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Jan 12, 2009

Jess rated it:

So great. This book was hilarious and dark and bitter and in parts so so wrong. I loved it! There were sentences that were so perfect that I had to re-read them and share them aloud. Part of me secretly wishes I could be more like Hugo: brutally honest, crusty, self-indulgent and totally not care what other people think of me. I had a very slight problem was the ending, which I won't spoil. I was hoping it would turn out differently, left up to the imagination and not as optimistic--perhaps Hugo More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Wyma rated it:

Let's make that a 3.5 rating. The writing is really quite good; it gets a tad longish and overwrought like the narrator at times.

Hugo is an aging,handsome man living in an aged, handsome mansion and both are falling apart. He is comforted by the fact of the house's coming demise even as he is determined that his own "shambolic frame" will not go out with a whimper, but a banged-up cocktail of hillbilly heroin and alcohol. Then his brother Dennis arrives to live with him More...

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Oct 07, 2011

Kasia rated it:

How can one even begin to describe the symphony of words and ideas that this brilliant author has woven into a magnificent tale of life, love and the true meaning of having control over any of it? It's books such as this one that move me, they make my insides tremble and hands shake in anticipation of what is going to happen next. Even before I got to the end it struck me that this was the best book I have ever read, my favorite novel; spicy, cynical, opulent, and extremely witty. I guess I can More...

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Jul 05, 2011

Kirstie rated it:

Ugh..I wrote a decently long review and Goodreads didn't save it. Suffice it to say that I thought the writing of this novel was better than average but it lost me at the ending. Also, I'm the type of person who tends to have to like the protagonist in fiction novels and I found the charisma of this man to be too manipulative and even pathetic.

Some great things about the main character is that he's a misanthrope and has a dark sort of wit about him. He tends to be brutally honest More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 17, 2009

Joyce rated it:

An amusing book. Sometimes snarky & vulgar, but sometimes tender and insightful. The main character, Hugo Whittier, is living out his declining years on the family's once-grand estate, Waverly, which overlooks the Hudson. Hugo has Buerger's disease, caused and advanced by his heavy smoking. He's content to die rather than quit.

So smoking is Hugo's great pleasure and sex (or cooking) is a clear second, but still a strong contender. Hugo was quite the rake. Back in the day, he was a gigo More...

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Jul 18, 2009

Sarah rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Jul 18, 2010

Robin rated it:

Written by the same author as "The Great Man" and "Jeremy Thrane". Kate Christensen is definitely an author I seek out. She has a way with words that I really enjoy. Written from "Hugo's" point of view, this is the story of a 40 year old man who has a disease that is going to cause his death soon if he doesn't stop smoking. He is not willing to do that because if he were to give up that love, he may as well be dead anyway. He has lived a reclusive life for the More...

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Nov 16, 2009

Alex rated it:

Kate Christensen's The Epicure's Lament is a thoroughly entertaining read. Though there isn't much in the way of narrative thrust or, frankly, any terrific resonance, the narrator's erudite biliousness is a scintillating treat.
Ensconced in an ancestral upstate manse and fortified with family-derived funds, he is committed to a solitary existence and intent on an early demise. Hugo continues to smoke profusely even though it exacerbates- to the point of fatality- a diagnosed medical condit More...

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Nov 08, 2008

Jan rated it:

whoa. why did it take me this long to read kate christensen? she is amazing! i loved this book for its offbeat (and yet not pretentious) protagonist. anti-protaganist? he's both anti and pro and a lot of things in between. the descriptions and settings are beautifully rendered, and the black humor is spot-on. smart and sophisticated, yet as raunchy and debauched as the best bukowski. did i mention i loved it?

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Mar 23, 2009

Neil rated it:

The character of Hugo Whittier has to be one of the great fictional creations, a real nasty piece of work but still strangely likeable. He's a forty-year-old failed poet and essayist whose life gave him enough ill turns--a lousy childhood, a cheating wife--that he's closed himself up in the family estate and decided to smoke himself to death. He loves Montaigne, M.F.K. Fisher, cooking, eating, and sex, but not enough to stay around.

When his older brother, a solid, duty-bound type thr More...

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Aug 03, 2009

Djrmel rated it:

Telling a story about an anti-hero is a tricky balancing act. The "anti" portion of the character doesn't lend itself to arc or development. If not handled correctly, they turn into a plot device that the other characters react to, and the protagonist goes no where. Christensen more than handles that problem with Hugo, the self-exhiled, self-destructive, self-centered man who tells us his story through a set of journals he writes in what he expects to be his final months. Hugo has More...

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Mar 25, 2008

Ann rated it:

A protagonist as neurotic as Niles and as sex-obsessed as Jack of Sideways, and a gourmet cook, to boot. What's not to like? Seriously, all the characters are well-developed and individual (with the possible exception of Schlomo) and the story is very compelling. I enjoyed this a lot, and found much to relate to. I'll be looking for Kate Christensen's other books.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 19, 2009

RJ rated it:

I very much enjoyed The Great Man by Christensen a few months ago. This book is structured around the musings of 40 year old dying trust fund baby in upstate NY. He's dying because he wont stop smoking. He lives alone and reviles most everything and everyone, exceptions being women he wants to "bone". Lovely. His life is upended when his brother, estranged wife and daughter (which he adamantly protests is not his) return to the family home. The protagonist in this book was very a More...

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Jan 20, 2008

Emily rated it:

The wonderfully misanthropic Hugo Whittier narrates this account of his life after many years of a hermit-like existence are interrupted as his relatives and ex-wife descend upon his house. Perfect reading for a dark, ornery mood, or even if you are just in the mood for a well-executed turn of phrase.

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Nov 17, 2008

Maggie rated it:

I enjoyed this book; the protagonist reminds me a lot of House. Christensen's mastery of the language is superb, on par with Henry Miller. (and we all know how I feel about Henry Miller)

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 27, 2011

Kasia rated it:

How can one even begin to describe the symphony of words and ideas that this brilliant author has woven into a magnificent tale of life, love and the true meaning of having control over any of it? It's books such as this one that move me, they make my insides tremble and hands shake in anticipation of what is going to happen next. Even before I got to the end it struck me that this was the best book I have ever read, my favorite novel; spicy, cynical, opulent, and extremely witty. I guess I can More...

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Aug 05, 2011

Cher rated it:

The other readers on Visual Bookshelf gave this very mixed reviews probably because the several of the characters are not terribly symphathetic. However, Hugo, the main character, rung true to me. He prefers his own company to that of others, choosing a good book, a fine meal, an aged whiskey to the mindless social exchanges required of everyday interaction. Sure, he takes his misanthrophy and isolation to an extreme, but, hey, we all have our issues... This book is loaded with dark humor and More...

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Dec 26, 2011

yb rated it:

I would rate this a closer to 3.5 stars. The protagonist/narrator, Hugo Whittier, is a narcissistic, pretentious git who spend his life thinking about food, sex, cigarettes, and how much he hates his family. But he is also hilariously funny, and Christensen clearly enjoys wallowing in Hugo's vices. In the end, the story is thin, but the prose is thoroughly entertaining.

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Feb 21, 2011

Meredith rated it:

unsettlingly similar plot to the shroud by john banville but far trashier and therefore more entertaining. i started epicure's lament because i'd read a streak of unengaging books and needed something to get me out of my funk. steven scarborough recommended kate christensen. i started with the great man and would return to her again next time the desire for well-written pulp fiction arises. i wish i knew more erudite/trashy writers!

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Jun 09, 2010

Jgknobler rated it:

This novel is about an isolated, alienated man whose life is suddenly intruded upon by various needy people. It is written with great stylishness and wit, and should have been more enjoyable, but the protagonist is unpleasant. I think he is meant to evoke Humbert Humbert, but it doesn't quite work. This is also one of those books with a lot of good cooking thrown in.

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Jan 17, 2011

Michaela rated it:

I would give this 3.5 stars. (Upgraded to 4 stars for language and snark.) It was refreshing from a narrative standpoint to have a protagonist who is an unrepentant asshole. And who furthermore knows he is one. Plus a great quote and great recipe embedded in the story are bonuses. Worth the read.

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Jan 09, 2009

Anisha rated it:

About half-way through the book - the writing is crisp, almost hard, which is what gives me so much pleasure. I can't help however having the sense that the main character is somewhat pretentious - I don't whether whether this is deliberate or whether it is a an unconscious creation of the author.

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Feb 18, 2011

Susan rated it:

I really got a kick out of this book. The main character is so grating and awful (though he loves MFK Fisher as I do, a redeeming quality), such a caricature of a person, the effect is pretty entertaining. Also set in the part of the world where I grew up (Hudson River Valley). Quick, fun read!

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Mar 28, 2011

Kathleen rated it:

I love Kate Christensen, and I don't understand why she is not better known. This book is so smart, and the narrator is a hilarious misanthrope. I laughed out loud many times at the dark, cynical sarcasm, and all the talk of the delights of food and drink was a nice touch.

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May 24, 2008

Ellen rated it:

I freely admit that the protagonist of this book may not charm everyone the way he did me. On the surface of it, Hugo Whittier is a difficult character to love. An irascible, misanthropic hermit with alcoholic tendencies and a smoking habit that is killing him, Hugo finds his happy solitude at the decaying family mansion on the Hudson River disrupted when his much-loathed older brother and his estranged wife and daughter return to live with him.

Family drama, black-belt level passiv More...

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Nov 23, 2010

Julie rated it:

Not for everybody, perhaps, but I think this book is genius. I read it for my Medicine and Literature class, and we are having interesting discussions, to say the least. Full of sentences/passages that stopped me cold; many of them also made me laugh, darkly.

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Nov 06, 2010

Terri added it

I didn't finish this book even though I picked it for book club. I started to read it and hated everything about it. Usually I'll finish any book I start -- particularly if it's for book club but I couldn't make that happen with the Epicure's Lament.

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Nov 04, 2009

Aviva marked it as to-read

This is probably the only time I'll write something about a book I haven't read yet, but I've got a personal story about it. Although I've not yet read any of her books, I actually have met Ms. Christensen, through her sister who's a friend of mine. I've been meaning to read some of her work for ages, so when I saw a bunch of signed copies at one of my favorite bookstores, (Elliott Bay Books in Seattle), I had to buy one! Looking forward to reading it! Aside from the "small world" conn More...

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Feb 16, 2009

Ikonopeiston rated it:

I loved this book so much I could not bear to finish it. So I dragged out the last pages for more than a week, reading a phrase, rolling it on my mental tongue, then reading it again and again.

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Mar 28, 2010

Kimie rated it:

I loved the humor in this book. There are some things you have to get over but through out the book the character redeems himself. I could definitely revisit this book since I haven't read it in years.

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