David Baker (15) (1971–)

I received an advanced release copy of this book from a Goodreads giveaway.

Do yourself a favor before you read this book, have a bottle of wine ready. Have a good loaf of bread and cheese out.
This book is going to make you hungry. If I'd have realized this in advance, I would have been prepared :) so, I just wanted to make that suggestion. This book would be best enjoyed with good wine and appetizers.

Ok, back to the book. I definitely enjoyed the idea of this story. The lead character is in a writing slump when he finds out about this mysterious wine that has gone missing many years ago. It's almost an urban legend, people talk about it but aren't sure if it could exist.

Bruno's greatest passions in life are cooking/food and wine. He loves the process of cooking and he loves eating a great meal. He also enjoys wine, possibly too much. It seems like he celebrates a lot of daily events with expensive bottles of wine (got fired? How about spending part of your severance check on gourmet food and expensive wine?)
But it's hard to judge him for it much because clearly it's his great passion in life.

He has an estranged wife and two children and he's trying to win his family back by writing this book. But he's really not that good to his wife in my opinion and I wasn't really rooting for him to win her back.

I felt like the book, the food and the wine were his biggest pulls in life. Maybe love is too, but if I was supposed to want him back with his wife, I just didn't. He seemed like he was nicer to strangers on a bus than he was to her.

… (mehr)

I freely chose to review this book as I was curious, but I never expected that the chapters were either food or wine instead of numbers and found it suits the book perfectly as Bruno Tannenbaum, an author for his first book that was published a decade ago, and a food critic for a Chicago newspaper was trying to write another book on his dad's old typewriter instead of doing his job. With warnings after warnings he still put off working and staying drunk his until he was fired, with his last pay check he bought groceries and returned to his ex-wife and two daughters hoping to settle his wife down when he admitted he was fired. This was the freedom to travel to Europe and begin his next book hoping for the success he had a decade ago. I will never look at food again without thinking of Bruno!… (mehr)

Liked this read although the main character is not very likable and is driven by his love for wine, woman and fine food. Characters are interesting and the book moves at a good pace. The story line moves from Chicago, France, Germany and finally to Russia where the author has written about an unusual and improbable meal in prison. The mystery surrounding a particular wine and conclusion were a surprise.

Throughout the tale the choices he makes are always in conflict with his family which he tries to amend with wine and food.… (mehr)