Iron Tracks" is the first-person story of a man who has traveled Austria by train for the last forty years, beginning shortly after the end of the war. He makes his living buying Jewish antiques cheap in one town and then selling them for profit to collectors on his circuit. He lives alone, staying at various inns, and keeps his travels to a yearly schedule. His parents were Jewish communists, both of whom were killed by a Nazi soldier. Every so often our narrator will stay with friends he met in the camps, all the while planning to murder the man who killed his parents.
It's a small novel--very quiet and subdued. The language is quite spare, the dialogue even more so. But it all works and makes sense in a very disturbing and profound way. The image of one man traveling in circles, picking up the remnants of a culture destroyed is haunting. And in the end Appelfeld makes his most profound statement: ...nothing changes.
This is an amazing novel--brilliant in its style and execution, equally brilliant in its purpose.
Customer Reviews:
The Scions.......2004-03-15
The Scions of Shannara is a fictional book with classic adventures and romances. The story tajes place in the Four Lands. There are different races like the dwarves, elves, humans and several others.
Three hundred years have passed since Allanon the Druid died. The Four Lands have changed since then. The Elves have vanished and the Dwarves have been enslaved. The Southland is under the rule of the Federation. However, Par Ohmsford still has the power of the wishong. Allanon's spirit summoned Par and Coll and a few others to rid the Four Lands of the dangerous shadowen.
Par's cousin Wren has to find the elves. His uncle, Walker, has to bring back the Druids Keep in Paranor, and Par and Coll have to find the Sword of Shannara. Once all the quests are complete, the Four Lands will be back to normal.
I would recommend that you read the first Shannara books before you read this one. Several of the characters are descended from previous characters and knowing the history helps to understand the book.
Terry Brooks' writing style is one of a kind. He focuses on description and details so that one can see everything. When Brooks describes a character, it is thorough and one might find them selves agreeing or disagreeing with a characters thoughts.
I liked the book because there was a little bit of suspense and mystery. Just when you think you have figured it out, something else happens to twist the story around. The end of the story is surprising and it makes you want to read the rest of the series of Shannara.
There were some things I didn't like about the book. For one thing, it was kind of repetative. I read all the books before the Scions of Shannara and they were pretty much the same. Another thing was the characters didn't interact much. Sometimes, in the book, it would be days before anyone talked to someone else.
Overall, I thought that this book was unique because even though the story line has been seen before, Terry Brooks came up with new ideas that suited the setting and made it his own.
Really Good Book.......1999-09-23
I have never even heard of the Shannara before. I bought book 3 when I was in grade 8. It sat on the bookshelf for about 7 years. I was sitting at home and began to read it. I couldn't put the book down. I read to about page 100 and my dad told me I shouldn't start a series without reading the first book first. So I went to the Grande Prairie Public Library and got out The Scions Of Shannara. I read this book in about 4 or 5 days. I loved it. It had a good story line. The way Terry Brooks, described Par Ohmsford, kind of made him sound like a bad ass. Which describes me. So I really liked it. I am just starting book 2 and am on about page 120 and it is still the same. The Shannara Heritage is very interesting, and would reccommend it to anyone. Especially if your still young and exploring the library's to see whats out there
A really good book (The Scions of Shannara)........1999-07-02
It follows in the footsteps of the Shannara Trilogy, with more magic and more energy that keep you guessing and hoping and right on the edge of your seat. It was a very well written and exciting book and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.
Customer Reviews:
help me find a copy of this book please.......2001-01-22
I have read the Moonshae trilogy by douglas niles and thought it was a brilliant trilogy. then read the first 2 books in the druidholme trilogy and found this an even more interesting set of books that I just could not put down once I started reading them. But for about 2 years now I have been trying to get the druid queen but have not had any look getting it anywhere if you can help me can u e-mail me at mage@scottsmail.com
Waiting for reprint.......2000-08-09
Well I have read the first trilogy and also the first two books in the druid home trilogy and am now waiting for Druid Queen and Ill be Happy
Adventure and romance........2000-04-23
Although I enjoyed the Moonshae Trilogy, I have to say that the Druidhome Trilogy is much better. I read all three books in two days, and I was wishing they were longer. Unlike other Forgotten Realms authors (most notably Ed Greenwood), Douglas Niles definitely has a well-developed plot, with a clear conflict that leads to a logical conclusion. Although the story itself is quite good, that wasn't really what kept me reading into the small hours of the night. Actually, it was the romance part of it--something which gets neglected in many other TSR novels. I found myself dying to know who Alicia would choose. All of the characters are extremely likeable (except maybe Deirdre), and I was happy to see that Newt, the fairy dragon returns in this trilogy. I highly suggest this trilogy to anyone who is a fan of the Forgotten Realms setting, and especially to those of us who wish the authors would pay more attention to developing love between their characters.
The Druid Queen.......1999-07-09
This is another fine book from Douglas. I'm at chapter 12 at the time beeing, and High King Tristian Kendrick finds himself (and the faerie dragon Newt) facing an army of Trolls and firbolgs all alone. It's compelling - have to finish this one tonight...
Anybody out there, willing to sell "Moonshae - Special Module FR2; by Douglas Niles"?
Waiting for the reprint.......1998-11-25
I have read the first trilogy ( The Moonshae Trilogy) and have gotten the first two in this trilogy but can't seem to find the last in the series. I am a serious collector and the books of the forgotten realms are my target. I have 42 in 1 time read condition and hope to complete the collection. I realize that it's going to be hard since TSR was bought out but any one that can direct me to a "source".....gimmee, gimmee, gimmee
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
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The Druids' Cauldron: An Ardalba Story
Máire Welford
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1412040876
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Product Description
The Druids' Cauldron
An Ardalba story
By
Máire Welford
In this Ardalba story, four children from Glenelk travel back once more into Queen Maeve's kingdom. Maeve is about to return the Druids' Cauldron to the druids at the Festival of Lúghnasa. She invites the children to be guards of honour on the way. They collect the vessel from Maeve's Great Fort of Rathcruachan to bring it across the land to the Chamber of the Sun.
The cauldron is called An Draoi, an Irish word meaning seer, or prophet. Maeve's cauldron possesses magic power to enable it to answer questions on occasions of ceremony. Along the way to Rathcruachan Brona disappears during a feast, and cannot be found. Roisin, Rory and Aidan are upset; especially when they realise that they can never go back to Glenelk without her. When Maeve asks the cauldron where Brona is, An Draoi tells her that they will see Brona again at Lúghnasa. The three children are never sure that they can believe this promise.
However, as they journey with the cauldron, they observe its power many times, learning more about what Maeve and her people believe it can do. They begin to hope that perhaps they will see Brona again as it promised.
Lúghnasa's celebrations end with ceremonies at which each ruler present questions An Draoi. Maeve asks whether she will capture the Brown Bull of Cooley. The cauldron replies that if she does, disaster will follow throughout the land. A contest ensues between Maeve's druid and Black Lú of the North's druid. Do the children find Brona unharmed? Which druid overcomes the other? And what do the children decide to do then?
On their journey the children learn loyalty and courage. This book gives an engrossing read. Its research into Celtic life of 2000 years ago ensures a satisfying authenticity for children of all ages
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Druids, Dudes and Beauty Queens: The Changing Face of Irish Theatre
Manufacturer: New Island Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Theater | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1902602749 |
Product Description
4 Titles By Terry Brooks Heritage of Shannara Series : The Scions of Shannara The Druid of Shannara The Elf Queen of Shannara The Talismans of Shannara Books one thru four. four mmpb books.
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Raiders from the Sea: An Ardalba Story
Maire Welford
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Fairy Tales, Folk Tales & Myths | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1412033659
Release Date: 2006-07-06 |
Book Description
Adventures full of Celtic druids\' magic surround four children who wander through secret rock passages into Queen Maeve\'s Kingdom of Ardalba, in the Ireland of over 2000 years ago.
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Multiple books shipped as one item for your convenience. Save on Shipping/Handling charges.
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The Druid Queen (Forgotten Realsm The Druidhome Trilogy Book 3)
Douglas Niles
Manufacturer: TSR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Druidism | Earth-Based Religions | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books | Alternate History | Anthologies | Arthurian | Contemporary | Epic | General | Historical | History & Criticism | Magic & Wizards | Series
Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books | Adventure | Alternate History | Anthologies | General | Graphic Novels | High Tech | History & Criticism | Series | Short Stories | Space Opera
ASIN: 0099315319 |
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- The sequal to Jump Start is as good as the first.
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SPIN OUT-TURBO COWBY2 (Turbo Cowboys, No 2)
Tony Phillips
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
General
| Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
| Subjects
| Books
Adventure & Thrillers
| Literature & Fiction
| Teens
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Science Fiction
| Science Fiction & Fantasy
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| Baby-3
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ASIN: 0345351223
Release Date: 1988-12-13 |
Customer Reviews:
The sequal to Jump Start is as good as the first........1999-07-29
In the sequal to Jump Start, the Turbo Cowboys have begun to establish themselves in the Mojave desert. They have their bikes, their dog,(named Yap), their friends, and each other. The only thing missing is a new set of problems.
The Cowboys run into a beaten up old man called "Older John" who tells them of one of the last great gathering of survivors of the war, all gathered into one place he calls "the Refuge". The location of this place has been kept a closely gaurded secret of the people who live there until now. They are facing the largest crisis the have ever faced.
They have run out of water.
Older John, upon learning that Tracker is a Yavapai indian who can find water basically anywhere in the Mojave desert asks the Turbo Cowboys to save the Refuge. Sounds easy right? Unfortunetly, the people who beat up Older John are looking for the Refuge as well. They are a new group of tough Takers, people who will take whatever they want from whomever they want, usually by force.
Learning the secret location of the Refuge from Older John, the boys head out to try and save a group of strangers from dying of thirst and protecting them from the vicious Takers who have also learned (approximately) where the Refuge is.
A good follow up story in the series that didn't lose its pacing throughout the story. Four stars because it was missing length and depth. Like the first book it is entertaining but kind of an easy read.
Book Description
Filled with indispensable information from America’s foremost authority, Max McCalman, Cheese: A Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best is your road map to exploring the world of fine cheese. As the maître fromager at New York’s acclaimed Picholine restaurant (the first in the country to offer a serious cheese program) and author of the widely acclaimed The Cheese Plate, McCalman has selected, tasted, and studied hundreds of cheeses, serving them to thousands of cheese lovers. And now he has created the definitive reference on the subject. Cheese profiles about 200 of the world’s best cheeses—and only the best—complete with all the practical information you could need and all the fascinating details you could want.
An incredible variety of real cheeses from around the world—including right here in the United States—are becoming more widely available. From distinguished Cabrales to oozing Reblochon and buttery Fontina d’Aosta, real cheese can rival the most spectacular creations of chefs, and all you have to do is buy the good stuff and serve it properly. Cheese is the ultimate guide to doing just that. Profiles of the cheeses include not only McCalman’s evocative descriptions but fascinating information on how each cheese is made, who the best producers are, similar cheeses to seek out, and even tips on what time of year the cheese is at its peak, how to store it, and how to serve it for maximum enjoyment.
Of course, wine is cheese’s favorite companion, so McCalman taste-tested thousands of wine and cheese combinations to offer unprecedented guidance on exactly which wines are most compatible with each and every cheese.
From the A of Aarauer Bierdeckel to the Z of Zamorano, Cheese is an illuminating, seductive guide to the very best that the world’s cheesemakers have to offer.
Customer Reviews:
Good Reference.......2007-01-12
This my second cheese book. My first one, "Cheese Primer" didn't list many of the cheeses our local gourmet store carries. This does, and then some. I don't always agree with his ratings, but the descriptions are accurate. Best read if you already know something about cheese and want to expand your horizons.
Cheese Maven's Choice.......2007-01-04
Cheese is not only my profession, it is my passion. I have a large collection of books about cheese. "Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best" is an excellent reference, and the perfect complement to McCalman's "The Cheese Plate." Although less comprehensive than the classic "Cheese Primer" by Steven Jenkins, I find McCalman's guide, with its luscious photos, truely a "connoisseur's guide" rather than an encyclopedia. Unfortunately, the majority of the world-class cheeses that McCalman so beautifully depicts and describes, are not widely available throughout the US. What a shame!
... and then came the Book of Cheese.......2006-06-25
From Quebec's Chaput Vacherin Mont d'Or to Ireland's Ardrahan and Roomano of Holland to Switzerland's Sbrinz, Cheese - A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best by Max McCalman and David Gibbons is a sumptuous feast for mind and eye to 200 of the world's finest cheeses. Listen to what McCalman has to say about Epoisses - "the King of Cheeses" - "Take it out of the fridge, put it on a plate, wait for it to turn meltingly soft and alluring, then cut in and enjoy the beautiful essence of controlled milk spoilage." No wonder this book has become my guide when seeking out a new world of artisanal cheese to explore!
Several suggestions in a new edition -
(1)a description of the 100 point scale used in rating cheeses would be interesting and informative, and would be helpful in making the ratings appear less arbitrary and
(2)a reference list to other informative and authoritative books on cheese consulted by the authors in preparing the book or of potential interest to readers.
A Course on Cheese.......2006-06-01
I love a good piece of stinky cheese. I enjoy taking it out of the fridge and letting its nasty old stank peel the paint off my walls, knockout my cat, and make the local children cry. It's how you know you gots yerself sum quality cheese right there.
Unfortuneatly, I must admit, my cheese knowledge is limited to about, oh, whatever I might have picked up from a cookbook or Food Network. Thank heavens for Max McCalman, may chiors sing his spoiled milk praises! For those who don't really know this guy, he is the man and fromager (cheese brainiac) who pretty much single handedly spearheaded the idea of presenting true artisinal cheeses, cheese courses, and giving cheese the kind of credit we give to wine here in America. He has become well known for his work in the New York restaurants Picholine and Artisinal, and luckilly for those of us not living shibby in New York, has gone out of his way to create a wonderful guide to the best of the best in his second book, Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best.
While McCalman's first book, The Cheese Plate, co-authored by David Gibbons, was a chic everyperson's guide to wine and cheese pairings, Cheese simply gives us 200 of the world's best cheeses. Listed in alphabetical order, each cheese is described beautifully and concisely noting where it is produced, how it is produced, how best to enjoy it, and the underlying flavors you should expect when experiencing it. I use the word experience, because after trying some of these selections, it really is the only appropriate word that the English language can offer me. McCalman also goes ahead to offer with each cheese a variety of different wines (red, white, and blush) and even some sparkling wines that should help you wow your party guests' palates.
McCalman, also understanding our blind kitten approach to cheese, also guides you through various aspects of cheese. Early chapters deal with how to select, store, prepare, serve various kinds of cheese. Later on we are given a thurough lesson on how to pair cheese with various breads, fruits, and nuts, or how to simply lay back and enjoy a piece unmolested by any other food. Basics for how to create and serve a cheese course or a cheese tasting party will inspire you to host your own (I know I plan to have a truly stinky one shortly!). Lastly, of course, an extensive, though maybe a bit too much so, course on how to pair wine and cheese. The watchful and caring teacher, he does this in a simple, plainspoken manner, allowing any reader to understand not only how to preform each task, but the why behind it as well.
I have to say, I would not have discovered my love of Lancaster, my passion for Prattigauer, my desire for Doddington, and how I give resounding praise to Roaring 40's Blue!
Overall, I give Cheese a 5 out of 5. This book is a wonderful addition to any food lover's bookshelf. It's susinct, informative, and covers a wide variety of cheeses you can find from California to Italy.
Remarkable! Essential for Anyone Interested in Cheese.......2006-06-01
This book, written by one of America's foremost authorities on cheese, is remarkable. The material is well researched, the photographs are stunning, and the recommendations are top notch. Particularly important are the wine pairings, which are insightful and very useful. Like McCalman's "The Cheese Plate," this book looks as elegant as a coffee table book, however it contains a wealth of information valuable to any cheese enthusiast.
Book Description
As the maître fromager of New York City's acclaimed Picholine restaurant, Max McCalman has selected, tasted, and studied hundreds of cheeses, serving them to thousands of cheese lovers. This deck contains fascinating and practical information about fifty of his most highly rated cheeses: how each one is made, who the best producers are, where to store it, and how to serve it for maximum enjoyment (including unprecedented guidance on which wines are most compatible with each cheese).
From the book Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best by Max McCalman and David Gibbons.
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