Customer Reviews

Feast of the Seven Fishes: The Collected Comic Strip and Italian Holiday Cookbook

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In this age of detached irony and perennial coolness, Christmas has become about as hip as dinner with your Aunt Bertha. Kudos then to Robert Tinnell, Alex Saviuk and Ed Piskor, whose graphic novel "Feast of the Seven Fishes" captures the spirit of Christmas for a generation that doesn't quite know what to believe in anymore.

Part coming-of-age story, part loving remembrance, Feast balances humor, angst and joy in well-measured doses. Like life, the secret is not in the ultimate outcome, but in the journey itself. You'll spend time with characters that you'll swear you know (or wish you did). And you'll find yourself shaking your head in a "been there, done that" manner as this group of family and friends sorts out their relationships, past and present, over a memorable Christmas season from long ago. The story is told in a brisk and inviting manner-you'll learn a lot about this cantankerous clan in a short time and you'll find yourself wondering what happens after the story ends. That's the best compliment I can pay to any storytellers, graphic novel or not.

Smart without being smarmy, sentimental without being maudlin, Feast touches just the right Yuletide nerve. It may not make you believe in Santa Claus, but it will make you think about the years gone past, the people you've loved and the thread of tradition that holds it all together.

If you grew up Italian or another European ethnic, this will bring back great memories and you will become teary eyed as you remember those amazing immigrants, our Grandparents. The story is a realistic observation of the family celebration and the recipes are as authentic as you'll find for the traditional Italian Christmas Eve Feast. Those Italians never measured anything, they just put enough in until it feels right. You will see that the Tinnells put enough love into this book and it feels just right.

Anyone who grew up in an Italian family or married into an Italian family will love this book. Reading it made me hungry. It is a realist version of Moon Struck.

I followed the Christmas adventures of this funny family every day as it ran as an online strip and devoured them delightedly. But what a joy it was to read again in one book. Those folks had been familiar first time through; now they truly felt like family. The story tells of an ethnic family (like all ethnic families) where love, respect and tradition clump together like ingredients in a soup, often delicious, always sloppy. The recipes look good, too. I bought a couple to give away as Christmas presents, but now I have to keep one for myself and now I'm going to buy a few more to spread around with holiday cheer.

Feast Of The Seven Fishes is a delicious slice of life. The combination of the story and recipes makes it an irresistible package. It will add new traditions and memories to your Christmas Holidays. It will for us.... and we're not Italian!

I loved this book - the comic strip novel format is interesting and direct, really pulling you into the story. Coming from an italian-american backround, this story is an accurate depiction of the cross currents of emotion and family hierarchy that are disrupted when someone outside of the tribe is introduced into the familial mix. The book brought back lots of memories for me as I think it would for anyone who grew up in an ethnic community. As families become more and more extended and spread from one coast to another, this book will teach your kids how it used to be, and introduce them to holiday traditions which are in danger of vanishing. For this reason alone, the book is a worthwhile read.

I have also tried a couple of the recipes and they are terrific.

Wow! This is a surprisingly heartfelt story; evocative of a certain time and a specific place, sentimental and cynical at the same time (not an easy thing to pull off well, by the way), and, more than anything else, touchingly compelling.

This was an on-line comic strip that ran on the SUNNY FUNDAYS site last year; a tiny, personal story with a beginning, middle and end. It gets reprinted here with additional material, an essay or two, and, oddly enough, cooking recipes from the author's wife. Yes, that's right, it's also a cookbook!

And... It all comes together to create this really wonderful recreation of a very specific Italian-American Christmas holiday experience.

I don't know from cookbooks -- heck, I'm not even Italian -- but this is a great little story told in a unique way.

Really, there's something special going on here. It's worth reading.

Probably everybody who recommends this book will tell you the same thing: you don't have to be Italian to love it. You just have to be human; you have to love a good story (and good food). Let's see if I can say something else.

When I saw Martin Scorsese's ItalianAmerican, I thought, "This is the kind of documentary every director should make about his family." After reading Feast of the Seven Fishes, the collected comic strips of another Italian-American film director, I think, "This is the kind of graphic novel every author should write about his family."

Robert Tinnell is best known for movies with a fantastic slant and action-horror comics like The Black Forest, The Wicked West, and The Faceless, so a Marty-like realistic tale may seem out of character for him - until you realize that Tinnell always imbues his fictional characters with genuine emotion and feelings, whether they're fighting supernatural evil or just making Christmas Eve dinner and worrying about a date for the holidays. That these fictional characters are all based on people he has known and loved makes everything even more poignant.

(Tinnell insists he's not the model for his main character: "As any girl from that period in my life will tell you, I was not that sensitive." But the woman in his life now, Shannon Colaianni Tinnell - his wife and author of the recipes that round out the book - reveals what the story makes clear: "Bob Tinnell . . . is a sentimentalist." Tinnell's subplot involving Tony and old-flame Katie has the same sweetness as the George Bailey-Violet Bick relationship in Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life. And that ending . . . well - you read the last 12 panels and tell me.)

I read lots of comics but tend to be more of a words-and-plot guy. My unlearned opinion of Feast's art is that it perfectly complements the text; illustrators Ed Piskor and Alex Saviuk graciously submerged anything showy in the service of the story.

Finally, as one who doesn't read cookbooks, I must say that I found Feast's recipes as entertaining and readable as the story itself.

What a great little book. I loved the story of this Italian family and their Christmas feast. Sadly a lot of our family traditions are becoming obsolete. Maybe this book will help revive them. I really enjoyed the recipes and intend on trying a few. Although an avid reader I have never been a big fan of comic strips, but was truly entertained by this one.

Kudos to the authors and the artists. Very well done. Think you will enjoy it as much as I did.

I discovered this book when I heard it had been nominated for an Eisner Award (the "Oscar" of comics) for best graphic album - reprint.
Initially I was interested in it for the story and art - but the cookbook and essay sections were a real pleasant surprise. It's one of those great little books you want to bring out and put on the coffee table during the holidays. This is what my whole family is getting for Christmas. It would make a great movie too...