For those who told me that Amazing Disgrace wasn't as funny as Cooking With Fernet Branca: OMG, wrong. Other than the cover image / design (which, sadly, is ugly and stupid), this book was every bit as awesome as the first one. And I srsly can't wait to read Rancid Pansies!This is vol 2 in the Gerald Samper story. Gerald lives in relative isolation in the remote Italian countryside, where he spends his time ghostwriting autobiographies for famous sports figures (whom he despises) and concocting horrifying "delicacies" in the kitchen. He's smart and snarky and witty and mean, and so so so much fun to read about. This volume has him much gayer (literally; I'm not being a dick) than the first one, which seems much more in character to me. Though Disgrace doesn't have much of Marta, his neighbor and nemesis in Cooking, we are treated to a handful of new characters who are just as awesome and fun. There's Millie, the one-armed granny who sails solo around the world in her yacht – she's also Gerald's latest ghostwriting subject, and he hates her with such fervent vitriol, it nearly melts the letters off the page. We also meet Adrian, a sexy government scientist and Gerald's sometimes lover; Dereck, Gerald's old pal (and maybe ex?), who's a hairdresser to the stars and painfully obvious gold-digger; plus some composers, some New Age hangers-on, a child obsessed with feces, Mr. and Mrs. Pro-Wang, and more and more. Terrific characters, all. In addition to all this, of course, we get to spend another three hundred pages in Gerald's head, listening to him riff on myriad ludicrous topics, like penile enlargement, the inexcusability of puns, anagrams, ancient cheeses, panda labia, a nationwide weep-a-thon, and oh who knows what else. The best thing I can do to recommend these books is to give a sample, so here's Gerald pondering how young lovers managed to neck in the back of horse-drawn carriages in the pre-car era:How carnal could they have become in the lee of a looming equine backside, the black purse of its anus periodically discharging hot wet mulch and its velvet ears swivelling back against the starlit sky like furry radar dishes? Surely they would have felt too much surveilled by that great brute witness? The close presence of a living, breathing creature periodically gusting ammonia and methane would hardly have been less inhibiting than the peeping Thomism of the parish priest himself.Ah ha ha ha. If you don't think that's charming and dryly hilarious, than these books are probably not for you.
In this sequel to "Cooking with Fernet Branca", we encounter Gerry Semper again. He is still pottering about on his Tuscan mountaintop, still experimenting in the kitchen, and still ghostwriting memoirs for sports celebrities. His latest co-author is Millie, a one-armed yachtswoman who is trying to reinvent herself as the leader of a New Age-influenced fringe group of ocean lovers. Gerry conspires with a new friend, a marine biologist, to show up Millie for the fraud she is, all the while trying to get a contract to write the autobiography of a classical musician he really admires.I enjoyed this book less than the first one in the trilogy. First of all, there was no Marta in this book, not until the very end. So much of the neighborly clashes and misunderstandings that made the first book so funny, were missing here. Second, the recipes that had me in stitches in "Cooking with Fernet Branca" were few and far between in this book. Instead there were a lot of rewritten songs and poems that didn't particularly appeal to me. Third, there simply was not a lot of plot. As I was reading it, I kept waiting for something to happen. Yes, Gerry travels back and forth between Italy and England, has various meetings with Millie, with his oceanographer friend, with another friend in London... but all this feels like stage-setting for an event that never happens. There is no big unmasking of Millie's pretensions. There is no momentous misadventure that crowns the book - the unexpected return of Marta is not a satisfying end to the book.So although the book falls flat as a story, the writing is still fun. Gerry at his cantankerous best is droll, scathing and always entertaining. I wanted to highlight at least a dozen put-downs for future use!
What do You think about Amazing Disgrace (2006)?
AMAZING DISGRACE. (2006). James Hamilton-Paterson. *****.tThis is the sequel to “Cooking With Fernet Branca,” but can be read as a stand-alone novel because of the way the author cleverly supplies enough background to bring the reader up to speed. In this novel we once again follow the adventures of Gerald Samper, ghost writer extraordinaire. He continues his adventures in his house in Tuscany along with his on-going difficulties with his nearest neighbor, Marta. Marta, the only Voldovian character you will ever likely meet, is working on her opera, while Gerald is doing some sales prospecting on who his next biographical subject will be. Two likely candidates are a thirty-year-old rock star who wears a wig when on stage, and a one-armed yachtswoman named Millie Cleat, who has just sailed solo around the world. In his spare time, Gerald manages to explore the possibilities of penis extension using the secret formula vended by an Asian couple from China. This is done for a purely scientific interest on the part of Gerald – or so he says. He also has a chance to meet a world-famous conductor, who he would actually like to have as his next client. When he does meet him and his family and even stay over at his house in England, he nearly nixes the whole deal through an encounter in the dark with an unfinished lavatory. The author manages to continue his run of humor in this novel; he seems to have an inexhaustible supply of wit. Once again I found myself laughing my way through the story, and even reading Gerald’s outrageous recipes. Highly recommended.
—Tony
This is a mean and cynical book written as a follow up to Cooking with Fernat Branca. It took me a while to get back into Gerald Sampler's character who is bitchy and critical but also really funny. The humor is very British/clever, I suggest reading it with a dictionary unless you are comfortable with not understanding the nuances. I literally laughed constantly during some sections despite my best efforts to stop. I laughed so much in at one cafe that a woman felt compelled to say something as she left.
—Patrick
In the library a while back I picked up "Cooking With Fernet Branca" on a whim, without realising the genius I was about to discover. It was wonderfully well-written with a farcical plot and some truly awful puns (the best kind of course) and I loved it. I was delighted to discover the sequel, Amazing Disgrace, especially as it's even better than the first one. I felt "Fernet Branca" got more into it's stride as the book progressed; the sequel picks up where the first installment left off meaning it's little surprise that it's a hugely enjoyable read, one of those books you can't wait to pick up and don't want to end. I would recommend starting with "Fernet Branca" though as the two are inseperable.I shall, naturally, be searching out the next installment, "Rancid Pansies" at the first available opportunity. Considering the breadth of Mr Hamilton-Paterson's output (poetry, aeronautical history, oceanography)I shall probably end up reading most of it at some point.
—Ian
