We at Cook the Books are currently reading Cooking With Fernet Branca, hosted by our own Simona of Briciole. The title, by the way, is not referring to a person, but a little known (where I live anyway) Italian aperitivo. Written strictly tongue in cheek, and pretty silly at times.
"If you have ever wondered what the 'extra' in 'extra virgin olive oil' really means then this is the book for you. Set in Tuscany it features a series of comic misunderstandings between two warring neighbours. They take turns to tell the story and you will soon learn not to trust either of them completely!" WhichbookFrom the Publishers:
Gerald Samper, an effete English snob, has his own private hilltop in Tuscany where he whiles away his time working as a ghostwriter for celebrities and inventing wholly original culinary concoctions―including ice cream made with garlic and the bitter, herb-based liqueur known as Fernet Branca. But Gerald’s idyll is about to be shattered by the arrival of Marta, on the run from a crime-riddled former Soviet republic, as a series of misunderstandings brings this odd couple into ever closer and more disastrous proximity . . .
And, “A very funny sendup of Italian-cooking-holiday-romance novels” (Publishers Weekly).
Both the neighbors are continually underestimating and making erroneous assumptions about one another, which is a source of some of the humor, in just how far off they both are. I had many actual laugh out loud moments going through this humorous and satirical novel, usually due to the unexpected, totally deadpan delivery.
