Rating: 
Summary: The Debt to Pleasure is a pleasure itself
Review: I love reading about food - whether it be a description in a novel or a book specifically written about food. This is somewhere in the middle - a novel which is a parody of the foodie memoir.The narrator Tarquin is a self-important snob, travelling from the UK to his home in Provence. He shares his thoughts on food and recipes, and also fills in the reader about his past. We learn that not only is he deluded about his own ability and living under the shadow of his world-renowned artist brother; but slowly we discover he is a very devious character as well. This is a well written, funny story, and has the requisite yummy food writing (highly inspiring!) but it loses a star because of Tarquin's long winded philosophical discourses. I know it's a parody but....
Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: I enjoyed this book more as I got further into it, for obvious reasons. As a lay person reading this book that was given to me by a friend, I found it at first very hard to get into. But as I learned more about Tarquin, the more I became fascinated with his psychological dichotemy. Looking back at the beginning of the book after finishing it, I could see the progression of the character in a more revealing light. Definitely worth the first (and second) read. I only docked it a start because, as I mentioned before, I think the casual reader may be turned off in the beginning of the book and miss out on this wonderful narrative by not pressing onward.
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