One of best foodie books and def worth a top ten on the list. Touches of Orwell's 'Down and Out...', Elizabeth David and Slater. As much about people as about food which for me is in the genre the difference between erotic and porn. ( )

This delightful short novel about a young Frenchman setting out into culinary world kitchens of the restaurants of Paris was originally published in 1945. It had been out of print, though, for decades until 2001, when Modern Library brought it back as the first entry in their Modern Library Food Series. With its flashes of sly humor, enjoyable characterizations and, most importantly, extravagantly detailed descriptions of book the cooking and consumption of lavish, gourmet meals, this book, for me, was provided a sumptuous reading repast. Although the book is short in pages, it took me a bit longer than I expected to read through. That's mainly because the food descriptions are so lush and enjoyable that you end up slowing down to savor them, much as you would a good meal, which I think, maybe, was Jones' point. There's not much in the way of plot, here. It's more of a picaresque coming of age tale. It story takes place in the late 1920s/early 1930s. The ending, I though, was quite apt if somewhat sobering. At any rate, I highly recommend your searching this book out if you've an interest in the preparation and devouring of gourmet meals. Or if you just like descriptive writing. Or if you like to laugh.

Here's a serving of the writing style. An appetizer, if you will:

He served the Montepulciano. The aroma of it--a mellow, winy tapestry, woven patiently by six decades of time in some dark Apennine crypt--filled the room. We were not alone. History, art, and religion crowded in with the music of trumpets and gnawing horns. General Padiglione murmured as if in a prayer. The purple reflecting against his thin, marmoreal face colored it like a portrait in a church window. He drank reverently, in the minutest of sips. Pierre, in the silence, inaudibly slid before each guest a salad of cress lightly tumbled in oil.

"Wine is made to drink!" shouted Guido. "Pour it down!" ( )

The very long 1945 M.F.K. Fisher D.J. blurb for Idwal Jones' High Bonnet
is the very first appearance of a Fisher blurb. A much later fine press edition
was printed by Yolla Bolly Press and used the blurb as an intro to the book.

350. 1st ed. Three titles from this chef. See entries.