Customer Reviews

The Devil's Picnic: Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit

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The unapologetic underlying message in this travelogue of forbidden fruits is a resounding libertarian one: don't ban stuff, instead, let intelligent adults make up their own minds about what they put in their bodies. And it has to be said that the book makes a fairly convincing case for the notion that free will should trump governmental decree (at least when it comes to what we ingest). Each of the nine chapters takes Canadian journalist Grescoe to a foreign land in search of a forbidden experience (only some of which are food-based), and his wonderfully assured writing takes the reader along for the ride.

First we visit Norway in search of hjemmebrent, which is essentially moonshine. There he finds a government willing to let junkies literally die in the streets while filling state coffers with massive liquor taxes. Naturally, this means there's a booming smuggling industry and as a corollary, many people who indulge in distilling their own spirits. It's a very curious dichotomy, the country has the world's 2nd highest GNP per capita and the most restrictive alcohol laws outside the Islamic world. This affords Grescoe the license to examine the history of prohibitionist movements and alcohol consumption trends around the world. Next up is Singapore, where he tests the prohibition on poppy seeds, chewing gum, being naked with his window open, downloading porn, and other such activities. This chapter doesn't really fit so well into the book's framework, as he's not actually seeking any particular item out, so much as he is testing the concept of prohibition in general. It's also rather irksome because although his behavior is essentially "research" for the book, he is fulfilling the stereotype of the Western tourist who ignores local laws and customs because he feels like it. Fortunately, we are soon whisked back to the world of gourmandry in the next chapter, which visits small French villages in search of "Epoisse"s cheese, a raw milk cheese banned for import into the U.S. by the FDA. Grescoe's investigation pretty much demolishes any scientific basis for this ban, and provides a wonderful example of how perception can trump fact in policymaking.

Madrid is the next venue, where Grescoe tramps from tapas bar to tapas bar in an attempt to scare up a plate of bull testicles. This provides the chance to delve into the politics of meat safety and the European Union, not to mention sampling other Spanish oddities of fare such as baby eels (at $10 a forkful). Then it's back to North America, where he hits San Francisco and New York in an examination of public smoking bans. While I'm a huge fan of smoking bans in general, it's hard to argue with his proposition that bars could choose to choose to be non-smoking or not, and letting the market decide. The notorious liquor absinthe is next on the list, and Grescoe's historical review of the drink is somewhat surprising. Around the start of WWI an alliance of wine merchants and temperance advocates combined to ban the drink in most European countries based on little more than hype. The symptoms of the "madness" it supposedly induced can more readily be attributed to high alcohol consumption than any active agent in absinthe. Here, his quest for "authentic" absinthe takes him through into small towns along the French/Swiss border where arguments rage over what "true" absinthe is.

The subsequent chapter opens with a history of caffeine and discussion of what constitutes addiction before ending up in the Basque town of Bayonne. Here Grescoe briefly samples the town's famous chocolate and points out how the chocolate trade was hijacked by the town elders from the Jews who had made it famous. In Bolivia, Grescoe checks out the coca leaf, in both its brewed and chewable forms. This allows for a scathing discussion of America's so-called "War on Drugs", highlighting its simultaneous futility and hypocrisy. The globe-trotting ends with the ultimate nightcap, a trip to Switzerland to meet with a firm which offers assisted suicide services to those living in other countries where this is not permitted (aka suicide tourists).

The topics are covered in Grecoe's trademark engaging blend of personal experience, reportage, interviews with social science researchers, scientists, and government officials, all well-laced with statistics from authoritative sources such as the World Health Organization. He's a very good writer, able to switch smoothly from travel magazine style descriptions of place and customs to interviews with stuffed shirts, all spiced with bursts of indignation, bemusement, and wit. While armchair travels and gourmands will find much to enjoy, libertarians will love the message that governmental restrictions are usually based on either bad data, hypocritical morals, money, or a combination of all three. A fun and thoughtful book.

The Devil's Picnic is a fascinating, engaging collection of stories about what we put into our body and why governments try to stop us. It is a joy of a romp, one man's tireless pursuit of the history of prohibitions and their failure around the world. The author looks at the big question of why we must be protected from ourselves, while showing how individual prohibitions reflect the history or society where they are in force--and who can make a buck by keeping something off the shelves.

It's a lively and fun adventure, with more questions than answers in the end. There's the philosophical dilemma of how a banned substance becomes more desirable, except when maybe when you're talking about cigarettes or something else that will obviously kill you. There's the question of why countries like Norway would rather have distillers making their own booze for home use than make it easier to purchase the legal stuff at a reasonable price.

The extensive pure research is presented in a compelling way, but is enlivened by an impressive number of interviews with key players in a variety of countries, from important government figures to people on the street. A strong dose of self-effacement helps also, as the author gamely drinks Norwegian moonshine, gets tanked on absinthe, and starts chain-smoking again to see life from the perspective of a smoker in the city. He ingests plates of offal that would make even the most hungry carnivores retch.

Along the way he touches on nearly every prohibition and its consequences throughout the ages, from the Opium Wars to the banning of absinthe to the current debate over assisted suicide. The issues are always a bit gray of course. "As a species, Homo sapiens has always been in need of some restraint," he notes and in modern-day New York City, "maintaining a pack-a-day habit would cost a New Yorker the same as a round-the-world plane ticket." But then again, "What a society ends up stigmatizing is often more revealing of its own phobias and prejudices than the inherent nefariousness of the substance in question." In other words, we ban what we're afraid of--and often we're just afraid of each other.

This is a very informative and interesting book about prohibited substances. I was really surprised by how much this book captivated me. The facts, history and current status of these substances are cleverly woven together with wonderful writing, colorful interviews and great travels. Well done, Taras!

If it's banned, Grescoe wants it. This means he has to bend rules and break laws. These are risks he's prepared to take, purely in the name of journalism, you understand.

Canadian journalist Taras Grescoe's risks allow us to experience second-hand such exotic and forbidden delicacies as unpasteurized cheese from France and tea made from coca leaves in Bolivia. Actually, those delicacies aren't illegal in the countries where he samples them. So it's a bit odd when he goes to Singapore to eat poppy seed crackers. They're illegal in Singapore but not in Canada or anywhere else. Aside from that out-of-place chapter, The Devils' Picnic is a lot of fun. Grescoe has his hobby horse, which is that none of these forbidden items should be illegal and he makes a good case for that argument. But the best part of The Devil's Picnic is Grescoe hunting down the forbidden items and then sampling them. Sometimes it's worth the trouble, as with the epoisse (stinky cheese), but usually the forbidden fruit is a let-down (absinthe). And sometimes, he doesn't quite find what he's looking for, as when he inadvertently samples pig's testicles rather than the bull's testicles he was searching for.

Along the way, Grescoe tells us the history of the comestible in question and interviews experts and it's all very informative in a magazine article manner. Grescoe tries to keep it light, but he seems inclined toward the dark side of things, so he ends with another slightly out-of-place chapter, in which he visits a clinic in Switzerland where you can end your own life with pentobarbital sodium. So be warned.

The reviews for this book (including the one on the cover) compare the author to Anthony Bourdain, so I was expecting detailed descriptions of exotic food experiences. Instead, like Michael Pollan, the author uses his own experiences and explorations as a jumping off point for extensive research and discussion of public policies and how they affect our food and drink -- especially drink. The substances discussed are primarily intoxicants; only a few are foods. Nonetheless, it is a fascinating exploration of the effects of prohibitions in many countries.

any author who starts by saying they are the traveling aliester crowley with a backpack is alright with me. grescoe takes us through a traveling journey around the world, trying out local food/drink that most of us would find as unsanitary, incomprehensible, and just plain disgusting. the stinky epoisses cheese made with raw milk, casu marzu cheese that is matured when it is infested with live maggots, moonshine from norway and much more gastronomic delights. grescoe interviews many people involved in the industry to find out the politics and history of the foods. and he is comfortable in challenging customs as he smuggles gum, pornography and poppy seed crackers into singapore. what's more than a culinary journey, grescoe goes into detail on the nature of prohibition. prohibition of drink, food and smoking. this is a highly recommended book if your are an extreme foodie.