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A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime [Hardcover]

Joseph R. Gannascoli (Author), Allen C. Kupfer (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)


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Book Description

January 10, 2006
Benny Lacoco is a "food fence". A load of frozen shrimp falls off of a truck, or perhaps a few cases of olive oil or some nice expensive wine with an unpronounceable name comes into your possession, Benny is the guy who can move it for you. No questions asked. He's well connected and a man of respect.
But there is another side to Benny. He's a gourmet cook who once aspired to be a renowned restaurateur…but business (and other matters equally unsavory) got in the way.
Now Benny has been summoned to cook a special meal for some of his associates on the occasion of the big man being sent up the river. This gives Benny the chance to prepare the meal of his life, A MEAL TO DIE FOR, because word has it that someone in their midst is a rat, and some things just can't be forgiven.
From the abundant antipasto of chicken liver mousse, prosciutto wrapped asparagus, grilled sardines, and other delicacies to the creamy delight of crayfish bisque, three types of pasta, and main entrees of roasted lamb, baked snapper, and chicken with artichokes and sausage, we are treated to flashbacks of Benny’s life in a novel that blends the best of Big Night with Goodfellas.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Actor Gannascoli, best known for his role as Vito Spatafore on The Sopranos, with an assist from Kupfer (The Journal of Professor Abraham Van Helsing), serves up a solid debut filled with mouth-watering recipes. Mobbed-up Brooklyn chef Benny Lacoco prepares the dinner of a lifetime, knowing that someone stands to get whacked when the last course is served. The rat who set up the reigning capo for 10 to 20 is one of the made men at the table, but Benny realizes suspicion could fall anywhere: "I'll be cooking all night and my reward could be a piece of lead in the head." Benny ruminates on how he fell into his life of crime, acting as a food fence to move stolen stock out to select restaurants, "transfusing" inferior olive oil or wine into higher-ticket containers. The mix of haute cuisine and Mafiosi is a natural—obviously Julia Child and Tony Soprano both like to eat, right? And how often do you see a mobster getting disrespect for "revealing his limited knowledge of food and even more limited food choice experience"?
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A Meal to Die For is deliciously sinful and fattening. Not since I read Rex Stout’s Too Many Cooks while stuck on an Amtrak train have I been so entertained and famished at the same time. I hope Joseph Gannascoli and Allen C. Kupfer will dish up many more courses in the future.”—Loren Estleman, author of Nicotine Kiss

“A tasty slice of mob life.”—Steven R. Schirripa, author of A Goomba’s Guide to Life and actor on HBO’s The Sopranos (Bobby Bacala)

“It’s Big Night meets Goodfellas.”—James Gandolfini, Tony Soprano on HBO’s The Sopranos

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: Forge Books; First Edition edition (January 10, 2006)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0765314444
  • ISBN-13: 978-0765314444
  • Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,797,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A good read, January 12, 2006
This review is from: A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime (Hardcover)
I really enjoyed reading this book. It was filled with such excitement and anticipation that I couldn't put it down. The setting is present day Brooklyn with flashbacks of Brooklyn in the "good old days". In fact, many of the places mentioned in his book brought back fond memories of my childhood. It's an adventure filled with dreams, reality and the will to overcome adversity. I can't vouch for the recipes at the beginning of every chapter though, but I will try some of them. Pretty good effort for a first-time writer and a Sopranos star. I look forward to reading a second book!

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars a pleasure to read, January 10, 2006
This review is from: A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime (Hardcover)
book flowed well, interesting recipes , funny story, very sopranoish in the diologue, loved it, highly recommend it, enjoy
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A BOOK TO DIE FOR, January 12, 2006
This review is from: A Meal to Die For: A Culinary Novel of Crime (Hardcover)
I bought this for my husband because he is such a big Soprano fan, but I wound up reading it in two days, loved the food, and the story, I know he will too, as will other readers
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Benny lowered the flame under the foie gras he was searing. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Pazzo Oeuf, Gourmet Express, Joey Arso, Benny Lacoco, Thirteenth Avenue, Anthony Abbazio, Belt Parkway, Chevy Malibu, Jesus Christ, Kings Highway, New Orleans, Teena Vaughn
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