Average customer rating:
- Stunning, Brilliant, but not consistently so
- Easily the worst book I have ever read.
- One of the best books I've ever read...
- Sharp and Disturbing, Deceptive and Sly
- Stories That Shock And Awe!
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Seconds of Pleasure: Stories (A Black cat book)
Neil LaBute
Manufacturer: Grove Press
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ASIN: 0802142125 |
Book Description
In Seconds of Pleasure, acclaimed award-winning director and playwright Neil LaBute, brings to the page his cutting humor and compelling take on the shadowy terrain of the human heart. Best known for his controversial plays and films, his short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker and Playboy. Seductive and provocative, each potent and pithy tale in Seconds of Pleasure finds men and women exploiting -- or at the mercy of -- the hidden fault lines that separate them: In “Time Share,” a woman leaves her family at their vacation home after discovering her husband in a compromising situation; a middle-aged man obsesses over a scab on the calf of a pretty young girl in “Boo-Boo”; and a vain Hollywood actor gets his comeuppance in “Soft Target.” LaBute infuses Seconds of Pleasure with his trademark wit and black humor, and unleashes his imagination in stories that offer unflinching insight into our very human shortcomings and impure urges with shocking candor.
Customer Reviews:
Stunning, Brilliant, but not consistently so.......2006-09-16
Some of these stories floored me. The dialogue is realistic, the sparse language is somehow powerfully evocative, the plots are refreshingly acidic (like savory sour candy), the character insights are penetrating. The best of these stories are twisted, dark, full of bitter pathos--and unbelievably powerful.
But some of the stories in here (as other reviewers have noted) are flat, rather pointless, and dull.
All in all, I would say 1/3 of the collection is outstanding, another 1/3 is very, very good, and the bottom third is a little below average in terms of short-story quality.
Anyway, if you enjoyed "In the Company of Men" (as I did) you will undoubtably get more than a few seconds of pleasure from this collection. The uneveness of the the collection does not detract from the brilliance of its best stories.
Easily the worst book I have ever read........2006-07-31
"Seconds of Pleasure" gave me just that - only seconds of pleasure, and hours of distaste. Neil LaBute is a talentless, charmless hack. His book was like Bukowski without the heart, and "American Psycho" without the wit.
One of the best books I've ever read..........2005-07-05
I finished this book about three weeks ago, and this book has stayed with me ever since. It's probably too soon to say this, but this is one of the two best books I've ever read.
The way that I read this book is that I read each story twice--After I finished a story, I started it again. They say that if a short story is a good one, then the second time through will be better than the first and this was the case for every one of his these stories. I recommend this approach of reading them twice to everyone. These stories are so good and have so much in them that if you've only read them once then you'll miss so much.
The two hardest types of writing are the short story and the play. It's very interesting that Labute crosses over into the other hardest type of writing, and makes something this incredible.
While I was reading this, I thought, "Labute is just showing off here." Showcasing, I think is what they call it in sports. For me, it was kind of like being able to rewind time and see the greatest moves of Michael Jordan. It reminds me of the dirty joke about the dog, which has the punch line of "Because he can." And, I wonder why Labute writes this stuff and writes it so well. Is it simply because he can?
This book also allayed my fear about Labute, which is that he's eventually going to run out of material. I've read most of his plays now, and I've been kind of afraid that he would eventually run out of material because some of the themes are starting to cross. I now realize that as long as darkness lurks in the hearts of men, that Labute will never run out of material.
These stories are haunting and dark. Some of them are so horrific that I would be unable to describe to a friend what they are even about. Somebody said that one story in particular left him in the fetal position, and for the life of me, I'm not sure which one that would be, because about half of these stories did that to me.
Some of these stories have a surprise twist, and some of them don't. I found it really interesting how they were mixed up. And if you think the point is just the twist, read it again. These stories are much more complex than just mysteries.
And, I love the title of this book. It begs the question of "What lengths will people go to for only seconds of pleasure?" It's a very multi-faceted title also, because it's a lot more than just that question--one of the stories is called "A Second of Pleasure," and gives a different take on the title.
If I ever meet Labute, I'm going to ask him these questions: "Where did you meet these people?" "How did you get to know them so well?" He's clearly going above and beyond just writing from his own experience here. These people are so amazingly different and he brings them to life. I know these aren't real people, but they seem so real in this book.
If anyone who is reading this didn't like any of the stories, then go back and read the one you didn't like just one more time...you'll appreciate it more, I guarantee it. This, of course, doesn't apply, if you didn't like it simply for the subject matter, which, like I said, is haunting.
Sharp and Disturbing, Deceptive and Sly.......2005-07-05
Fans of Neil LaBute's mean-spirited films such as "The Company of Men" and "Your Friends and Neighbors" will not be disappointed with his collection of short fiction, "Seconds of Pleasure." There is plenty here to shock and stir-up controversy. Take the story "Ravishing," for instance, about a man's encounter with a prostitute that ends with the making of a snuff film. Or "Maraschino," where a young woman knowingly picks up her drunk ex-stepfather and seduces him. For the most part these twenty short stories are terrifically written and provide insights into the male ego: its vanity, secrets, and desires. Many are constructed as scenes and could easily have been done for a beginning playwrighting class, setting up characters and conflict: an adulterous couple breaking up at a train station in the collection's title story, a married man flirting with a single woman at an airport restaurant in "Layover," a married couple arguing at a diner over eavesdropping in "Some Do It Naturally," a wife catching her husband in a compromising position with a neighbor in "Time Share." Luckily Labute's writing skill elevates his set-ups -- he has a Hemingway-ear both for quick, sharp dialogue and capturing the sly elusiveness behind deception. The most interesting stories, however, are the unpredictable ones when Labute stretches himself into unexpected territory, such as "Switzerland," a lovely tale of a man's obsession with a Johnny Quest lunch pail, or "Opportunity," where a woman remembers her younger sister.
Stories That Shock And Awe!.......2004-12-22
While I would not say that these stories bring "seconds of pleasure" to the reader, they certainly shock and awe. Mr. Labute with sparse language and crisp dialogue creates little stories that provoke us with their relentless look inside the human heart. He is the master of the shock effect. You are reading along, and suddenly he gives you a body blow. Although these stories all are about the conflict between heterosexual men and women, some of them go far beyond the cynical treatment of women by men as seen, for example, in "In The Company of Men," Mr. Labute's best-known movie. Here an unnamed narrator recounts the making of a snuff video and muses on what will happen to the soon-to-be dead woman's child: "OK, we hear about the kid, that seems fine, few days from now she'll get passed on to welfare, adoption agency, who knows what." Then a woman many years after the fact remembers providing her father with an alibi when he murdered her big sister. Finally a woman picks up her very drunk father or stepfather-- we aren't sure which-- in a bar and beds him. He is completely oblivious as to who she is.
Before we send the author to the literary dumpster for his cynical, dark view of mankind-- particularly the man half of mankind, perhaps we should ask ourselves if he is accurate in his assessment. A day or so after I finished this little volume and was wondering if the human male could be so completely insensitive and ugly, I caught on television the prosecutor's opening statement in the trial of the actor Robert Blake, accused of murdering his wife. The comments about the victim she attributed to Mr. Blake could have come straight from the pages of this book. I rest my case.
This one isn't "The Sound of Music" but it's a collection of short stories you won't soon forget.
Customer Reviews:
A Book For the Ages.......2002-03-08
"The Warlock Wandering" is highly enjoyable and superb book that follows the journey of Rod Gallowglass, from "Warlock In Spite Of Himself," and his wife, Gwendolyn Gallowglass the most powerful witch in all of Gramarye, along with a friend from past novels. Only this time they are journeying not only far from their own world but far from their own time. It is fascinating to see how masterfully Christopher Stasheff integrates the worlds of science and magic together once again. This fusion of two worlds has existed in the past few novels in this series, but always with the man of science, Rod Gallowglass, learning to live within a world of magic. Now through his masterful story telling, Christopher Stasheff shows us how someone from his magical world Gramarye can or cannot adapt to a world of science, through Gwen. Once again Stasheff lends such life to his characters and the worlds he creates with such prowess that "The Warlock Wandering" is a book not to be missed. I highly recommend this book, even if it is the first in series you are to read. Even if it is your frist journey into the Warlock Series I have little doubt that you will fall in love with both Rod and Gwen desire to read the rest of the series.
Highly supurb and coherent science fantasy writing........1998-09-03
Many fantasy writers, even the science fantasy writers, often have difficulty keeping their character's personal histories coherent and consistent. That is absolutely NOT the case with Mr.Stasheff. He has written several books about the mythical and mystical High Warlock of Graymarye and has kept the storylines and the prior event principally intact. Such "historical" coherence is and intrinsic necessity for any type of science fiction writing and is especially needful in the science fantasy genre for the suspension of disbelief needed for enjoyment of a fantasy story. It is especially needful in the "science" fantasy stories because most of the readers presumably have something of a scientific background as a spring-board. His storylines and technical principals have always been very suprisingly delightful in this sense. I first encountered the concept of "molecular circuitry" in his books (years before Westinghouse awarded a student for an achievement that could be the first reality-based step in this direction). The problem with most science fiction nowadays is that it is very difficult to keep the "fictional" stories and devices ahead of the "realities" appearing in the daily newspapers and science journals while keeping the reading understandable and enjoyable. Christopher Stasheff consistently, sucessfully takes us on a journies to the next "frontier" of the Age of Science -- stories about the exciting technology and advancements of the human mind and spirit. His book, "The Warlock Wandering" is a prime example of all these features. Highlighting his command of the "coherence factor", its companion feature "The Warlock is Missing" (which really should be read second), helps to set a standard many other science fantasy writers will be hard pressed to compete with. Thank you for another delightfully enjoyable reading experience, Mr. Stasheff!!
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The Warlock Wandering
Manufacturer: Ace Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HW6A14 |
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The Warlock Wandering
Manufacturer: Ace Books
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9995380692 |
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Quest for the Blue Falcon
Robyn Carr
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Co (T)
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Avon ANEW CLINICAL 2-Step Facial Peel
ASIN: 0316129720 |
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Peregrine Quest: From a Naturalist's Field Notebook
Clayton M. White
Manufacturer: Western Sporting Publications
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ASIN: 1888357096 |
Customer Reviews:
fly with peregrines.......2007-07-26
Never have I been on trip like this! Dr. Clayton White's journey throughout the world of peregrine falcons is unsurpassed. Like an exotic travel log, White takes his readers through every step of the way. Every sensation is brought to life and at the end, the reader is rewarded in so many ways.
Don't miss this rare opportunity for an truly engaging experience!
Wow!.......2007-02-17
from STEVE HEYING's review in AMERICAN FALCONRY MAGAZINE:
Wow! What a tour-de-force this book Peregrine Quest is to experience. Author Clayton M. White guides - no - leads the reader on a worldwide expedition through his life long passion, that of the peregrine falcon and its environs. He accomplishes this by recounting retelling from his fields notes and memory the tales and stories of his life adventures from fifty some years of field work. Along the way, in this shared journey, one cannot help but also gain a deeper insight into the greater underlying meaning of living not just a good life, but rather a great life on this planet we call Earth. Through the vector of sharing with him his pursuit of all the knowledge of all that is of the peregrine falcon, Professor White exposes the reader of his book to that which is life on earth in any and all places he has come to fully experience. We are led to feel the wind, the rain or lack thereof, the bugs, the other birds, the sunsets, the heat and the cold, all the attributes of place as he has experienced these places. In each expose of each peregrine in its place and time, Professor White builds a complete picture of the circle of life within that particular place with photographs, word stories, and cameos of what he sees and feels and knows while he is there. He tries to cover all the important details, literally leaving no stone unturned. Professor White is an artist, working with a full palate of paints, using broad strokes so as to give color and texture to all of Alaska, or with the use of fine line vignettes to color one eyrie on one rock on one river in one special place in Alaska. With earth shattering conclusions or short incidental stories, Clayton builds pictures of time and space that put the reader there, and educate us as to how we should act or feel while we are there.
Any falconer with any experience or wishing to have any experience with a peregrine falcon either does owe or will eventually owe some part of that experience to Clay White. This book delineates the "why" of that truth and fact. If along the way of that "peregrine experience," if said falconer becomes a better human being as well, he may also owe that to Clay White or to the people Clay has influenced during his life time. Some of that knowledge and influence will come from this book and Clay White's lifetime work for future generations to tap into. This book is a "must have," and one that will be read over and over as a most enjoyable trip into Clay White¹s world and the peregrine experiences contained within.
Book Description
Now in paperback, the real story of Captain Robert Scott's legendary Antarctic quest, told by the man whom the Guinness Book of World Records has proclaimed "the world's greatest living explorer"
In 1911, Captain Robert Scott and his competitor Roald Amundsen conquered the unconquerable: Antarctica. This perilous race to the South Pole claimed the life of Scott and became the stuff of legend, as well as scrutiny. This compelling, meticulously researched history of Captain Scott and his fatal journey, by renowned modern-day explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes, holder of 10 expeditionary records, is the definitive account of this hotly debated quest.
Fiennes offers an account of Scott's motivations and aspirations for the Pole, and his historic clash with Amundsen over goals and approaches. He also reveals the unpredictably disastrous weather patterns that led to the extreme cold that ultimately doomed Scott's return trip. Infused with the intensity of fiction and exhibiting an exhaustive eye for detail found in the greatest historical biographies, Race to the Pole is a prodigious achievement and certain to become a classic in the literature of exploration.
Customer Reviews:
Mildly informative, but ultimately far too biased.......2006-12-07
Having read "Last Place on Earth", this book, and the journals of Scott, Wilson, Bowers, Evans, and Cherry-Garrard, I can safely say that this book carefully cultivates on the most positive aspects of Scott, while hiding almost all of the negative; the little that was mentioned was casually dismissed as no fault of his own.
Fiennes, a seemingly obsessive fan of Scott himself, has gone to great lengths to recreate Scott's manhauling techniques (albeit with modern clothing, gear, and expedition food) in his own transarctic expedition, if only to show that it can be done today. He completely wallpapers over the mistakes in Scott's assessment of dogs, skis, clothing, nutrition, and caloric intake, as well as Scott's poor judgement in setting cairns, preventing fuel loss, staying in tents during moderately bad weather, navigating, and stopping for scientific samples when his time and supplies were running short. This clearly shows this work to be more propaganda than a neutral look at the evidence.
However, Fiennes brings out important background information on Scott not found in print today that proves helpful in better understanding Scott. For that, I bump up my rating to 2 stars.
Awe Inspiring Story.......2006-08-14
This is a great book. Scott and his men are true heroes. Their fortitude in the face of severe privation, relentless bone chilling cold and unimaginable pain and suffering is nothing short of awesome. Like the soldiers mentioned in the book who found inspiration in Scott's story, I too can now tap into an inner strength I didn't know I had. Thank you Sir Fiennes!
A completely biased anti-Huntford book.......2006-07-13
I read this book several months ago wondering how an author who had experienced arctic and antarctic conditions himself could ignore all problematic aspects of Scott's ill fated last expedition.
This is not just about setting the record "straight" concerning "The last place on earth". It is plainly an ambush on Mr. Huntfords personal integrity.
However what bothered me most were the gratuitous snipes about Mr. Huntford's ancestry. The fact that his birth name was Horowitz and he later changed it to Huntford qualifies the books he has written is implausible. Could it be an attempt to produce anti-semitic sentiments?
Having read about Scott and Amundsen since 1973 I have always thought that Scott made major mistakes and was not just defeated by bad luck.
Even though Solomon showed that the weather conditions were probably worse than on average it does not explain away the problems of planning and executing an expedition that was doomed from the beginning because of a faulty or completely missing plan(e.g. transport, horseshoes, navigation, etc., etc.). Analyzing what seeemingly worked on other expeditions (e.g. parroting Shackleton by only using white pony's) using Shackleton's timetable as a clock to race against and belitteling his achievements instead of analyzing problems and learning from mistakes as even Preston pointed out in her sometimes apologetical book "A first rate tragedy". However in contrast to Fiennes she tries to analyze problems in the end.
Perhaps Fiennes was personally hurt by Huntford's book because
he to is an enthusiastic man-hauler as were three of the British man going to the pole.
In contrast while there is a pro-Amundsen bias in "The last palce on earth" I think the facts speak for themselves and the analysis of Huntford. (Of course as anyone can tell I am biased pro-Huntford)
Fienne's opinion on the .......2005-06-03
This is an opinionated retelling of the experience of Captain Robert Scott's attempt to be the first to reach the South Pole. Although Mr. Fiennes has great experience as a Polar explorer in his own right, his claim to be the only author in a position to comment on Scott's decisions, does little to prove he is giving us an objective history of the expedition. Fiennes takes every opportunity to make Scott appear to be a selfless and overly self critical hero, interested primarily in scientific discovery, who was loved by all who are worthy, and has the sole claim to the greatest physical achievement in history. He makes Roald Amundsen out as a selfish, unpleasant, and dangerous man with no friends. Although it is an interesting point of view, it will not satisfy readers who are looking for objective history.
Man-hauler Critiques Man-hauler.......2005-01-28
This is a frustrating book, where a modern artic manhauling ace is "objectively" debunking the critics of Scott, one of the pioneers of artic man-hauling who died with 2 of his comrades only 11 miles from safety after a 1200 mile round-trip trek to the south pole in 1911-1912. The book is very defensive of Scott, and seems squarely aimed at the revisionist analysis of Roland Huntford, about whom he leaves little doubt what he thinks. While Fiennes goes out of his way to attack Huntford's more sensational claims about the personal lives of the actors, and the allegedly duplicitous methods of gaining access to historical material, he unwittingly time and again reinforces Huntford's main assertion: that Scott was from the start in a race for his life against the elements, starvation, and scurvy and knew it, yet made many decisions that hurt his chances. Fiennes' frequent interludes about his own artic man-hauling experiences, while admirable on their own, are distracting in the flow of the narrative and are unhelpful within the context of which Scott made his decisions. After reading Fiennes' book I certainly have a better feeling for the "pro-Scott" side of the debate, and the antipathy directed at Huntford (a modern substitute for Amundsen?), but I don't have any fuller insight into the tragedy of the events. In some respects Fiennes' book is an updated treatment of the Edwardian issue heroic Scott biography, with his own travelogue interspersed. The book is very readable, but ulimately unsatisfying.
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- A scholarly work
- A less negative look at Scott's first expedition
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Antarctica Unveiled: Scott's First Expedition and the Quest for the Unknown Continent
David E. Yelverton
Manufacturer: University Press of Colorado
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Binding: Hardcover
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Book Description
Based on over fifteen years of research, Antarctica Unveiled tells the story of Robert Falcon Scott's first Antarctic expedition, and expedition that has largely been erased from public perception by the mass attention devoted to the drama of his last expedition.
David E. Yelverton first recounts the half-century of campaigning that led to a pan European assault on the unknown continent at the dawn of the twentieth century. The book takes the reader along on the Discovery Expedition and into the terrain that faced Scott and his companions they led parties into unknown-and often dauntingly mountainous-territory to bring back the data and specimens that launched a century of research. Moreover. Yelverton analyzes the inexorable factors that governed Scott's conduct of the expedition and contrasts the poignant erosion of his hopes with the achievement of goals-proof that the Antarctic Continent existed and the location of the South Magnetic Pole-to which the expedition's patrons attached their greatest hopes.
The book concludes with an account of the buildup of the race for the Pole that was the almost inevitable aftermath of Scott's achievement. Illustrated with more than 40 remarkable black-and-white photographs, Antarctica Unveiled is a must for the armchair traveler, historian, and Antarctic enthusiast.
Customer Reviews:
A scholarly work.......2001-07-20
Historian David Yelverton takes a long overdue look at Scott's Discovery expedition, the first significant attempt to probe the interior of that great southern continent. He pays great attention to Scott's difficulties in securing funds, crew, supplies and so forth. And, of course, Yelverton writes at length on the Discovery herself, an leaky craft that would have never made it south were it not for the constant struggle at the pumps. There is also a good deal on the cooperative effort with the Germans (!) on making often difficult magnetic observations, one of the principal reasons for the expedition in the first place.
This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the history of the Antartic continent, Scott and, to a lesser degree, Shackleton. It is, without question, the most complete review of the Discovery expedition.
Although Scott's disaster in 1912 overshadows the Discovery effort, it could be said (and this is the point of "Unveiled") that there was much more meaningful work accomplished during this 1901-03 expedition.
Most readers will find "Unveiled" ponderous a times, although that is to be expected in a work of this depth and precision. I was disappointed with the occasional childish snipes at Roland Huntford's monumental "Last Place on Earth," a book that is a sore point with Scott's many fans. It's too bad that writers on Antarctic exploration feel as if they have to be one side of the fence or the other. Scott accomplished more than most other polar explorers -- but he also made many, many blunders.
But, in the main, "Antartic Unveiled" is worth looking into.
A less negative look at Scott's first expedition.......2001-03-06
Recent writings on Antarctic exploration have not been kind to Scott's leadership. If you're interested in a different look at the man (to some degree) and the first (Discovery) expedition try this book. The author gives one a sense of life on the expedition and takes one along through daily life on the ship, over the winter and on the sledging journies. Heavy on detail and a bit too focused on 'righting the wrongs' of Huntford, etc., the result seems an extremely well-researched view of the scientific goals and results of the expedition. (And, perhaps the author can be forgiven for the emphasis on righting wrongs--previous works have certainly emphasized contrary views.) I've long felt that viewing the turn-of-the-century expeditions through today's 'lens' is problematic. Scott and the others were English men of their time and subject to those values, just as we are products of our time. I recommend the work to those interested in a detailed view of that first expedition, how its course affected the Terra Nova expedition, and a different view of the explorers and the expedition--placed in their time.
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Falcons Quest
Smirthwai
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0340698209 |
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Month by month, Elizabeth Romer details a year in a Tuscan kitchen. Noting farm recipes calling for olive oil measured in wine glasses, Romer recounts the way of life folks in Tuscany have enjoyed for centuries. In winter they spin wool and cure quantities of prosciutto. In springtime the pecorino cheese is made, while in summer the farm is ripe with corn, pears, and sweet peas. Then, of course, comes autumn, the time for wine, the time of the harvest. The rhythm of life naturally follows the foods of the seasons. You shouldn't read it without some good food nearby.
Book Description
The Tuscan Year recounts the daily life and food preparation of a family living on a farm in Tuscany. Elizabeth Romer chronicles each season’s activities month by month: curing prosciutto and making salame in January, planting and cheesemaking in March, harvesting and threshing corn in July, hunting for wild muchrooms in September, and grape crushing in Ocober. Scattered throughout this lovely calendar are recipes—fresh bread and olive oil, grilled mushrooms, broad beans with ham, trout with fresh tomatoes and basil, chicken grilled with fresh sage and garlic, and apples baked with butter, sugar, and lemon peel, among many others. Alive with the rhythms of country tradition, The Tuscan Year is a treasure for the armchair traveler as well as the cook.
Customer Reviews:
Bland Year in Tuscany.......2007-05-14
Elizabeth Romer chronicles a year in Tuscany. As someone who lived in Italy and even honeymooned in Tuscany, I looked forward to this book. I wasn't really sure what it was. Part cook book and part story of a year in Tuscany, I felt it lacked focus. More importantly, it lacked romance. Her characters seemed distant, almost cardboard figures. I wasn't drawn into their lives. Say what you will about Frances Mayes, but her book brought alive the magic of Tuscany.
Roaming Tuscany with Romer.......2005-09-29
Life and Food in an Italian Valley (subtitle) is a memoir, cookbook and record of a Tuscan farm family. I found the book to be a better read than Mayes' "Under the Tuscan Sun" for it gives a more comprehensive look at daily family life rather than one person's experiences. The tweleve chapters--January through December--provide the reader a glimspe of the monthly activities of the Cerotti estate offering a look at their lives including their food, work, family and celebrations. Romer gave me a sense of being a part of the Cerotti household for I became engaged with them as if I were a family member. Sitting at Silvana's kitchen table allowed me to learn much about traditional Tuscan food which has been handed down from one generation to the next.
Excellent tableau of Tuscan Life. Better than Most.......2004-10-10
A few months ago I reviewed two books on Tuscan life and cuisine, `Ciao Italia in Tuscany' by PBS series host Mary Ann Esposito and `Simply Tuscan' by New York City restaurant chef / owner and curio shop impresario Pino Luongo. Neither book impressed me as giving a genuine picture of life in Tuscany, especially as it was before EuroAmerican homogenization took over. This book, `The Tuscan Year', Life and Food in an Italian Valley' by textile artist and Tuscan resident Elizabeth Romer is the real deal. The venue is an isolated valley in the southeastern corner of Tuscany, genuinely rural in that it is several dozen miles from the large cities of Florence and Sienna. The feeling the author gives about this lovely environment reminds me of the admittedly artificial feeling of lyric isolation from the cares of the world in the very obscure movie `The Hidden Valley' based in an isolated Swiss valley community surrounded by the ravages of the 30 years war.
The major text of the book is in twelve chapters, one for each month of the year, beginning with January and ending with December. There are very few illustrations, limited to a few simple line drawings opening each chapter. The text is divided roughly equally between culinary information and recipes and non-culinary tales of the domestic, agricultural, and animal husbandry. The highest praise I can give this book is that it has a strong kinship in the style and quality of its content to Patience Gray's great culinary journal `Honey from a Weed' which I have been attempting to accurately review for over six months now.
The main characters of the story are not the author and her family, but a native Tuscan family of Orlando and Silvana Cerotti "of the remote mountain area between Cortona and Castiglion Fiorentino. They have a single son and they run their estate and live their lives in a traditional manner. They do this from choice not necessity. Their lives are bounded by the land, which they use to its fullest extent, and in this way they are virtually self-sufficient. Their property is extensive, stretching over 400 hectares, and includes acres of forest and arable land, streams, vineyards, many small houses and their own imposing fattoria with its surrounding walled kitchen garden, olive groves, chapel and outbuildings."
The most enheartening part of this story is the fact that the Cerotti's and their family and farm hands have been successful in maintaining a lifestyle that has the feel of dating back to the Renaissance, if not earlier. This is not a story of an agricultural estate in irreversable decline, although the family has cut back on some farm resources such as the herd of pigs. Rather than maintaining 100 swine, the family buys a pig each year and has it slaughtered and butchered by a professional travelling butcher. All the `charcuterie' is done on the premises by the butcher or the family. The hams are cured by Silvana and hung to dry in the attic. Orlando takes care of sausage making with the butcher.
All the recipes are given `in context' in the month when their ingredients are in season and, where appropriate, in the liturgical season most appropriate for the dish. There are precious few culinary tips in the recipes and all are written in a narrative fashion, with no neat lists of ingredients and careful quantities, well-defined prep instructions, and numbered steps in the preparation. This is as much a book on anthropology as it is on things culinary. That is not to say the recipes cannot be made by an American suburbanite. If you have basic cooking skills and good instincts, you should have no problems with these recipes. Just be sure to read the author's notes on measuring at the end of the book. She is very much the student of Elizabeth David when it comes to weights and measures, using the proper Englishman's teaspoon, tablespoon, soup spoon, and teacup as measuring devices. The author gives some correlations of these devices to our shiny stainless steel measuring devices, but as Ms. Romer points out, Silvana used no measuring devices at all, so if I were you, I would get the lay of the land and proceed to measure things out by the seat of your pants. You will probably get a much more desirable result than if you try to exactly translate the measurements into the metric or something equally precise and irrelevant.
My only reservations about the culinary contents of the book are in the recipes for brodo (stock) and in the absence of a recipe for the salt-free Tuscan bread. The brodo recipe calls for boiling the stock for three hours, which violates absolutely every single stock recipe I have ever read, in that stock ingredients are to be just brought to the edge of a boil, then simmered. Also, the rationale for the saltless Tuscan bread is given in great detail, but there is no recipe for same, and, I suspect you may have a very hard time finding true saltless bread in an American suburb. My local megamart carries a Tuscan loaf, but I will bet more than a few lire (or euros) on the fact that salt was used in the recipe.
This book is first and foremost a delight to read. At the same time it is a valuable scholarly source document for a lifestyle which seems to be disappearing from around the world. Grab onto it and savor it while you can.
Highly recommended to readers and cooks alike.
More like a HISTORY of Tuscan food.......2002-11-27
Don't expect this book to be another "Year in Provence" or travel in the Italian wilderness book. Elizabeth Romer documents the reasons the Tuscans -- and their predecessors -- eat like they do, plant like they do and live like they do. It carries us back to Roman times and tries to explain why Tuscans consider somone from the next valley to be a foreigner. A fascinating read for more than just cooks.
ONE TUSCAN HOUSEHOLD.......2002-03-20
I found this book very disappointing. It could even be said to be boring. I guess I didn't read the description/reviews properly as I was expecting more of a story line, perhaps like Frances Mayes in Under the Tuscan Sun or Peter Mayle in A Year in Provence.
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