Rating: 
Summary: An extensive and exhilarating menu
Review: Jim Crace has done it again! This author's richly faceted mind manages to find succinct stories from the most bizarre premises. Whether he is re-telling the Jesus-in-the-wilderness tale from the bible, or exploring the decaying bodies of an older married couple to dissect their premorbid lives, or, as in this instance, pausing on any number of theme and variations on the food fugue, he is extraordinarily successful. Why? The answer lies not only in the fact that he has a startlingly rich fantasy life, but that he is a consummately fine writer. Many of the 64 flights of fancy which comprise "The Devil's Larder" suggest free association thoughts that each of us encounters when a visual or gustatory or aural stimulus springs us forward into a sea of memory - stories read before, moments of orgiastic pleasure or flight and fright response. Crace uses such streams of conscious associations and brings them to the table for our feasting. The stories (or thoughts written) at first seem to be completely unrelated, but just as it is difficult not to leave fingerprints behind on the history of our fantasies, Crace creates or encounters wholly believable characters in the space of a few paragraphs or sentences and these creations are indelibly Crace. What a craftsman....and what a writer. These pages contain some of the most visual poetry being written today! Where will he take us next?
Rating: 
Summary: Ok if you're really bored...
Review: This collection of short tales built on the theme of food is well-written, inventive ... but an hour after reading is it easily erased from memory. In short, great reading when you're constantly being interrupted. The "great" themes: how to time a soft-boiled egg by a hymn; death by botulism; fondue cheese fight ... Although I'm fond of Crace and these stories are enjoyable, there is far too much better literature for me to recoment you spend your time on these.
Rating: 
Summary: Pleasant little nothings
Review: This collection of short tales built on the theme of food is well-written, inventive ... but an hour after reading is it easily erased from memory. In short, great reading when you're constantly being interrupted. The "great" themes: how to time a soft-boiled egg by a hymn; death by botulism; fondue cheese fight ... Although I'm fond of Crace and these stories are enjoyable, there is far too much better literature for me to recoment you spend your time on these.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Short-Short Stories
Review: What a beautiful little book! I first read Jim Crace with his book Quarantine and I also read Being Dead--a very good book. This book, however, is the best of the lot. Yes, it is brief but its language is beautiful and its themes varied. It is at times funny, thought-provoking, poignant and always lovely.It is not, in fact, a novel but rather 64 short vignettes. As the title implies, the connecting theme throughout the stories is the appearance of food in one way or another. I had thought that I might point out what some of the better vignettes are but they are all so good and they are so varied that I can't pick just a few to discuss without denigrating others without reason. This is a very short book that can easily be read in one sitting so give it a try. Then, once you've read it once, go back and read it again, bit by bit. It's worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Short-Short Stories
Review: What a beautiful little book! I first read Jim Crace with his book Quarantine and I also read Being Dead--a very good book. This book, however, is the best of the lot. Yes, it is brief but its language is beautiful and its themes varied. It is at times funny, thought-provoking, poignant and always lovely. It is not, in fact, a novel but rather 64 short vignettes. As the title implies, the connecting theme throughout the stories is the appearance of food in one way or another. I had thought that I might point out what some of the better vignettes are but they are all so good and they are so varied that I can't pick just a few to discuss without denigrating others without reason. This is a very short book that can easily be read in one sitting so give it a try. Then, once you've read it once, go back and read it again, bit by bit. It's worth it.
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