7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
a good start, but you'll want more out of this book, February 14, 2008
This review is from: The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes (Hardcover)
Tom Parker-Bowles tried hard, but his book leaves one less than satisfied. He's a likeable guy, but not enthralling, a satisfactory writer, but not outstanding. The book often plods along with too many irrelevant references to his childhood, and the details of his time spent traveling are often pedantic overkill.
Ultimately, the book turns on its own premise. He promises you that he'll be "eating dangerously". He starts off with eels in his native England, an interesting insight to a world few will ever see. But what's dangerous about it? What's even so exotic? It's like writing about going to Louisiana to eat boudin. Not many of us do it, but it's nothing outlandish either. The idea of traveling the globe eating outrageously is hardly original, and is often hardly complimentary toward his destinations.
The exotic stuff comes in only as (1) bugs in Asia, and (2) dog in Korea. The only truly life-threatening food to eat is fugu, pufferfish, in Japan, a fish that can be fatally poisonous if not prepared correctly. But fugu is hardly a new and novel find; people have been writing about it for decades. Fugu is the only topic of the Japan chapter. Is there nothing else interesting in Japan? Other chapters deal with things such as chili sauce and American BBQ, hardly dangerous or exotic.
The worst chapter is about Korea, and it's another one-note song, about eating dog. Here he's done some research, telling us all about the horrific conditions in which the dogs are raised, and the even more horrific and cruel way they are slaughtered. He freely admits that he hates the whole idea, that it's wrong, wrong, wrong. And yet, he's going to eat it. He's not in denial; he recognizes the cognitive dissidence. But he's going to eat it. Appartantly he didn't do his research in-country, for he can't find any place to see dogs being raised and can only find one clandestine restaurant there in which to eat it. He has a bowl of dog soup, which he at first finds good, then finds disgusting, and then he flees. That's it. It's inconceivable that he flew all the way to Korea for this and could not find any more first-hand experiences to report to us.
Other chapter's foundations can be even weaker. He goes to Spain to try to join the people gathering barnacles, a practice that is horribly dangerous and requires years of skill. He announces his intention in a café, and the locals there think him imbecilic to do this just for thrill-seeking reasons. You will too. He goes to Sicily to try to have diner with a member of the Mafia. He doesn't know any Mafia people, mind you, he want to find some, with the idea that doing this stunt would be a neat thing. It's such a sophomoric scheme that you can't take him seriously at all afterwards.
Another irritant is his string of factual errors. He states that Osaka was destroyed by an atom bomb in WWII. He calls himself a gai-jin in Hong Kong (gai-jin does mean foreigner, but in Japanese, not Cantonese). And so forth. All these mistakes are small, and all could be understood and forgiven. It's just that they keep coming.
It's not all bad. His descriptions of Laos come from someone who truly appreciates the place, even if his preconceptions come off as naïve. He leaves few details out of any chapter, which is sometimes sophistic, but is often illuminating. This is a book from someone who's off to a decent start, and who should keep writing and who will probably improve, but who still has a way to go.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
More place than plate..., September 15, 2007
This review is from: The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes (Hardcover)
'The Year of Eating Dangerously' is a really good read with nine chapters based in specific locations:
Gloucestershire (hunting for elvers)
New Mexico (chillies)
China (all sorts of strange things!)
Nashville (barbecue championships)
Tokyo (puffer fish)
Korea (dog stew)
Laos (various bits and pieces)
Spain (extreme fishing with percebeiros trying to find the ultimate barnacle) and
Sicily (dinner with the mob)
Parker Bowles comes across as charming and self-aware (he knows that he's no Bourdain!) Occasionally he comes across like an overly-exuberant puppy on his quest for new tastes and flavours. But, this has to be balanced against all the times he gets horribly hung-over and is unable to taste anything. There are times when the locations seem to take over and he seems more like a frustrated travel writer rather than a gourmand!
This is a really enjoyable read, but I did prefer some chapters to others. The Nashville Barbecue and the quest for the ultimate chilli experience in New Mexico were highlights for me.
Recommended, but next time can we have a little less 'place' and a bit more 'plate'. Thanks!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Self indulgent tripe, February 13, 2008
This review is from: The Year of Eating Dangerously: A Global Adventure in Search of Culinary Extremes (Hardcover)
The problem with this book, and with the idea behind it, is that the author seems to have no self control. He gets himself appointed a judge at a barbeque contest, then gorges himself so that he can't do justice to the second half of the event. He continually gets himself so drunk on the evening before an appointment that he can't appreciate what he's doing or eating the next day because of his raging hangover. If he's going to report on the experiences for his readers, he should be a little bit responsible about it. I guess he thinks we'll feel sorry for him, and forgive him his youthful indiscretions, but not when we're paying this much for his book.
The subject has been treated better by other authors. Try Bourdain's book, and skip this one.
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