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Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses by: Isabel Allende List Price: CDN$ 22.50 Price: CDN$ 14.18 You Save: CDN$8.32 (37%)Prices subject to change. |
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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 868 EAN: 9780060930172 ISBN: 0060930179 Label: HarperCollins Canada / Fiction Manufacturer: HarperCollins Canada / Fiction Number Of Pages: 320 Publication Date: October 15, 1999 Publisher: HarperCollins Canada / Fiction Studio: HarperCollins Canada / Fiction Sales Rank: 24547 Browse for similar items by category:
Editorial Review: From Amazon.com: There is something about reading suggestive material that awakens the senses--too often ignored in the fray of modern life--and fires the imagination. Perhaps it brings us back to those breathless, palpitating moments from childhood when puberty was a rosy smudge on the horizon and sex was an abstract term. Aphrodite is a long, savory, enthralling ode to sensuality. In this bawdy memoir-cum-cookbook, Allende has put together an apothecary of aphrodisiacs, from snake's blood and rhinoceros horn to the more commonplace and more palatable oysters, "those seductive tears of the sea, which lend themselves to slipping from mouth to mouth like a prolonged kiss ... can be purchased in bottles, but there they look like malignant tumors; in contrast, moist and turgid in their shells they suggest delicate vulvae--a prime example of food that appeals to the eye." Chapters such as "Alligators and Piranhas"; "Supreme Stimulus for Lechery"; "Bread, God's Grace"; "Forbidden Fruits"; and "The Saucy Way to Foreplay" offer categorical listings on the aphrodisiac qualities of meats, spices, fruits and vegetables, and alcohol. A few chapters into the book, one begins to wonder what foods aren't considered erotic: "the shape of the wheat head is considered phallic, which proves human imagination knows no limits." Wine (no surprise there) is recommended because "it lessens inhibitions, relaxes, and fosters joy, three fundamental requirements for good performance, not only in bed but at the piano as well." However, as in many situations, moderation is key: too much and you may find your guest asleep in the soup. Allende dismisses nouvelle cuisine in favor of earthier foods and more satisfying portions. More than 100 recipes are provided, from sauces and soups to hors d'oeuvres, supplemented with her voluptuous commentary. Recipes such as Mykonos Sauce, with walnuts, pistachios, basil, garlic, and milk; Widower's Figs; Filet Mignon Belle Epoque; and Alicante Cream Soup, with leeks, shrimp, oysters, paprika, and cream will have you in an apron (and perhaps not much else) in no time. "If cookbooks make up part of your library," Allende notes, "books on eroticism should, too." And what more delightful combination of the two than Aphrodite, which provocatively underscores the relationship between sustenance and sexuality, and the aphrodisiac qualities of watching a man cook: "[Women] suppose that if he can remember how many minutes frog legs can tolerate in the skillet, how much greater reason he will have to remember how many tickles our G spot demands." Spiced with litanies of lust and longing from Anais Nin, W.B. Yeats, Pablo Neruda, and Lady Onogoro, and enriched with Allende's warm humor and lusty joie de vive, Aphrodite will tantalize your senses and engender lascivious grins. Recommended in delicious but moderate doses, this book is not for the faint of ... er, heart. --Jhana Bach Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
 Rating:  - This memoir hits the spot !I have read this book in installments. Why? Because I knew my mother would have a fit if she knew I had read it. Lusty, juicy, it's wonderful education for a curious virgin like me. (I swear on the Bible I'm a virgin.) Rating: - A global odysey through culinary sensuousnessFor readers of Isabel Allende's novels, this might seem an unusual book. It is a passionate, unapologetic defense of the senses generally, and a catalogue of historical sexual and culinary practices punctuated with flavorful recipes, all of which place this history-cum-cookbook almost in a genre of its own. This book naturally radiates with warmth, beginning with the highly informative personal tributes Alende delivers to each of three of her major collaborators in this book, including her mother and her literary agent. The photos and drawing which are scattered throughout this book add an artistic backdrop to the evocative prose. It also made me appreciate more wholly a number of passages Allende devotes to food and cuisine in her non-ficiton ... Read More: Rating: - Something of a BibleSucceds enormously in every task it seems to set for itself, and there are quite a few. My forays into reading Allende's novels and short stories have resulted in very mixed impressions - some books I've loved, some been less impressed with, and sadly, one or two I've been uninspired to finish. With Aphrodite, however, I found myself enticed to read very slowly at first, by way of savoring. Even the book's design is beautiful, with vibrant images in full color (in both hardcover and paperback). Rating: - Read this before you spend your moneyIf you're buying this to use as a cookbook - don't. There is no index or glossary - making it all but impossible to find information quickly. The background information on ingredients is quite interesting, but the recipes are a bit weak - pure and simple. Rating: - EnchantingThis book was wonderful. I am cooking for myself for the first time in my life. This book gave me an appreciation not only for the aphrodisiac virtues in food but also for all their other sensual qualities. I recommend it to anyone who loves food or has an appreciation for anything sensual. |
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