A great food critic who can make or destroy the reputation of a chef with a stroke of his pen, Pierre Arthens faces his imminent death by trying to recall the one perfect flavor he sampled in his youth, a flavor that he believes forms the ultimate truth of his life.
Muriel Barbery's sublime debut is comprised of the deathbed musings of a misanthropic French food critic, who happens to live in the same upscale apartment building which Barbery made famous in her second book, THE ELEGANCE OF THE HEDGEHOG. As Pierre Arthens prepares to merge with the hereafter, he desperately peruses his extensive memories of sampling and (usually) lambasting the finest foods in the world in order to determine his greatest taste. While the cruel critic escapes into his culinary remembrances, his family and other various acquaintances who do not quite qualify as friends make the obligatory pilgrimage to his side, though most of them are more concerned with verifying his death than grieving it. Despite his stubborn reticence, Arthens's passion for gastronomy makes him a pitiable figure, and his sumptuous descriptions of his most memorable meals will have readers rushing to order take-out.
- Genre: Fiction + Literature Themes, Fiction + Literature Genres
- Subgenre: Human Qualities + Behavior, Hobbies + Activities, Stages of Life, Literary
- Publisher: HighBridge Co
- Edition: Unabridged
- Language: English
- Format: audioCD
- Release Date: October 10, 2011
- Date Published: October 10, 2011
- Author: Muriel Barbery
- Narrator: Eliza Foss (Narrator), Norman Dietz (Narrator), Barbara Caruso (Narrator), Jean Brassard (Narrator)