Tomato Rhapsody: A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit [Hardcover]

Adam Schell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 23, 2009

A village in Tuscany is the setting for this joyous debut—a novel that defies all our expectations as it puts a fresh, clever, captivating spin on the age-old tale of forbidden love. Rich in literary delights, filled with spectacular wordplay, and rife with the bawdy humor of Shakespeare’s comedies, Tomato Rhapsody is the almost-true tale of how the tomato came to Italy—at once a brilliantly inventive fable of love, lust, and longing, and a dazzling feast for the imagination.

This is a story born from love—a forbidden love—between Davido, an Ebreo tomato farmer, and Mari, a beautiful Catholic girl.…But it’s not only Davido and Mari who have secrets of the heart. Everyone around them yearns for something—from Davido’s grandfather, who tenderly cultivates the tomato plant he stole on his voyages with Columbus, to Mari’s villainous stepfather, whose eye is trained on his stepdaughter’s virginity and his neighbor’s land.

Caught in the midst of these passions and machinations is a village full of eccentrics who speak in rhyme, celebrate the Feast of the Drunken Saint, and live a life untouched by the passage of time. The schemes and dreams of these men and women are about to change as what is forbidden becomes too delicious to resist. Tradition, religion, and good taste collide unforgettably in a story about the courage to pursue love and tomato sauce at all costs.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

From the very beginning of Schell's debut novel, a would-be Shakespearean fable set in a 16th-century Tuscan village, food lust takes center stage. While cruel-hearted olive tycoon Giuseppe and his underling, Benito, forage for truffles, the Jewish farmer Davido worships the tomato plants on his farm: the plant's fragrance... transcended his olfactory organs to purify his heart and cleanse his mind. When the new priest allows Davido's love apples into town for the first time, life starts to get complicated. For one, the stepdaughter of our villain, Giuseppe, falls for the already betrothed Davido—an outcast besides, due to his station and religion. Bawdy hijinks coded in ribald Italian reach a climax at the village's Feast of the Drunken Saint donkey race, a jarring spin on Shakespeare's more tawdry rhymes. Attempts at a similarly Shakespearean cast of characters (the novel opens with an actual cast of characters) instead result in a silly collection of one-dimensional characters who keep the tale moving until the fate of our star-crossed lovers, and of tomato sauce, are predictably resolved. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

“[A] delectable debut.... Schell displays the finesse of a master chef as he spices up the story with a delicious array of humorous subplots.”—Booklist

“If only every debut novel arrived with such spirit.” —USA Today

“Shakespearean-esque….Schell’s narrative is beautifully written and heart-wrenchingly delivered.”  —Jewish Book World

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Press; First Edition edition (June 23, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385343337
• ISBN-13: 978-0385343336
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.2 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (77 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #171,234 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The offspring of a fashion model mother and a rabbi father (a long story), ADAM SCHELL grew up more inclined toward football pads than the kind of pads used for writing. Stories, however, from Moses and King David to those of Judy Blume and S.E. Hinton, played nearly as vibrant a part of Adam's youth as did sport. Love of the game aside, the on-field success (allow me to drop the charade and switch to the first person) I experienced in high school was not exactly matched when I was a Big Ten linebacker playing for Northwestern University (though I was named a B'nai B'rith college football Jewish All-American. Honest!). With dreams of a pro career about as likely as Anthony Bourdain going vegan, I tucked my diploma in some long-lost trunk, loaded up a rucksack with a bushel of Marquez, Vonnegut, Robbins, Hemmingway, De Bernieres and Kerouac and hit the road in quest of good things to eat and do

I picked grapes and olives in Tuscany, coffee beans in Guatemala, ate a slice of pizza in Sicarcusa, Sicily that was, for a Jewish boy originally from Queens, tantamount to sighting the Virgin Mary, learned a great deal about the quality of peaches in the South of France, observed firsthand the value of fresh sardines to old men in Lagos, Portugal, noted how smoked paprika distinctly scents the breath of Bulgarians, apprenticed under a master French chef in NYC, produced award-winning short films and commercials (my moment of working for THE MAN), received a master's degree in creative writing from Antioch University, got fired as a restaurant critic for writing an April Fools review about a Tibetan-Mexican restaurant famous for their fermented yak urine tea and then, in an improbable turn, became a yoga teacher (a not entirely uncommon phenomena for New Yorkers who relocate to California).

These days, I live in Los Angeles with my wife and young son where I write and teach yoga at the Hollywood YMCA. Learn more about me and Tomato Rhapsody at, www.adamschell.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Read, May 12, 2009

By 

Laura B (San Jose, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tomato Rhapsody: A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

I received an advanced copy of this book through the Amazon Vine program. I chose it after a number of other reviews had already been written--some good, some bad. It sounded interesting, so I decided to give it a chance.

When I first started the book, I wasn't sure what to think. It has lots of flowery and wordy descriptive passages. There is a narrator who appears regularly throughout the book to explain why some things are the way they are and what is going on in the story. It also includes footnotes to explain many historical facts. These are all things that are not usually in the books I read. I began to wonder if I would really like this book.

I am so glad I got this book. It is a truly romantic book--not in the sense of a man and woman, but in the sense of the time, place, and food. The book description speaks of the romance between Davido and Mari, but that is only a small part of the book. The story is about love, greed, secrets, prejudices, and so much more.

Now, there are some things about this book that can turn readers off. The first of those are what I previously mentioned--a narrator and footnotes. In addition, the book is crude and a bit vulgar. There are quite a few references to the male genitalia and sexual innuendo. For some, this can be a real turn-off to continuing the read. For me, it wasn't...it added to the depth of the characters. They were vulgar and crude. Be forewarned, though, if you don't like vulgar characters, this isn't the book for you.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It took about a third of the way through the book to really get into it and understand all that was going on in the story. Though it is not a book I would normally pick up, it was definitely worth my time. At some point it gets a little over the top (the sobbing and laughing seemed extreme), but still enjoyable.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Would make a great movie, June 23, 2011

By 

Ren Reader "Ren Reader" (Bend, OR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tomato Rhapsody: A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit (Hardcover)

This charming tale would make a lovely adult fairy-tale movie, along the lines of Princess Bride. I really enjoyed the read and could visualize the lovely 16th Century Tuscan setting and could almost taste the delicious recipes.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars When you're in love, the whole world is Italian, April 29, 2009

By 

Susan Tunis (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Tomato Rhapsody: A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit (Hardcover)

(What's this?)

When you've got a novel subtitled, "A Fable of Love, Lust & Forbidden Fruit," what's not to like? Well, a few things, actually, but overall this debut novel is a charmer. It is being marketed as a comic romance between Jewish tomato farmer Davido and Catholic olive farmer Mari. And it is--but the star-crossed lovers don't even lay eyes upon each other for nearly 100 pages. Their story is one of many taking place in an unnamed 16th century Tuscan village.

There we meet Davido's Nonno (grandfather), who was introduced to the exotic tomato during his travels with Christopher Columbus in the new world. We meet Mari's disabled mother and villainous stepfather, Giuseppe and Giuseppe's conflicted henchman, Benito. Much of village life revolves around the church, and the Good Padre of this church is truly unique--from his all-embracing heart right down to his purple skin! We meet many other residents of the town: an outspoken housewife, a tolerant cheese maker, an intolerant butcher, a one-testicled tavern owner, and a very wise fool. To this cast of characters add Cosimo di Pucci de Meducci, III, grand Duke of Tuscany, and his chef, Luigi, who find their way to this back water town separately, and who each discover that this little village meets needs in themselves they never knew existed.

Beyond being a mere comedy or romance, this is a story of ignorance and anti-Semitism and of the struggle of good people for tolerance. And it is the story of the comfort and peace found in the Catholic Church. It is a story of village life, and a love song to the joys of Mediterranean food. I defy you to get through this novel without, at the very least, ordering in a pizza.

I found myself smiling throughout this quirky comic novel, but I will acknowledge that Tomato Rhapsody is not without its flaws, and will not be appreciated by all readers. It is Adam Schell's debut, and he is still learning to use the tools of his craft: exposition, character development, plotting, etc. He's experimenting a bit wildly with other tools: foreshadowing, flashbacks, direct address, symbolism, archetypes, footnotes, etc. I didn't agree with all of his choices, but most of the faults were forgivable.

The bigger problems are that this novel is told in archaic-sounding language. Large sections of the dialogue are spoken in rhyme. (A sort of medieval rap, if you will.) And parts of this comic novel are crude or downright lewd. Many readers will find one or more of these elements extremely off-putting. Simply put, this novel is NOT for everyone.

I would suggest as a litmus test that you ask yourself how likely you would be to sit down and read a Shakespearian comedy? That, of course, refers only to style, and isn't meant to suggest in any way that Schell's work is in the same ballpark. No, it's strange, and quirky, and flawed. But I liked it. And I smiled while I read it. I'm being a little generous with my four-star review, but I think there will be critics aplenty. I just wanted to applaud an author going out on a limb. I may never look at a tomato the same way again.