Product Description

A.A. Gill knows food, and loves food. A meal is never just a meal. It has a past, a history, connotations. It is a metaphor for life. A.A. Gill delights in decoding what lies behind the food on our plates: famously, his reviews are as much ruminations on society at large as they are about the restaurants themselves. So alongside the concepts, customers and cuisines, ten years of writing about restaurants has yielded insights on everything from yaks to cowboys, picnics to politics. TABLE TALK is an idiosyncratic selection of A.A. Gill's writing about food, taken from his Sunday Times and Tatler columns. Sometimes inspired by the traditions of a whole country, sometimes by a single ingredient, it is a celebration of what great eating can be, an excoriation of those who get it wrong, and an education about our own appetites. Because it spans a decade, the book focuses on A.A. Gill's general dining experiences rather than individual restaurants - food fads, tipping, chefs, ingredients, eating in town and country and abroad, and the best and worst dining experiences. Fizzing with wit, it is a treat for gourmands, gourmets and anyone who relishes good writing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #89250 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

Matthew Taunton, NEW STATESMAN
'At his best, Gill shows how real insight into a culture can be gleaned from the manner in which its food is produced, distributed, prepared and consumed.'

Review
'At his best, Gill shows how real insight into a culture can be gleaned from the manner in which its food is produced, distributed, prepared and consumed.' (Matthew Taunton NEW STATESMAN )

'Certainly a book that whets the appetite and an ideal Christmas present for the foodie in your life.' (Tom Galvin DUBLIN EVENING HERALD )

'Infuriating and funny in equal measure, but always delectably readable.' (BIG ISSUE (Scotland) )

BIG ISSUE (Scotland)
'Infuriating and funny in equal measure, but always delectably readable.'

Customer Reviews

Does what it says on the tin
AA Gill has opinions.
AA Gill likes to express his opinions
AA gill expresses his opinions in a very amusing and eloquent way
AA Gill's opinions may not be to everyone's taste, just as duck liver pate will not be.
AA Gill's opinions are served up in bite sized chunks in this collection - not a consistent narrative, something that it never claims to be.
AA Gill...oh stop it!

Thoroughly enjoyable read.
I agree with the other reviews that this should be read in pieces which is how I have read it. On the tube. Stuck between stops. Waiting to get across the district line and central London. However, this is a thoroughly enjoyable book and for someone who enjoys food or eating out with some regularity, you will sympathise with Gill's experiences if not be left speechless by some of his analogies. I have highly recommended this book to others and I suggest that if you enjoy just reading something before bed (or on the tube) then this is a book with very short chapters which give brief snippets into gastronomy and the world of a food critic.

To be savoured in bite size pieces
Anyone purchasing this book should understand that it is not intended to be devoured in a single sitting. I can understand why the other reviewers may have had a hard time with this book if they tried to do that. Think of it as a year's worth of meals to be consumed at regular intervals over a long period of time. The perfect way to appreciate this book would be to read one chapter a day.

AA Gill is without doubt one of the finest writers of our day. His observations on life in general and restaurants in particular are both amusing and thought provoking. He is the one restaurant critic that does not seem to have been bought by the restaurant trade and gives an unvarnished critique of the industry. His put downs are hilarious and honest. His descriptions of food and restaurants both here and abroad, are the highlight of each week's Sunday Times and this collection of those reviews will provide pleasure to anyone who has a serious or even passing interest in food, drink and bad waiters.

I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone - but don't act like a glutton - just digest it in the form of precious morsels of wit and wisdom from a master writer.