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The Last Banquet - Jonathan Grimwood

The Last Banquet

By: Jonathan Grimwood

Hardcover | 1 October 2013

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A story of revolution and one man's insatiable hunger.

Jean-Marie Charles d'Aumout is many things. Orphan, soldier, diplomat, spy, lover. And chef.

This is his story.

We meet Jean-Marie d'Aumout as a penniless orphan eating beetles by the side of the road. His fate is changed after an unlikely encounter finds him patronage and he is sent to military academy. Despite his frugal roots, and thanks to wit and courage in great measure, he grows up to become a diplomat and spy.

Rising through the ranks of eighteenth-century French society, he feasts with lords, ladies and eventually kings, at the Palace of Versailles itself.

Passion, political intrigue and international adventure abound in Jean Marie's life, yet his drive stems from a single obsession: the pursuit of the perfect taste. Three-Snake Bouillabaisse, Pickled Wolf's Heart and Flamingo Tongue are just some of the delicacies he devours on his journey towards the ultimate feast.

But beyond the palace walls, revolution is in the air and the country is clamouring with hunger of a different kind.

About the Author

Jonathan Grimwood has written for the Guardian, The Times, the Telegraph and the Independent. He is married to the journalist and novelist Sam Baker. They divide their time between Winchester and Paris.
Industry Reviews
"The Last Banquet is an astonishing, sensual feast...Grimwood is a damned fine writer." --The Independent "A colorful life, brilliantly imagined . . . Romance and adventure drip off every page."--The Times (London)

"I loved it. The Last Banquet is a feast for the senses."--Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You

"Mr. Grimwood has written a truly exceptional book . . . [The Last Banquet is] simple and complex, instantly comprehensible and infinitely layered. Filthy and beautiful, provocative and sensitive, this is one for the ages."--Porno Kitsch

"Brilliantly evocative . . . A cross between Patrick Sskind and Angela Carter." --The Irish Times

"A sensuous tale of one man's search for the perfect taste . . . 100% original." --Sam Baker, Harper's Bazaar

"A world you completely lose yourself in . . . French Gatsby territory! Opulent, sensuous, sumptuous."--BBC Radio 2

"The Last Banquet is a tantalizing tale."--The Bookseller

"Wonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles perfectly... The sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful." - Carol Birch, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Jamrach's Menagerie

Like Patrick Sskind's murderous Grenouille in Perfume, [Jean-Marie d'Aumout's] supersensitivity to taste, it is intimated, is to be theme, motive, ornament and philosophical disquisition in a life that spans the turbulent century leading up to the French revolution...There is much to enjoy in this book: it is racily picaresque, energetic and clever. History is deftly and diligently interposed with the details of a life, while Jean-Marie's character is carefully elaborated so as to illustrate the various aspects of a vivid era: pre-revolutionary France, with its philosophers and gourmets and interestingly depraved nobility."--The Guardian

"The Last Banquet is an astonishing, sensual feast...Grimwood is a damned fine writer." --The Independent

"A colorful life, brilliantly imagined . . . Romance and adventure drip off every page."--The Times (London)

"I loved it. The Last Banquet is a feast for the senses."--Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You

"Mr. Grimwood has written a truly exceptional book . . . [The Last Banquet is] simple and complex, instantly comprehensible and infinitely layered. Filthy and beautiful, provocative and sensitive, this is one for the ages."--Porno Kitsch

"Brilliantly evocative . . . A cross between Patrick Sskind and Angela Carter." --The Irish Times

"A sensuous tale of one man's search for the perfect taste . . . 100% original." --Sam Baker, Harper's Bazaar

"A world you completely lose yourself in . . . French Gatsby territory! Opulent, sensuous, sumptuous."--BBC Radio 2

"The Last Banquet is a tantalizing tale."--The Bookseller

"Wonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles perfectly... The sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful." - Carol Birch, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Jamrach's Menagerie The Last Banquet is an astonishing, sensual feast...Grimwood is a damned fine writer. The Independent A colorful life, brilliantly imagined . . . Romance and adventure drip off every page. The Times (London) I loved it. The Last Banquet is a feast for the senses. Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You Mr. Grimwood has written a truly exceptional book . . . [The Last Banquet is] simple and complex, instantly comprehensible and infinitely layered. Filthy and beautiful, provocative and sensitive, this is one for the ages. Porno Kitsch Brilliantly evocative . . . A cross between Patrick Suskind and Angela Carter. The Irish Times A sensuous tale of one man s search for the perfect taste . . . 100% original. Sam Baker, Harper s Bazaar A world you completely lose yourself in . . . French Gatsby territory! Opulent, sensuous, sumptuous. BBC Radio 2 The Last Banquet is a tantalizing tale. The Bookseller Wonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles perfectly The sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful. Carol Birch, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Jamrach s Menagerie Like Patrick Suskind's murderous Grenouille in"Perfume," [Jean-Marie d'Aumout's]supersensitivity to taste, it is intimated, is to be theme, motive, ornament and philosophical disquisition in a life that spans theturbulent centuryleading up to the French revolution...There is much to enjoy in this book: it is racily picaresque, energeticand clever. History is deftly and diligently interposed with the detailsof a life, while Jean-Marie's character is carefully elaborated so asto illustrate the various aspects of a vivid era: pre-revolutionaryFrance, with its philosophers and gourmets and interestingly depravednobility." The Guardian The Last Banquet is an astonishing, sensual feast...Grimwood is a damned fine writer. The Independent A colorful life, brilliantly imagined . . . Romance and adventure drip off every page. The Times (London) I loved it. The Last Banquet is a feast for the senses. Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You Mr. Grimwood has written a truly exceptional book . . . [The Last Banquet is] simple and complex, instantly comprehensible and infinitely layered. Filthy and beautiful, provocative and sensitive, this is onefor the ages. Porno Kitsch Brilliantly evocative . . . A cross between Patrick Suskind and Angela Carter. The Irish Times A sensuous tale of one man s search for the perfect taste . . . 100% original. Sam Baker, Harper s Bazaar A world you completely lose yourself in . . . French Gatsby territory! Opulent, sensuous, sumptuous. BBC Radio 2 The Last Banquet is a tantalizing tale. The Bookseller Wonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles perfectly The sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful. Carol Birch, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Jamrach s Menagerie" Like Patrick Suskind's murderous Grenouille in "Perfume," [Jean-Marie d'Aumout's] supersensitivity to taste, it is intimated, is to be theme, motive, ornament and philosophical disquisition in a life that spans the turbulent century leading up to the French revolution...There is much to enjoy in this book: it is racily picaresque, energetic and clever. History is deftly and diligently interposed with the details of a life, while Jean-Marie's character is carefully elaborated so as to illustrate the various aspects of a vivid era: pre-revolutionary France, with its philosophers and gourmets and interestingly depraved nobility."--The Guardian "The Last Banquet is an astonishing, sensual feast...Grimwood is a damned fine writer." --The Independent "A colorful life, brilliantly imagined . . . Romance and adventure drip off every page."--The Times (London) "I loved it. The Last Banquet is a feast for the senses."--Jojo Moyes, author of Me Before You "Mr. Grimwood has written a truly exceptional book . . . [The Last Banquet is] simple and complex, instantly comprehensible and infinitely layered. Filthy and beautiful, provocative and sensitive, this is one for the ages."--Porno Kitsch "Brilliantly evocative . . . A cross between Patrick Suskind and Angela Carter." --The Irish Times "A sensuous tale of one man's search for the perfect taste . . . 100% original." --Sam Baker, Harper's Bazaar "A world you completely lose yourself in . . . French Gatsby territory! Opulent, sensuous, sumptuous."--BBC Radio 2 "The Last Banquet is a tantalizing tale."--The Bookseller "Wonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles perfectly... The sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful." - Carol Birch, author of the Booker Prize-shortlisted Jamrach's Menagerie "This rollicking historical adventure sweeps us from beetle-eating rural poverty to the overripe decadence of Versailles via a sojourn in a Corsican jail, and climaxes at the moment of the French Revolution itself. It's a gripping, bawdy, gluttonous tale punctuated by recipes cooked by our hero, ranging from Three Snake Bouillabaisse to Wolf's Heart Pickle. Grimwood is brilliant at conjuring the smells, tastes and sensations of this most colourful historical period. I think readers are going to want to devour this novel as greedily as I did." --Francis Bickmore, Editorial Director, Canongate Books "Wonderfully enjoyable. Grimwood captures the colour, the decadence and tawdry glamour of Versailles beautifully. I loved the complexity of the relationships, and the sensual quality reminded me at times of Angela Carter. Masterful." -- Carol Birch, author of the Booker shortlisted JAMRACH'S MENAGERIE "Grimwood is a name to watch."-- The Times

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