Loved this book! Laugh out loud funny! So creative, so warped.

There are very few books that make one laugh out loud. This is one of them.

Gerry Samper is a thirty-ish British expatriate living in Italy. He makes his living ghostwriting celebrity biographies and his leisure time trying out new recipes, most of them involving the bitter herb liqueur Fernet Branca. Then his peaceful existence is threatened by a new neighbor moving to his isolated hilltop. Marta, frumpish daughter of an ex-Soviet warlord, is creating the film score for Italian director Pacini's new movie.

Sounds harmless enough, one would say. In reality, this is the scene for hilarious misunderstandings. Language misunderstandings, cultural misunderstandings, male-female misunderstandings, alcoholic misunderstandings, they all combine to have the reader in stitches. Gerry's thoughts as he potters around in his bucolic hideaway are beyond funny. His culinary experiments alone are delightful, a wicked take on food snobbery. It starts off tamely with Fernet and garlic ice cream, but later on we get otter with lobster sauce, lychees on toast (don't forget the anchovies!) and sponge cake with mortadella icing.

Marta is equally funny in her inner monologue and in her letters to her sister. There are numerous interjections of pseudo-Russian words, more exotic dishes (spearmint quail egg, anyone?) and many proverbs with a vaguely Slavic slant.

The author then adds the confusion of a movie-in-the-making, Marta's brother who drops in by helicopter, a British boy-band singer who, under the influence of Fernet Branca, thinks that the helicopter is a UFO, and a wily Italian lawyer, and we've got all the ingredients for a highly entertaining mix.

In one word: fun! The two main characters' misperceptions and incorrect assumptions about each other are intelligent, completely rational, mostly incorrect and always outlandish. Read this carefully -the author quickly tosses out extremely humorous word pairings. And the culinary creations! Truly hilarious!

The funniest book I ever read. Fernet-Branca liquor is a household name in Italy and a cult hit abroad. I've had it and it has an almost hallucinogenic effect! Its thick, bitter flavor makes it something of an acquired taste, but those who do like it often love it. Alcohol content is HUGE at 43%.

The book tells the tale of two neighbors living in Italy - routinely cooking with Fernet-Branca in order to survive their hatred of one another. Hysterical

Humorous with lots of literary vocabulary. Well-written with interesting scenarios. Gag-induced recipes are a well placed dig on some esoteric ones coming from cutting edge chefs.

What a pleasant surprise this book was! I can't remember how I stumbled upon it, but it was a delight. If you like quirky characters, this one is for you. There aren't too many books that make me laugh out loud (think David Sedaris), but this one did. I enjoyed it enough to order the sequels in paperback!

The first in a trilogy of very, very funny novels by an extremely talented writer.  His asides and observations are both pithy (I'm NOT lisping) and humorous.  An adroit, observant, charming essayist of a novelist.  His recipe for Panda Paws ("...discard the rest of the animal") soaked in"tikkhu" juice, the fermentation of which attract tigers and bamboo wolves "...so you had better mount a sentry..."
is hilarious.  The whole damn book is hilarious.  Buy it!

This is one of my favorite books ever!  It is clever, quirky, odd and rip roaringly hilarious. Gerald and Marta's relationship is so fun to witness that I was sad to see this book end!

Having said that though, I can see where this humor may not appeal to everyone.  It can be dry and subtle but once you put it together it makes you laugh out loud!  If you like the comedy of the BBC - Ab Fab, Fawlty Towers, Monty Python, Eddie Izzard - then this is a book for you.  If you don't find humor in those shows / comedians, you may not enjoy this in it's full hilarity either.

This book made me so curious about Fernet Branca, I ran right out and bought a bottle.  I'll save my review on that so you can taste it for yourself. ;)

A jumble of words in search of a plot line.  One of the rare times I have given up, closed a book before it finished.  Some things are just too time consuming for little pleasure or enrichment, even interest.

Exactly the kind of book I love. I had no idea what Fernet Branca was and expected it to be a character - it almost is!
An effete English ghost writer, Gerald Samper takes a house in the hills in Italy and finds himself neighbours with Marta, a screenwriter from a (fictional) former eastern block country. Their view of each other is based in received wisdom, experience of being neighbours leads to further, wildly extravagant confusion.
This is a beautifully written, stylishly elegant and hilariously funny novel.
And even better, its N°1 in a trilogy....

This book was hilarious. Well written. Written from 2 points of view which worked well. I started the sequel which is less effective. Also, there are intermittently dispersed some of the worst recipes you could imagine. They are brilliant "mussels with chocolat" for example. They are also very precisely written with insane instructions like 11/2 eggs. Great book. Really dry humor. Loved it! Wish it was available on Kindle.

The language is pedantic, but that is O.K. because the protagonist is an author. The recipes a worth the price of purchase alone.