Clever.

I thoroughly enjoyed this reading experience. This book felt very of the moment -- CanLit at the turn of the millennium, when it was still mostly white men but they could write the descriptive hell out of a story. I wasn't always sure Taylor could hold the two sides (Jeremy's restaurant[s], his father/Stanley Park/Babes in the Wood) together, but overall I think he did it.

Also, the book is set in Vancouver in 1997 and I lived in Vancouver in 1997. I am biased toward stories set in places that I know.

Wish I could give a 4.5. It was really, really good. Wonderful to be able to really "see" the places in Vancouver, and think about a Stanley Park that I've never seen. Definite recommend.

Funny how almost all the books I've been reading lately have some sort of Czech reference, however obsure.

Well, "Stanley Park" didn't fail me. Of course in a book about crazy people living in Stanley Park I knew there just had to be some crazy Czech somewhere. Chladek lives under the Lions Gate Bridge and talks about "Stromovka" (Place of Trees). I'm not familiar with that word - it didn't come up in daily conversation when I was a child; however, I'm very familiar with the word "Strom" (tree) or Stromy (trees). Is it just because I know the word but doesn't "Strom" conjure up the very image of a big, strong tree? I heard my Dad say "Strom" or "Stromy" often, because living in an orchard the subject of trees, e.g. cherry trees, apple trees, peach trees, etc. came up a lot. Come to think of it I guess a orchard is a "Stromovka". Czech references aside -

I loved this satire of how and what our society eats. I enjoyed all the Vancouver references - even Langley was mentioned. I didn't mind Taylor hitting me on the head with "Dante's Inferno"; actually that kept me looking for more subtle word play which I found scattered throughout. There was more than one plot which kept it interesting.

This was a dish with many flavours to be savoured.

Through the parallel plotlines of a hip young locavore chef and his guerrilla-anthropologist father, this novel explores the theme of place, of rootedness, of identity derived from connection to the land or the wilful repudiation of such a connection.

Unfortunately, and I guess inevitably given its subject, it's hopelessly rooted in its own time and place, such that if you’re not au fait with Vancouver circa 1995 a hell of a lot of this story is going to be lost on you. The book is jammed with street names and other left-coast references that will do nothing for non-Vancouverites.

The other issue is the abundance of annoying characters. Our hero, Jeremy, is more or less agreeable, but his Stanley Park-dwelling dad is smug and self-mysterious, and pulling Jez in the other direction is coffee mogul wanker Dante Beale, who is of course supposed to be a PITA but jeez we spend a lot of time in his rancid company. There's also a precocious child, and I can’t stand precocious children.

Stanley Park isn't a bad novel though. It does have something to say and it's stuffed with filthy food porn, even (especially) when things get ultra-locavore in a wonderfully written climactic scene.

Please tell me that someone is going to make a film of this book - the climactic scene when Jeremy opens his new restaurant is just begging to be filmed.

Apart from making my mouth water, I found this book to be quite engaging from a geography point of view as well. It may help that I've spent a lot of time in Vancouver. I loved Jeremy's non-conformist-forced-to-conform-so-I-get-to-be-rebellious-in-my-own-unique-way spirit as a chef as well and his dedication to cooking as an art form.

My complaint with the book however, is in relation to how the Stanley Park side of the story plays out. Someone else mentioned that the two story lines seem quite unrelated. I agree whole-heartedly. Also, the whole business with the expensive knives -- lost, found, traded -- and the red, seemingly bloody knife on the cover seemed to be too underplayed. I kept waiting for more to come up in that vein. Olli, Margaret and Trout's storyline was also a bit underwhelming.

Overall though, this is an enjoyable book. Lots of visual writing, which I love, somewhat varied characters and lots of talk of food!

Not my genre - got 3/4 of the way through before I realized it. Probably good at the end but didn't really catch me

I can't believe I forgot to add this book when I first signed up for goodreads. I think this is probably my office favourite book ever. It's masterfully written, invovled amazing characters, and deals with some of my favourite subjects: cooking, Vancouver, psychology, homelessness & the downtowneastside, counter-culture, Starbucks-bashing ... and it's even a bit of a mystery. Love love love it!

Loved the foodie, living-from-the-land theme of this novel and its overall message of the importance of working out what it is that is really important in a person's life. At one point in the first half of the book I got slightly frustrated with Jeremy's financial woes and thought it wasn't entirely convincing that he wouldn't have talked to Jules and to Olli about them sooner than he did. But once that part was past, I really enjoyed the second half of the book.

Most 3 stars for the rare book based in Vancouver with even scenes in Stanley park.

Hat the hell was the point? Just get to it man! Good god I hate this book. Too long, No characters to care about. Awful.