Джеймс Гамильтон-Патерсон — новинки

Cooking with Fernet Branca

Gerald Samper is not a lucky man. Ghost writer of terrible celebrity memoirs and lethally bad cook, he now watches as his beloved house falls off a hill in Tuscany. But he and his guests have been saved from certain death by an apparition - in the form of a certain deceased English princess with great legs. Or, at least, that's how the money-spinning rumour has it...And so begins a farcical comedy of eccentric Diana pilgrims, dead dinner guests, bad opera and Gerry's speciality field-mouse vol-au-vents. Every bit as outrageous as Cooking with Fernet Branca, James Hamilton-Paterson's latest novel is not for anyone who takes royalty (or, indeed, anything else) too seriously.

Set both in Tuscany and in the trendy haunts of London, this hilarious sequel to the popular Cooking with Fernet Branca is further evidence of Hamilton-Paterson's wit and comic inventiveness. The inimitable Gerald Samper is back, with his musings on the absurdities of modern life and his entertaining asides during which he comments on everything from publishing to penile implants, celebrity sportswomen to Australian media moguls. Plus, there's his marvelously eccentric recipes. A smart literary romp featuring a cavalcade of misadventures and memorable characters.

This title is longlisted for the Man Booker Prize 2004. "Cooking with Fernet Branca" is a gleefully tasteless bad dream of modern Italy, told through the eyes of Gerald Samper - effete Englishman, culinary adventurer, and ghostwriter to the stars. "Wickedly witty...Anyone who does not add this hilarious divertimento to their summer reading list should be put on a forced diet of Gerald's inimitable Alien Pie". (Michael Dibdin, "Guardian"). "A deliciously nasty farce set in [Hamilton-Paterson's] adopted Tuscany..."Cooking with Fernet Branca" had me laughing out loud and uproariously. All Tuscanites should read it, preferably over a plate of stewed otter chunks in lobster sauce". ("Sunday Telegraph"). "Larded with bitter satire and piquant wit, at the expense, often, of its readers and their dreams of Italy...I laughed out loud several times a chapter". ("The Times").

Gerontius is the story of a real voyage in the life of Sir Edward Elgar, the celebrated composer of the quintessentially English tune 'Land of Hope and Glory'. The cruise up the Amazon is a holiday for the disillusioned music-maker. In telling the story of his journey, Hamilton-Paterson explores the waning of creative genius, post-war disenchantment and the effects of the changing times on an artist imprisoned in his own immense reputation.