Appetizers

The Vegetable Gardener,
by Arcimboldo (16th century)

I’ve followed Jim Crace since stumbling on ‘Being Dead’, one of the best and most unusual novels I’ve ever read.  It’s one of my all-time favs.  ‘The Pesthouse’ was good, but less appealing to me.  I stumbled on ‘The Devil’s Larder’ (2001) in a used bookstore in Nebraska a few days ago and couldn’t resist giving it a go.  It’s a collection of 64 short stories in a mere 163 pages.  The stories range from one to about ten pages and they all touch on food in one way or another. But this is not a foodie book.  This is a book for short story readers.  Food is just a vehicle in each story in one way or another. The Arcimboldo painting appears on the jacket cover.  Very clever.

The same image
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Crace is one of the most compassionate, sensitive and loving contemporary writers I know.  He has a wonderful feel for the language, and has very nuanced feelings to express.  Who would think that food could be a metaphor for love, hate, disappointment, pain, boredom, and regret?  The stories include accounts of an execution, a honeymoon, an illness, a trip to the supermarket, a marriage, etc.  Plenty of variety to keep the reader going forward.

This is very traditional writing with not a hint of today’s avant-garde.  But it’s not at all sentimental or old-fashioned.  There is a strain of modernity in the creative ways that food is used, but essentially you can set your clock back and enjoy.  Be lovingly caressed by Crace’s prose.  It feels damned good, and that's good enough for me.