"How ironic! After decades of grub, deluges of wine and alcohol of every sort, after a life spent in butter, cream, rich sauces, and oil in constant, knowingly orchestrated and meticulously cajoled excess, my trustiest right-hand men, Sir Liver and his associate Stomach, are doing marvelously well and it is my heart that is giving out. I am dying of cardiac insufficiency. What a bitter pill to swallow." As soon as I read those words (which can be found on page two), I was hooked. Barbery, you la...

Having read The Elegance of the Hedgehog I was interested to read this parallel story of a gourmet food critic who lived in the same apartment as Renee. This story describes the final hours of the critics life as he tries to recall a forgotten taste. I didn't enjoy this and became bored with the descriptions of food.

Gourmet Rhapsody is a series of vignettes centering around revered, revolutionary food critic Pierre Arthens, on his deathbed, searching his memory for a singular, life-defining flavor. Alternating with Arthens' memories are the musings of a host of other entities, including family, friends (as much as he can be said to have any), his pet cat, and even a sculpture sitting in his apartment, on their relationship with this incredibly polarizing man. The critic is in turns crucified and admired, an...

This short novel is a little gem, perfect in its cut, its inner glow, its tints that change depending on the light and the way you look at it. It is totally brilliant in the set up: a genial restaurant critic lying on his deathbed, ruminating on the various culinary delights he has experienced in his life, and in doing so we discover how he thinks and feels, memories that are dear to him, and how he grew up. Then in subsequent chapters, we get to see him from the point of view of his wife, his l...

I loved Elegance of the Hedgehog, primarily because Barbery created two characters who, although deeply flawed and often annoying, were so obviously vulnerable and sad that one (I) couldn't help but feel deeply for them. That story unfolded as carefully and precisely as an origami swan, revealing deeper nuance of character with each alternating chapter, bringing two very isolated and lonely characters together (through plot, character and symbolically). It also took broad and very funny swipes a...

I know this is my pre-teen, Nancy-Drew-loving self that is saying this, but I will say it anyway: I hope Muriel Barbery writes a book about EVERY SINGLE PERSON at 17 Rue de Grenelle. I loved _The Elegance of the Hedgehog_, and was enchanted to find this new novel by Barbery. This one which concerns Pierre Arthens, who makes one supremely unpleasant visit to the heroine of _Hedgehog_ before dying and leaving his flat vacant. Let me say upfront: He is unpleasant in this one too. But this time we s...

Where I got the book: from The Book Depository.After my tear-soaked, ecstatic reaction to The Elegance of the Hedgehog , I was eager to read Une Gourmandise (I had it in its original French) or Gourmet Rhapsody if you're reading the translation. It's Barbery's first novel (Elegance is the second and last to date, the first to be published) and deals with the same apartment building in Paris. This time it's about the penthouse tenant, the food critic Pierre Arthens, who is dying and searching

I read this with excitement, (okay, listened on audio....) because Elegance of The Hedgehog was a book that I loved on so many levels. I was nervous as this book gets a wide range of mixed reviews, and some of them are pretty harsh. Right off the bat I was intrigued by the lyrical nature of this book. It is descriptive, poetic, sensual and erotic but it is all about food. Note the following...."No one was the least bit hungry anymore, but that is precisely what is so good about the moment devote...

If you loved _The Elegance of the Hedgehog_, you may be able to tolerate this. If, however you found yourself skipping major sections of the pretentious, florid prose and navel-gazing, you won't find this much an improvement. Originally published in 2000, but re-released after the success of _Hedgehog_, _Gourmet Rhapsody_ focuses on another resident of the swanky rue de Grenelle apartment house, Pierre Arthens, the illustrious, arrogant food critic. Dying of heart disease, Arthens tortures his m...

Food has become a very controversial subject, many arguing that education levels, income, and race unfairly dictate the availability of fresh foods and vegetables in low-income American neighborhoods. Though Muriel Barbery (The Elegance of the Hedgehog) does not focus specifically on these issues in her recent novel Gourmet Rhapsody, the division between the working class and the wealthy as it pertains to food and quality of life is often glaringly apparent in the story.The premise of the novel

Pierre Arthens, France’s most formidable food critic, is on his deathbed reliving his most memorable meals and searching for one flavor to experience again before he dies. He’s proud of his accomplishments – “I have covered the entire range of culinary art, for I am an encyclopedic esthete who is always one dish ahead of the game” – and expresses no remorse for his affairs and his coldness as a father. This takes place in the same apartment building as The Elegance of the Hedgehog and is in shor...

After the joy, wonder and affirmation of life that I found in The Elegance of the Hedgehog, Gourmet Rhapsody was a disappointment. There is no plot here, no real story, just a collection of rhapsodic culinary memories by a food critic who lay dying in the his Parisian apartment building. There is also commentary by his family, neighbors and Rick, the cat. Pierre Arthens, this critic of enormous appetite and reputation, is feared and loathed by most (except Rick); he is a cold and distant father,...

I initially wrote 3.5, not worth rounding up, but the more I reflect on it and talk about the book with others, the more I think it's a 2.5, rounded up to 3. I loved the structure of the novel, alternating chapters between the perspective of a dying man and those who were in his circle. I loved the premise - the man has spent his life as a food critic and is trying to recapture the experience of one particular flavor before he dies, but he is not sure which flavor that is, so he must go on a jou...

Do you know how hard it is to write an engaging book of a life, based on taste? Yet, Muriel Barbery does it extremely well in this short, tasty morsel of a book.This one expands on the life of the despicable food critic Monsieur Arthens who makes a brief but interesting entrance and exit in The Elegance of the Hedgehog. In this book, it is Arthens last 48 hours on Earth and through his voice and the voices of his family, friends, coworkers, and pets the reader gets his whole life described in va...

Just a perfect Esther book! Whole book is set over 48 hours in which an esteemed and feared food critic is dying. Chapters of him remembering his life and most important food memories are interspersed with chapters from other characters perspectives of what an awful man he was. I just loved the food descriptions, especially him eating grilled sardines in Italy mm mm mmmmmmmmmm

I am the greatest food critic in the world. It is I who has taken this minor art and raised it to a rank of utmost prestige. Everyone knows my name, from Paris to Rio, Moscow to Brazaville, Saigon o Melbourne and Acapulco. I have made, and unmade, reputations, and at sumptuous banquets I have been the knowing and merciless maitre d'oeuvre, expediting to the four corners of the globe the salt or honey of my pen, to newspapers and broadcasts and various forums, where I have been repeatedly invite

Muriel Barbery's The Elegance of the Hedgehog is a tough act to follow, but I think she almost manages to do just that with this one. Terrifically reminiscent of the other book, the story takes place in the same building, and there is a fleeting glimpse of Renee the reticent concierge who was the protagonist of The Elegance of the Hedgehog.Monsieur Arthens, a much-feared and revered food critic in equal measure, lays dying in his posh Paris apartment. Pierre Arthens has good reason for his repug...

Just an amazing start to the year. God I love great food writing! Loved the format, loved the exploration of different formative gastronomical moments - it made me want to think of my own.

I was really hoping for the supporting characters of this book to become important or involved in some kind of twist, in some kind of big revelation.As the blurb will tell you this is a book about a famous and powerful, but cold-hearted food critic dying. Meanwhile he is trying to remember one last vital taste that will tell him who he is before he dies. Every other chapter is him reminiscing about the food that he’s eaten throughout his life, often rustic food not served in gourmet restaurants