Gourmet Rhapsody

Once again I have chosen a book where the main character is an arrogant self centered individual.  He is what he has deemed in his mind "The King of the Table".  He is the best food critic in Europe and elsewhere, at least in his mind, who has had the ability to make or break an eating establishment by using his words. He loves no one except perhaps himself and feels no remorse for this lack of feelings.  The things he does love is himself and food.  And as he lays dying he thinks not of people he has met, lovers he has been with or his relationship with his family but of a food or the taste of something that he can not seem to place and it is driving him crazy.

I find the main characters obsession with food very frightening.   Food has never been my friend.  I have lived on a diet all my life and to have someone who lives to eat with such great abandonment  as he does is scary. Actually I find it repulsive  which in a way is I think what the author might be trying to say.  Just my opinion.

This book loosely fits into my foodie series.  While there is no food in the title, the main character talks about food in great deal.  In fact the descriptions are so detailed that you can almost see and smell them yourself.  You almost can taste them yourself.  That is how amazing the writing is.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog is the other book written by this author and if you haven't read that book I highly recommend it.  It was a well written book with a great story and great characters.  This book is the pre-quell to that book and is also well written.  What I find especially great is that both these books were written in French but are translated by someone who really understands both languages well.