Feeding Frenzy

by Stuart Stevens

Release Date: 05 May, 1998

Edition: Paperback

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Stu is a jerk, but the book is fun

If you like travel and food writing, but aren't a stickler for accuracy, then you'll enjoy this book. It's a fun, mindless tale. I liked reading about the various menus, meals and restaurants (although some were defunct or stripped of their third star by the time the book came out). Some of the anecdotes were quite funny. Unfortunately, the author comes across as a jerk of the first order. Early on he attaches himself to a model. He then spends many, many pages telling us how great she looks, that she is a model, what sexy clothes she wears, that she is a model, how much attention she gets, that she is a model. He also spends many, many pages writing about his problems with his car, an old Mustang that everyone in Europe apparently covets. Beyond that, there are also the many, many pages devoted to the distractingly large dog he has in tow. While this book is somewhat about traveling around Europe eating in Michelin three-stars, it's REALLY about the kind of guy who would attach himself to a model, ship a vintage Ford Mustang all the way over to Europe, and adopt a large golden retriever, so he can create an attention-getting, wacky-but-chic presence while traveling around Europe eating in Michelin three-stars. If you are dying to read a food-and-travel book and are forgiving of irritating personalities, then this book is for you.

The Ugly American Eats Out

I haven't been as repelled by a piece of light entertainment in years. If the writing had been any shallower, the type would have sunk into the page. Allegedly the memoirs of a wacky, food-filled trek across Europe, this roast turkey doesn't even ring true as fiction. It comes across more as a middle-aged male's mid-life-crisis fantasy. Was this serialized in Esquire by any chance? To pull off this kind of narcissistic, "look at me, aren't I wonderful?" sort of writing--ala Peter Mayle--requires a certain style, which this book has in negative numbers. In fact, if you add up the primary elements--pseudo-alpha male lead; attractive, eccentric female lead; overbearing dog; and a beloved car with a mind of its own--what you really have is the making of a 60's Disney Love Bug movie, "Herbie Goes to Europe." Except with less depth and humor.