The Book of Salt (Audiobook)

from Berly

This book is beautifully written, lyrical. It has Paris, Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas as seen through the eyes of their Vietnamese cook. I should have loved it! Alas, no. Truth be told, I am 150 pages in and 100 to go, but I just can't finish it. Don't know why, but I am not drawn in. Could be...

from idyllwild

It's distinctly a debut novel. You can tell it's written in a state of transition, whether that's from poetry or from short stories to novels. The writing comes and goes in spurts, and no single story strand ever appears long enough to pick out a delicate pattern. It's just a mass of tangled thre...

from eenerd

An OK read but a little long-winded at times when the author would go off on philosophical tangents. The description of the parts set in Vietnam were wonderful. Most of the characters were beautifully developed.

from gwendolyndawson

A novel told from the perspective of the gay, Vietnamese cook employed by Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. An interesting way to reveal the relationship between Stein and Toklas. I found the book ultimately unsatisfying because I did not like the character of the cook, and I did not feel he wa...

from Eoin

A clear-eyed, complicated, well voiced novel. Grand and simple, the book fits a full, beautiful world in briefly, managing to make terrible things palatable without losing the truth. The tone is remarkably rich while remaining direct, though it does occationally run to purple. A lovely book. Wort...