It was surpisinly funny. -Though extreme experimental cooking that Gerald hobbied with neighbour's dog for example were too much.
It had been priceless with yet another neighbour adding their point of views to the great picture to form even better picture about these two.

Gerald, a writer of cheesy celebrity biographies, and Marta, a composer from a fictional former Soviet-bloc country, buy adjacent houses in Tuscany. Each one has also assured by a sleazy real estate agent that their property will afford them utter peace and quiet. Comedy ensues.

Oddly, this book slowly descended from four stars to three as I continued reading it. I laughed hilariously during the first chapter, and then became less and less charmed by the book as it continued. I'm not quite sure why -- maybe it was that Gerald's voice started to wear on me a bit. And I think part of the problem, frankly, was that I didn't quite get the satire, as the target -- expat Europeans living in Tuscany -- is a bit beyond my ken.

Still, it's fun to spend time with these two very unreliable narrators, and even if you don't quite grasp the satire, the narrative is a ripping yarn whose style keeps things crackling along nicely. And the chapter where each one finally realizes that the other's seemingly preposterous stories are actually true is wonderful and worth the price of the book. The mock recipes are also hilarious, although you might want to avert your eyes if you're a member of PETA.

This book is the perfect antidote to the whole modern food writing as women's literature craze. Brilliantly funny. Full review here:

http://desperadopenguin.blogspot.com/...

I imagine there is someone in this big wide world that finds this laboured, cynical, heavy-handed lump of a satirical novel amusing, but that someone is decidedly not me.

Hilarant! Rempli de sarcasme et de recettes de cuisine complètement loufoques (tels que le "cats among pigeons" ou la crème glacée a l'ail très utile pour refroidir un voisin...). Les 2 personnages, même si três étranges et limite grincheux/ associables, sont hyper attachants. J'ai dû à plusieurs reprises relire certains phrases, car je ne pouvais croire que l'auteur avait vraiment dit ça.

Un style littéraire complètement nouveau pour moi et un humour "non-mainstream" qui me plaît beaucoup.

P.S. N'essayez surtout pas la recette "lychee on toast". Vous le regretteriez...

The book was very funny in the beginning and I loved the Samper character. But as the story went on, I felt more for Marta than for Samper. Ironically, the 'cooking' part of the book was absolutely boring. Yeah, I get that those wild recipies were a joke but after a first few, I was not interested in them at all. Overall, the story was interesting.

Unfortunately, I have already bought part two of this book so I'm going to read it at some point but but I'm not at all excited about that it that says anything.

Pretty funny - hilarious, on point writing, but does get a little tiring at times.

Early days yet. Nice piece of social satire, echoes of Tom Sharpe (Wilt etc) and others. The cooking angle is a major bonus, as is the dual point of view. Marvellous fanciful recipes.

Brilliant section in Chapter 20 (round p 114) - a very funny passage where Gerry tells his guest about cruelty to vegetables. Reminded me of a wonderful Umberto Eco piece (ijFoucault's Pendulum) about improbable university faculties - Chair of irrigation at the University of the Sahara, etc.

A great read, but patchy. Two stick in my mind - Chapter 34, which has goos style, but is rather an anticlimax (where the filming at Marta's house completes, and predictably the damage is not made good... I suppose it will give Gerry and Marta something to argue about.

And a cheeky inconsistency in voice in Chapter 25, where Marta gives us the lowdown on the Italian

coast, while being painted as someone who doesn't know the 'west'.

These don't really hurt the book, which remains very funny. One of nicest moments is the way the Italian film director hates the fence.

This was a really enjoyable read. Gerald Samper is a fussy englishmand and avant garde chef/ghost writer living in tuscany, when a new neighbor moves in. this is marta, a mob boss's rebellious composer daughter from a (fictional) post soviet republic. lots of hijinks, bizarre recipes (panda paws?!) and a fun read.

I found the book brilliant ... but am slightly concerned that I found a couple of the recipes sounding kinda interesting.

I would actually give this book a 3.5 stars. I picked it up because I have recently discovered Fernet Branca and like it in my old-fashions!! The book quite far fetched, but the authorndoes not take itself seriously, so that is ok. Gerald's culinary creations, are inspired, but not in a good way!! This story is not done. I need to read the second one now.

No summary is better than the one already patly written on this site. "Gerald Samper, an effete English snob, has his own private hilltop in Tuscany, where he wiles away his time working as a ghostwriter for celebrities and inventing wholly original culinary concoctions-including ice cream made with garlic and the bitter, herb-based liqueur of the book's title. Gerald's idyll is shattered by the arrival of Marta, on the run from a crime-riddled former soviet republic. A series of hilarious misunderstandings brings this odd couple into ever closer and more disastrous proximity."

Helicopters, insane recipes, movie shoots, drunken gambols and ingenious score writing are all part and parcel of this excellent novel. I can't count the number of times I laughed out loud. Cheekily written and refreshingly witty, this novel really made my summer. (Also: is it a sign of my culinary strangeness that quite a few of Samper's recipes actually sounded delish? His Lychee on toast in particular. AND, you'd better damn well believe I'll be trying some Fernet Branca in the near future. 40% alcohol content!!)