Soul Kitchen: A Novel (Paperback)

by Poppy Z. Brite (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Chefs (and lovers) John Rickey and Gary "G-man" Stubbs (first appearing in Liquor and Prime) are once again involved in drama and suspense at their trendy eatery, Liquor. Chef Milford Goodman, an old friend of Rickey's, shows up after a 10-year prison stint for murder (of a restaurant owner) ends, thanks to a retrial acquittal. Just then, as it turns out, the current chef, Tanker, quits in a huff. Milford takes over, and through him, Rickey meets a manipulative, pill-pushing doctor named Lamotte, who pressures Rickey to join a restaurant venture, Soul Kitchen, involving a shady local businessman-investor, Clancy Fairbairn. Rickey, hooked on Lamotte-supplied Vicodin and wanting to give Milford the break he needs to become a top chef, agrees, various complications ensue, and the deal ends in tragedy. Throughout, Brite demonstrates a deep passion for and knowledge of New Orleans' food scene, and winningly sends up the city's wealthy elite, who "were like great dark sea creatures circling below the water's surface." The novel is brisk and entertaining, and manages to deal sharply with homophobia and racism amid a frothy plot. The novel was completed, Brite notes, the night before Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, the city where she was born and now lives with her chef husband. An open-ended conclusion hints at another installment to come. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
John Rickey and G-Man Stubbs have beaten the odds and are into their third year running the highly successful restaurant Liquor, a New Orleans eatery where everything on the menu is prepared with booze. Following Prime (2004) and Liquor (2005), this latest in Brite's innovative comic crime series continues to expand her vision of life on the foodie fast track. After spending 10 years in Angola for a crime he didn't commit, Milford Goodman, who was once one of the hottest chefs in the business, gets a new start with the help of Rickey and G-Man. What initially looks like a sweetheart deal helping Milford set up a state-of-the-art kitchen in a casino quickly starts to go south, as treachery and Old World evils are added to the menu. As with the earlier two novels, the key character in the book remains the city itself, with high times, hardball politics, and plenty of mayhem added to the menu as daily specials. The novel was completed on the night before Hurricane Katrina hit; fans will be waiting to see how Rickey and G-Man cope with post-Katrina New Orleans. Elliott Swanson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press (July 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0307237656
• ISBN-13: 978-0307237651
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #123,510 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Yummy third course to the Liquor series meal! (TVOX was an appetizer), July 25, 2006

By	Stacey Scott (Angels Camp, CA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Well, I'm a longtime fan of all of Brite's work have been eagerly awaiting Soul Kitchen since I first saw the preorder page here on Amazon. By a fortunate accident, I managed to get my copy of Soul Kitchen several days early (not that I'm complaining), so yay I get to be one of the first to review it here.

First of all, the protagonists Rickey and G-man and are as lovable as ever and it's their sweet, subtle relationship that keeps me going back for more. Brite never fails to deliver with wonderful interaction between them that can go from making me cry to going all warm and fuzzy (multiples times with the same book, in some cases) with these two. Soul Kitchen delivers on that mark.

I also liked the aspect of racism and homophobia and the way that they are viewed from both sides. All of her characters offer diverse insights and the book makes you think about your own stance on certain issues from time to time, or at least it made me think. But don't worry, it's not preachy by any means. The "have gays suffered the same way black have" issue is still one I'm not 100% sure how I feel about. It's new territory for a Brite novel, so congrats on pushing forward rather than backtracking old ground PBZ. =)

The plot was good, the new crooked villain was not quite as interesting as Prime's but not as annoying as Liquor's. I've read before that people think her villains often lack luster, and being a big villain fan I should probably care, but overly intruiging bad guys would most likely take away from the heart of the series, so I'm not complaining.

There was the obligatory "is there going to be any cheating going down" factor that appears throughout the series (when I speak of the series, FYI, I'm including TVOX and the stories in TDYK), which always makes me uneasy. It's good that she can write so convincingly that I actually deeply care whether or not fictional men practice fidelity or not, but still it gets a little tired. I hate it when characters cheat and even the slightest possiblity of it occuring puts me on edge. ><

Though I loved this book and I love the entire Liquor continuity, the reason that I knocked the rating down to a 4 was largely in part to all of the recapping. I understand that a lot of people may be new to the series and reading it out of sequence, but it seems like there's recapping of something that happened in one of the other books (and at least once that I counted that happened in TDYK) at least once per chapter. For the avid Liquor reader, it gets repetitive kinda quickly.

As per the food aspect of the book, I must confess I'm completely ignorant of 90% of ANYTHING having to do with the food mentioned in the series. I kind of feel like a kid watching a grown up movie. I can really love it and enjoy it, but a lot of stuff goes right over my head and I don't "appreciate" it the way that a knowledgable person would. In Soul Kitchen though it talked about a lot of new concepty food and stuff that was really fascinating, and I'm sure anyone would get a kick out of it regardless of prior cuisine experience.

Anyways, on the whole, this book is an excellent addition to the series and I eagerly await D.U.C.K and Dead Shrimp Blues. . . Just with a little less summarizing next time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rickey abnd G-man, as fine as ever., August 24, 2006

By	Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Cleveland, OH) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Poppy Z. Brite, Soul Kitchen (Three Rivers Press, 2006)

The Rickey and G-Man series, now in its third or fourth book (depending on to whom one talks; there has been debate for what seems like ages about whether The Value of X can be soncidered the first book in the series or not), continues on apace, and as fine as it's ever been. Liquor has now been a going concern for three years, and is still on top of the world, despite what seem to be neverending problems, both personal and professional, for the pair (Rickey more so than G-Man, natch). This time, the problems start when Milford Goodman, an ex-con framed for the murder of his last employer, comes in looking for a job. Rickey remembers him as a brilliant chef, and hires him-- much to the chagrin of a number of prominent townsfolk. When one of Rickey's regulars approaches him with the idea of consulting for a restaurant the regular is planning on opening on a floating casino, Rickey nominates Milford as the head chef. All well and good, until they find out one of the place's silent partners is connected to Milford's last employer's death.

None of the above is a spoiler, by the way, though it takes you about halfway through the novel; it's no more than you'll find out reading the back cover copy. Brite has once again given us a fun plot, some wonderful new characters, subplots to complicate things, and a smash-bang climax that will have you alternately laughing and cowering, but what she really has offered us in this series, what really makes it worth reading, is a stable of complex, well-drawn characters going about their daily business (what Maureen Corrigan calls a "work novel," at least in part). And that daily business is very, very interesting. If you like food-- and who doesn't?-- you're going to get a kick out of these books. Brite's descriptions of the food itself are little short of orgasmic, and you may even find yourself wanting to try stuff you never thought you'd like. (With me, it was the foie gras-stuffed burger from Prime.) When you combine food writing this good with characters this real, you can't not have a winner on your hands. ****

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Soul Kitchen is Comfort Food, August 19, 2006

By	G. Stanton - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I really love these books. After the first two books (or three, if you count The Value of X), reading this new one was like visiting old friends. The restaurant setting in New Orleans is a bottomless gumbo pot, full of tasty new situations, characters and plots. Poppy Z. could probably ladle out 20 books in this series without repeating herself. I know I'll find myself reading them again, and I hope that one day they are published in hardcover.

The writing style in the Liquor series is a little different than that in PZ's earlier books. I don't know if this was intentional, an artistic decision, or simply evolution. The writing is collorful, direct, somewhat colloquial, concise and exceptionally clear. Going from, say Lost Souls -- which was moody and often waxed poetic, suiting its subject -- to Liquor, you may wonder if you're reading a different author. There is an unmistakable optimism in these books too, which is contageous. Attitude adjustment without alcohol. Nice to come home to after a hard day. Comfort food.

I'm looking forward to the next one -- though I know Hurricane Katrina will make it a heartbreaker. Rickey and G-Man will pull through, and we'll all be crying with them.