I was provided a print copy of Apocalypse Chow by David Julian Wightman for review.
Billed as "a remix of Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness", Apocalypse Chow does an admirable job filling that role.
Any student in a college level literature course has probably read Conrad's work, as I did many many years ago. Movie buffs may also be familiar with the cinematic retelling Apocalypse Now.
Rather than spending time (and words) on comparisons to the original, let's focus on this book. It is so much fun! Chefs, professional or amateur, will get a kick out of all the culinary references here. A rogue chef creating world class cuisine from indigenous ingredients builds a rabid following of customers and must be taken down. The restaurant establishment can't have him running loose so they send a fixer to resolve the situation. The tie-ins to the original story are many and brilliantly done. I found myself wodering "How is the author going to retell this or that scene".
None of the sexual content of the movie, and of course not nearly so dark as Conrad. Apocalypse Chow is a must read for fans of the original or the movie, or for aspiring chefs and anyone who cooks. Enjoy!
Mike
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