As below or at http://www.acommonreader.org.uk/2008/... those who read and enjoyed Cooking with Fernet Branca, this will be a welcome sequel. Gerald S...moreAs below or at http://www.acommonreader.org.uk/2008/... those who read and enjoyed Cooking with Fernet Branca, this will be a welcome sequel. Gerald Samper, is still living in Tuscany and ghost-writing biographies for well-known sports people, but this time his subject is Millie Cleat, a particularly obnoxious round-the-world sailor. Samper loathes his subject (as usual), apparently hating sport in all its forms, while being eternally doomed to write about it - a situation in which he finds his personal hell.[return][return]During her voyage, Millie Cleat manages to sabotage a hugely expensive international maritime expedition, by sailing right through the middle of the fleet of scientific vessels at a critical time causing them to abort their researches. She is blithely unaware of what she has done, but having irked the scientists, they themselves try to undermine her success by making a total fool of her, via Gerald Samper.[return][return]Samper is as precious as before, being a lover of exotic recipes (insects and obscure offal being among his recipe ingredients). He is pretentious and generally contemptuous of his fellow human beings, with few redeeming features, other than an acid tongue and a wicked sense of humour.[return][return]There are many humorous episodes in the book, some of which make the book dangerous reading for users of public transport, wwherer there out-loud laughing may attract some strange looks. However, the humour is rather rarified and would not appeal to everybody, as the book is quite dense and requires a degree of concentration if it is to be fully appreciated.[return][return]As usual, I find myself noting the similarities between the Gerald Samper of James Hamilton Paterson and the Tarquin Winot of John Lanchester in his book, “The Debt to Pleasure”. Both writers use the device of providing esoteric recipes in their novels, and the characters are so similar as to be almost indistinguishable. However, Paterson seems to be developing his character beyond his debut and I look forward to further novels in the same series.(less)
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