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Jan 04, 2012

Joan rated it:

This is my second, or maybe even third reading of Liquor. After having read The Value of X, I decided to go back to where I began my acquaintance with Rickey and G-Man.

I loved it even more this time. When we meet Rickey and G-Man, they are working separate jobs, living together, and perpetually exhausted. When Rickey has a flare-up with Mike Mouton, the drug-addled and homophobic restaurant manager where he works, he quits his job and finds a position at the bar where G-Man is cooking More...

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Aug 10, 2010

Kassa rated it:

Liquor may not be perfect but like any great drink with ingredients that shouldn’t go together but do, you simply enjoy the ride and ignore the aftertaste. The mix of fantastic New Orleans setting, great foodie descriptions, an intimate knowledge of the underbelly of the cooking scene, and some interesting characters combine to create a fun book with a hefty dose of classic New Orleans style. On the downside, the characters are flat and predictable, from beginning to end, and the mystery is so o More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 12, 2011

Shnedwards rated it:

It's difficult to decide what I thought of this book. I'm not sure what it's meant to be. Is it a thriller? It's pretty short on thrills for a thriller. Neil Gaiman describes it as a "roller-coaster ride" on the front cover. Neil Gaiman must have been on some shit rollercoasters. It strolls along at a leisurely pace: Some guys have an idea for a restaurant. They open a restaurant. There's a load of stuff about cooking in it. And a plot thread involving a paranoid cokehead which doesn't More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2009

Patricia rated it:

I read this several months after returning home from a Hurricane Katrina-induced exile. Maybe it was the heightened emotions of that time period, but I found myself alternately laughing out loud, nodding vigorously, and even wiping away tears while reading this book.

It's like A Confederacy of Dunces: if you're from New Orleans, or have lived there, you'll get it. You'll recognize ya Mam an' ems. You'll say, uh huh, I know these people. Know that guy. Yeah, know that guy too. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 07, 2010

Deborah rated it:

PZB goes from writing cult teen horror novels to writing about chefs in New Orleans? We'd passed around Drawing Blood in high school like it was treasure, savoring the angst and the blood and the angsty sex and the artsy blood and gore, and then I was 30 years old and in a tourist shop in New Orleans and her new series was featured on a prominent table? PZB featured in a gift shop full of mainly southern tourists? Never mind that Anne Rice is writing about Jesus in the first person. Is this More...

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Nov 24, 2008

Nick rated it:

I liked it more than I thought it would. Most of the characters were pretty flat, none of the gay male characters reminded me of any gay men I'd actually met (also, seriously, what grown man with no connection to the hip-hop scene calls himself G-man?), there were exactly two female characters who had more than a line of dialogue and they were perfect cutouts of each other (blasé, "angry young feminist" bartenders), and in classic PZB fashion ninety percent of the dialogue was horrible More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 17, 2011

Goose rated it:

When my partner suggested I read this book, I thought "Why". I had never read Poppy Z. Brite and didn't think she wrote anything I would be interested in. Boy, was I wrong. I really liked this tale of New Orleans gay losers who work hard to overcome obstacles big and small, many self produced, to open a restaurant at which each menu item contains some sort of liquor. Though some of the supporting cast were "straight" out of central casting, over all the book was a delightfull More...

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Jan 19, 2011

Our Library rated it:

In a city where consuming alcohol in public is not only legal, it’s almost compulsory, what better theme for a restaurant than for each dish to highlight a different alcoholic beverage? This is the premise of New Orleans author Poppy Z Brite’s book Liquor, where we follow the lives of two chefs – Rickey and G-man as they make their dream a reality.

New Orleans can be a rough and ready city and the language in the kitchens is often colourful to say the least. Without a doubt, the reader More...

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Dec 06, 2009

Louise rated it:

Je viens d'achever la lecture de l'avant dernier bébé d'une de mes auteurs favoris, Poppy Z. Brite: Alcool.
Verdict: assez déçue! On est très loin des Ames perdues ou du Corps Exquis qui ne pouvaient laisser personne indifférent. Alcool m'apparaît, en comparaison, très insipide, même si le sujet est assez intéressant.
Je qualifierai donc cet ouvrage de "sympathique", c'est à dire sans "plus" ni "moins": une lecture agréable qui laissera peu de souvenir, en More...

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Dec 17, 2009

BarkLessWagMore rated it:

The story begins in a pre-Katrina New Orleans with two out of work line cooks sitting in a tree while getting drunk. So far, this book is a big departure from Brite's earlier work. So far no explicit sex or gore just lots of great descriptions of New Orlean's and food and life as a line cook (a job I'm glad I never tried out!).

The two out of work drunkards concoct a business idea that might actually work out, a liquor based gourmet restaurant. The book mainly concerns these two, thei More...

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Dec 26, 2011

MandyM rated it:

I loved this tale of two line cooks who live their dream amid a cast of colourful characters in the Big Easy. It totally immerses you in the atmosphere of New Orleans and the culture of restaurants and food preparation. There is a little touch of romance and some mystery thrown in. Great writing. I love Rickey and G-Man and will definitely read more of their adventures. More for fans of general fiction novels than m/m romance, although the first book in the series The Value of X is much more rom More...

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Jun 25, 2010

Althea rated it:

I've been planning on reading this book since it came out (yep, I guess six years is about an average lag-time for me to get around to reading something.)
Of course I heard all about what a shocking departure this was from her earlier writing, blah blah...
Well, it's really not. (Shocking, or a departure).
No, it's not a horror novel, but the writing style is the same, and her protagonists are still two cute gay boys in New Orleans. This couple just happen to be chefs.
Obviou More...

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Jun 16, 2011

Dawnekins rated it:

It was ok but took a long time to read; and honestly was a let down after reading her earlier work. I think she was meant to write far more disturbing and graphic novels. She clearly has a gift for exactly that, and why she would give it up to just write about the social lives of up and coming chefs is anyone's guess... what bugs me though, is i think i read or heard that her husband is a chef... if so, it just seems like she's "settling" and writing about material in front of her at More...

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Mar 25, 2010

Kate rated it:

I've always liked Poppy Brite's books, but this one really is a step up from her previous works. The narrative is more mature, and the flow is very tight. I was getting very hungry reading this book, because the description of all the food sounded so delicious. Rickey and G-Man's relationship was also very sweet and flowed wonderfully. They are completely adorable and I love the dynamic of them being an old-married couple, and yet still being very passionate for each other. I definitely can More...

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Jun 02, 2011

Valeriane rated it:

J'ai dévoré ce bouquin en octobre dernier. J'ai adoré ce bouquin qui m'a complètement fait adhérer à Poppy Z. Brite. J'ai ajouté à ma PAL le tome suivant, La Belle rouge. Je n'ai pas encore lu cette suite. Quand j'aime, je fais un peu trainer, un peu comme un chocolat qu'on fait fondre sous la langue. Ou alors, c'est l'idée de savoir qu'il y a une suite qui m'attend qui me rassure. Je sais que je pourrais encore découvrir un nouveau titre de cet auteur.
Dans ce roman, on fait la rencontre de More...

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Oct 26, 2008

Jennifer rated it:

I've been following Poppy Brite's blog (docbrite.livejournal.com) since not long after Katrina hit New Orleans, but this is the first of her books I've actually picked up.

I read it in a day, but I had a hard time putting my finger on what was so gripping about it. The writing is passable, certainly not outstanding. Some of the characters are rather flat. But Brite captures a place and a mood and a time so vividly that it's hard to stop reading.

The book is about two New More...

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Nov 26, 2011

Jen rated it:

Certainly a change of pace from her previous explorations in horror, such as "Lost Souls," "Drawing Blood", and "Exquisite Corpse," the Liquor series, of which this is the first book, is nonetheless a fantastic read with characters that feel like good friends. Of course, I could be saying that because I've read it about 10 times or so. Set in New Orleans, a city I visited once and promptly fell in love with, it's a lively look into the restaurant industry and the More...

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Nov 02, 2010

Edward rated it:

New Orleans, sports, the Ninth Ward, uptown, and a brilliant look at the inside of commercial kitchens in the city. Poppy done good with this novel. I read Liquor just before the storm, meant to keep going with the series, and got distracted a bit by the events of the fall of 2005. Re-read Liquor over the summer, then bought Prime and Soul Kitchen as e-books foor my Nook. With all my travel this summer, it was a good anchor back to home.

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Sep 25, 2010

Soopaseb rated it:

really good book : you can smell all the scents involved in all the recipes, don't have to be hungry or you will suffer !
the scenario is quite simple and not really innovative (the 2 guys are they gonna manage to open their own restaurant and will it be a success ? tadam !), but you are captivated by the way Poppy Z. Brite depicted the chefs' world in NOLA.

If you watched Treme, it is a perfect way to go on your Louisiana trip !

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Jan 06, 2011

Lena rated it:

Big ups for the back of house discussion. I loved the restaurant life and cooking descriptions, but then again, those arenas are close to my heart. The understated relationship between the chefs/partners appealed to me as well, but the overall plot, character growth, all that jazz - could have used some depth and complexity. But, at bottom, an easy and enjoyable read if you like yummy eats.

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Aug 27, 2009

Lightreads rated it:

Two New Orleans gay chefs live the dream and open up their own restaurant. There's also a vague crime/danger plot, but mostly this is just a book about food. This book made me want to eat things I don't even like.

I needed this today. It's fun and soaked in restaurant culture, with a generally interesting M/M long-term relationship around the edges. A light-weight escapist good time.

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Jul 27, 2011

Jayne added it

It's starts okay but I didn't find the characters interesting enough to really keep the story moving. As much as I love food, I think the descriptions were too much for me. Plus, this novel was in the horror section and it's not that kind of book. I guess because its called liquor, the story might try and do something like tie it in with "spirits", but it didn't.

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Nov 20, 2008

Rosary rated it:

I had great fun reading this. I adored the characters, who felt like real peopl I had grown up around in New Orleans.

I enjoyed the way New orleans was captured in the story. I read these whenever I am homesick for New Orleans.

I also enjoy the sneak peek into the food scene.

All in all, I throughly enjoyed this novel and its sequels.

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Mar 11, 2009

april violet rated it:

I like the concept of Liquor, but the narration is more straight-forward than I'd prefer and the way the story unfolds isn't very compelling. I wonder about the outcome if PZB nurtured this novel more. Granted, some parts are funny, especially when certain eating establishments are lampooned. The information about food, the restaurant industry, and New Orleans is what made me stick with Liquor to the end.

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Apr 26, 2011

Suzydfc rated it:

I had read Poppy Z. Brite in my goth days in high school, and this foodie's wet dream of a book is a far cry from her horror novels of yesteryear. The writing and details are superb, and excellent for anyone who like a little tension in their stories. I will be tracking down and reading Prime, the next story in the adventures of Ricky and G-Man.

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Dec 30, 2010

Dianne rated it:

A big fan of 'Lost Souls' by this same author, I was a little afraid to give this book a try and be disappointed. Hardly that. Fell in love with the characters and had fun revisiting New Orleans. Brite has a way of dragging you into a characters head and messing with you. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

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Nov 03, 2009

Kati rated it:

A book about liquor, New Orleans, friendship and love. That sums it up pretty well. Reading the book, you fairly feel how much the author loves New Orleans, its people and cooking - through tiny things she shows you how much she knows about the city, how deeply she understands it.

The love between Rickey and G-man is not only touching, but also quite realistic - they are not perfect, they have their flaws but they are still each other's world. Their love is simply there, it's not " More...

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Jan 02, 2010

Theri rated it:

I read this in an afternoon. It's a fun and breezy tale about two unemployed chefs and lovers attempting to open a restaurant in New Orleans. Poppy Z. Brite is the first to tell you that she's changed a lot since her earlier horror books, but I still find her writing intoxicating, and I really loved these characters.

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Dec 17, 2009

Casey rated it:

I've stayed away from Poppy Z. Brite because the only book I'd read of hers was very violent and gory. Not my cup of tea.

Saw this series recommended on Live Journal because it had a long term gay couple in it. Since I love that kind of book, and saw a comment that she had left the excessive violence behind, I thought I would give her another try.

It was good but not great. I like the characters but, as much as I love to eat, I'm not a foodie. So much was spent in talking a More...

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Dec 11, 2010

Coren rated it:

Leaving the goth scene far behind, Brite nevertheless remains with her beloved New Orleans and in the series of books about chefs and restaurants (yes, chefs and restaurants) has launched two of her most lovable characters. Very quirky, very good fun, and very well written.

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