The Telling Room: Passion, Revenge and Life in a Spanish Village - Softcover

Michael Paterniti

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782112790 ISBN 13: 9781782112792

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd, 2014

Synopsis

As heard on Radio 4 Book of the Week. In the medieval Castilian village of Guzman (population: 80), villagers have gathered for centuries in the 'telling room' to share stories and drink the local wine. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a compelling tale about a cheese made from an ancient family recipe that was reputed to be among the finest in the world. Until, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong. Hooked on the story, Paterniti relocated his young family to the tiny hilltop village to find out more. But like many Spanish villages, Guzman was rife with gossip and old feuds, secret alliances and plotted vengeance and before long Paterniti was sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery. When he learned that the cheesemaker had apparently plotted to murder his closest friend, the village began to spill its long-held secrets, and Paterniti found himself implicated in ways he never expected...

About this title

Review:

"The Telling Room is a gorgeous and impassioned monument to the art and mystery of storytelling. It is rich, funny, humane, devastating, and beautiful. It made me want to applaud, it made me want to cry, it made me want to move to Spain. Michael Paterniti is a genius" (ELIZABETH GILBERT, author of EAT, PRAY, LOVE)

"Michael Paterniti is one of the best living practitioners of the art of literary journalism, able to fully elucidate and humanize the everyday and the epic. In his hands, every subject, every moment of personal or global upheaval, is treated with the same curiosity, respect, empathy, and clear-eyed wisdom" (DAVE EGGERS)

"Sun-baked highland plateaus, argumentative village rustics and beguiling old ways . . . There's no resisting the infectious glee" (New York Times)

"A masterly, joyous piece of non-fiction storytelling . . . a strangely gripping and moving tale about life, love, friendship, family, place - and cheese" (Financial Times)

"The list of writers I would read even if they were to write about a piece of cheese is short, but it includes Michael Paterniti. He has proved here that if you love something enough, and pay a passionate-enough attention to it, the whole world can become present in it. That's true of both the cheese and the book" (JOHN JEREMIAH SULLIVAN, author of PULPHEAD)

"For my money, Paterniti is one of the most expansive and joyful writers around - big-hearted and humane and funny. This book is a wild and amazing ride" (GEORGE SAUNDERS, author of TENTH OF DECEMBER)

"Elegant, strange, funny, and insightful, The Telling Room is a marvelous tale and a joyful read, a trip into a world peopled by some of the most remarkable characters - and, yes, cheese - in memory" (SUSAN ORLEAN, author of THE ORCHARD THIEF)

"An amazing achievement. The Telling Room is an inspired, masterly epic that expands and refigures the parameters of the storyteller's art" (WELLS TOWER, author of EVERYTHING RAVAGED, EVERYTHING BURNED)

"'[The] best book of narrative nonfiction I've read in ages" (MICHAEL POLLAN)

"The Telling Room captures the true essence of happiness - but what's more, it captures the fact that food is always central, always present in our memories, when we search for it. For those who doubt that food is our most vital social network, this book demonstrates it unequivocally" (FERRAN ADRIĄ)

Book Description:

'It made me want to applaud, it made me want to cry, it made me want to move to Spain' Elizabeth Gilbert

About this edition

• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1782112790
• ISBN 13: 9781782112792
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368