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Delicious Foods
Darlene, a young widow and mother devastated by the death of her husband, turns to drugs to erase the trauma. In this fog of grief, she is lured with the promise of a great job to a mysterious farm run by a shady company, with disastrous consequences for both her and her eleven-year-old son, Eddie--left behind in a panic-stricken search for her.
Delicious Foods tells the gripping story of three unforgettable characters: a mother, her son, and the drug that threatens to destroy them. In Darlene's haunted struggle to reunite with Eddie, and in the efforts of both to triumph over those who would enslave them, Hannaham's daring and shape-shifting prose not only infuses their desperate circumstances with grace and humor, but also wrestles with timeless questions of love and freedom.
Delicious Foods tells the gripping story of three unforgettable characters: a mother, her son, and the drug that threatens to destroy them. In Darlene's haunted struggle to reunite with Eddie, and in the efforts of both to triumph over those who would enslave them, Hannaham's daring and shape-shifting prose not only infuses their desperate circumstances with grace and humor, but also wrestles with timeless questions of love and freedom.
371 pages, Hardcover
First published March 17, 2015
339 people are currently reading
17093 people want to read
About the author
James Hannaham
15 books349 followersJames Hannaham is the author of the novel Delicious Foods, winner of the 2016 PEN/Faulkner Award in Fiction, the Hurston Wright Legacy Award, and the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His first novel, God Says No, was published by McSweeney's in 2009 and was a finalist for a Lambda Book Award, a semifinalist for a VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, and was named an honor book by the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Awards. His short fiction has appeared in BOMB, The Literary Review, Nerve.com, Open City, and several anthologies. He has written for the Village Voice, Spin, Blender, Out, Us, New York Magazine, The Barnes & Noble Review and The New York Times Magazine. Once upon a time in 2008, he was a staff writer at Salon.com. He has been awarded residencies at Yaddo, The MacDowell Colony, and Fundación Valparaíso and a NYFFA Fellowship. He teaches in the Department of Writing at the Pratt Institute. In November 2021, Soft Skull published Pilot Impostor, a multi-genre book of responses to poems by Fernando Pessoa, and in 2022, Little, Brown will release his third novel, Didn’t Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,049 reviews
February 19, 2021
looking for great books to read during black history month...and the other eleven months? i'm going to float some of my favorites throughout the month, and i hope they will find new readers!
…what's helpless always gon take the biggest part of the rage.
4.5-5 stars
your response to the opening scene of this book is a pretty good indicator of whether or not this book is for you:
a young man named eddie with (very) recently amputated hands drives a car towards an unknown location, fleeing an unknown situation, struggling to deal with both the horrors he has witnessed and the struggle of manipulating objects with his tender stumps.
if you think "awesome! tell me more!", welcome to delicious foods.
if you think "guh-ross! that sounds horrifying!", you are correct, but should probably steer clear.
for me, this scene was the best intro to a book ever, and i was instantly engaged, wanting to know more.
the big hook to this novel is that it is a story of modern slavery, based on real but stranger-than-fiction circumstances, in which one-third of the narrative is delivered by crack. which is interesting, sure, but i've encountered plenty of anthropomorphism in my reading, and it was this opening scene, more than the novelty of a drug being given a voice (although it is, unsurprisingly, a seductively charming voice) that kept me hooked.
the story jumps around between the voices of eddie, his mother darlene, and "scotty" a.k.a. crack. after the sudden death of eddie's father, darlene deals with her grief through the sweet oblivion of narcotics, which casual self-medicating eventually escalates to crack. from that point on, it is a familiar story. crack does what crack does, and when darlene doesn't come home one night, eleven-year-old eddie finds himself walking the streets where women walk the streets, searching for her.
darlene, however, has been lured off of those streets and into a van with similarly beaten-down, supposedly unmissable men and women, and promised a job on a farm, where her expenses will be taken care of and she will be given lodgings, good pay, and more crack for hard but rewarding work. attracted to the possibility of improving her situation for herself and for eddie, darlene goes along, only to find herself held as a virtual prisoner in squalid surroundings, kept docile with a constant supply of drugs, and accruing debts far outstripping what she earns for her backbreaking labors on the farm.
this book covers a lot of ground. it is a survival story, a family story, a story of grief and its aftermath, race and love and the undocumented disenfranchised, and how slippery is that slope.
it's a strange little book. it is both bleak and hopeful and occasionally very funny, such as when eddie is wondering if he has died, and is just waiting to be given either a robe or horns and a tail: …he had learned while following his mother around that anything you needed from a white person at a desk always took extra time and required you to sign a lot of papers. and the scene in which we find out the circumstances leading to the loss of eddie's hands is perfect grim slapstick.
i wasn't crazy about the final 1/4 of the book - there is a change in circumstance that i was really hoping would go in more of a v.c. andrews/gothic direction, but didn't, and after that point the characters' motivations became a little blurry to me. but for the most part, this was a fantastic and gripping read, and one of those books whose central themes of dignity and redemption and the tenacity of love and the human spirit are utterly compelling and necessary.
oh, and that cover!! must be nice to have kara walker as your cousin, amiright?
come to my blog!
…what's helpless always gon take the biggest part of the rage.
4.5-5 stars
your response to the opening scene of this book is a pretty good indicator of whether or not this book is for you:
a young man named eddie with (very) recently amputated hands drives a car towards an unknown location, fleeing an unknown situation, struggling to deal with both the horrors he has witnessed and the struggle of manipulating objects with his tender stumps.
if you think "awesome! tell me more!", welcome to delicious foods.
if you think "guh-ross! that sounds horrifying!", you are correct, but should probably steer clear.
for me, this scene was the best intro to a book ever, and i was instantly engaged, wanting to know more.
the big hook to this novel is that it is a story of modern slavery, based on real but stranger-than-fiction circumstances, in which one-third of the narrative is delivered by crack. which is interesting, sure, but i've encountered plenty of anthropomorphism in my reading, and it was this opening scene, more than the novelty of a drug being given a voice (although it is, unsurprisingly, a seductively charming voice) that kept me hooked.
the story jumps around between the voices of eddie, his mother darlene, and "scotty" a.k.a. crack. after the sudden death of eddie's father, darlene deals with her grief through the sweet oblivion of narcotics, which casual self-medicating eventually escalates to crack. from that point on, it is a familiar story. crack does what crack does, and when darlene doesn't come home one night, eleven-year-old eddie finds himself walking the streets where women walk the streets, searching for her.
darlene, however, has been lured off of those streets and into a van with similarly beaten-down, supposedly unmissable men and women, and promised a job on a farm, where her expenses will be taken care of and she will be given lodgings, good pay, and more crack for hard but rewarding work. attracted to the possibility of improving her situation for herself and for eddie, darlene goes along, only to find herself held as a virtual prisoner in squalid surroundings, kept docile with a constant supply of drugs, and accruing debts far outstripping what she earns for her backbreaking labors on the farm.
this book covers a lot of ground. it is a survival story, a family story, a story of grief and its aftermath, race and love and the undocumented disenfranchised, and how slippery is that slope.
it's a strange little book. it is both bleak and hopeful and occasionally very funny, such as when eddie is wondering if he has died, and is just waiting to be given either a robe or horns and a tail: …he had learned while following his mother around that anything you needed from a white person at a desk always took extra time and required you to sign a lot of papers. and the scene in which we find out the circumstances leading to the loss of eddie's hands is perfect grim slapstick.
i wasn't crazy about the final 1/4 of the book - there is a change in circumstance that i was really hoping would go in more of a v.c. andrews/gothic direction, but didn't, and after that point the characters' motivations became a little blurry to me. but for the most part, this was a fantastic and gripping read, and one of those books whose central themes of dignity and redemption and the tenacity of love and the human spirit are utterly compelling and necessary.
oh, and that cover!! must be nice to have kara walker as your cousin, amiright?
come to my blog!
October 7, 2020
Any critic saying this novel is funny is full of s#!t. This is Sad, Serious stuff. The kind that the literati rejoice over. The kind that they'll swiftly (rightfully) recommend to you...
I fell quite hard for this one. It's grueling & awful; it's "The Color Purple" for a new generation. That crack cocaine is a character in itself is masterful (one is quick to relate this type of effect with "The Book Thief"'s omniscient master narrator: Death). That today slavery is still alive and "doing well" is atrocious. That people love and hate with equal facility is a wonder to behold. That this book exists gives us all a reason to celebrate (well, at least READ it all the way through...).
"Delicious Foods" is the BEST NOVEL I've read ALL YEAR*!!!
* August of 2016
I fell quite hard for this one. It's grueling & awful; it's "The Color Purple" for a new generation. That crack cocaine is a character in itself is masterful (one is quick to relate this type of effect with "The Book Thief"'s omniscient master narrator: Death). That today slavery is still alive and "doing well" is atrocious. That people love and hate with equal facility is a wonder to behold. That this book exists gives us all a reason to celebrate (well, at least READ it all the way through...).
"Delicious Foods" is the BEST NOVEL I've read ALL YEAR*!!!
* August of 2016
April 1, 2015
I barely caught my breath from reading T. Geronimo Johnson’s “Welcome to Braggsville” before I plunged into James Hannaham’s “Delicious Foods,” another sensational new novel about the tenacity of racism and its bizarre permutations. These two African American men — both in their mid-40s, both on their second novel — bounce off the page with the sharpest, wittiest, most unsettling cultural criticism I’ve read in years.
Johnson, whose novel I reviewed last month, is the master ironist, with an acrobatic style that will give you vertigo. But Hannaham, a former editor at Salon, is an even more propulsive storyteller. In the opening lines of “Delicious Foods,” you hear an author determined to make you put down your iPhone, shut up and listen. . . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
Johnson, whose novel I reviewed last month, is the master ironist, with an acrobatic style that will give you vertigo. But Hannaham, a former editor at Salon, is an even more propulsive storyteller. In the opening lines of “Delicious Foods,” you hear an author determined to make you put down your iPhone, shut up and listen. . . . .
To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/enterta...
February 24, 2015
This one is gonna win some prizes; it's very good. Review forthcoming in an actual publication, Bookforum.
December 1, 2017
I really wish this seemed more improbable.
December 3, 2014
The book all the cool kids will be reading in 2015 partially narrated by everyone's friend, Crack Cocaine.
August 14, 2020
The structure of this novel didn't work for me -moving back and forth in time - dissipating any momentum or tension. Well written and unsettling and could have been powerful but I didn't really care about any of the characters or what happened to them by the end.
March 28, 2015
catching up on reviews,
Now that I have gotten a bed
A very original and creative plot, a dark comedy using every racial stereotype that can be misconstrued, and a narrator named "Scotty" crack cocaine speaking for Darlene. This book starts off with a very shocking revelation and we learn how, "Scotty" managed to get such a hold on Darlene, to the point where she is able to almost completely forget her son.
At one point this reminded me of the Goldie Hawn movie, Private Benjamin, where she is promised a condoms, vacation pay and other outrageous perks to join the army. Here Darlene is promised starred accommodation, deluxe pay with benefits, and unlimited , Scotty. Trouble is it's not real, but the drug sure makes up for a lot. Promises forgetfulness, a food time when catching watermelons. Black humor for sure. Cleverly done, yes but maybe a little too clever at times, found it was getting to over done, irksome instead of entertaining. Such a fine line for an author to draw.
But for me it was the raw and outpouring honesty of grief, the hopelessness of regaining all that was lost, a happy family, son and mother torn apart by a death and a drug that took this to a different level. How hard it is to rise again, to feel hope, even just to feel at all. How much easier to just call on ,"Scottie", so pain can be eased. This was a very good character study, using outrageous themes and methods in tactful ways to present to the reader how harder it is to win and even to lose.
ARC from Publisher.
Now that I have gotten a bed
A very original and creative plot, a dark comedy using every racial stereotype that can be misconstrued, and a narrator named "Scotty" crack cocaine speaking for Darlene. This book starts off with a very shocking revelation and we learn how, "Scotty" managed to get such a hold on Darlene, to the point where she is able to almost completely forget her son.
At one point this reminded me of the Goldie Hawn movie, Private Benjamin, where she is promised a condoms, vacation pay and other outrageous perks to join the army. Here Darlene is promised starred accommodation, deluxe pay with benefits, and unlimited , Scotty. Trouble is it's not real, but the drug sure makes up for a lot. Promises forgetfulness, a food time when catching watermelons. Black humor for sure. Cleverly done, yes but maybe a little too clever at times, found it was getting to over done, irksome instead of entertaining. Such a fine line for an author to draw.
But for me it was the raw and outpouring honesty of grief, the hopelessness of regaining all that was lost, a happy family, son and mother torn apart by a death and a drug that took this to a different level. How hard it is to rise again, to feel hope, even just to feel at all. How much easier to just call on ,"Scottie", so pain can be eased. This was a very good character study, using outrageous themes and methods in tactful ways to present to the reader how harder it is to win and even to lose.
ARC from Publisher.
March 10, 2017
Ilustração de Sunra Thompson (in "Sunday Book Review")
”Fruta Deliciosa” é o segundo romance do escritor norte-americano James Hannaham, que recebeu o Prémio PEN/Faulkner de Ficção em 2016.
No Prólogo, Eddie (Edward Randolph Hardison) é um jovem negro com dezassete anos de idade que conduz uma viatura de marca Subaru, dirigindo-a de uma forma errática, temendo “que a polícia o mandasse parar, que descobrissem que não tinha carta de condução e o prendessem pelo roubo do carro.”; procurando a sua tia Bethella que vive em St. Cloud, no Minnesota. As duas irmãs, Bethella e Darlene, mantém uma relação tumultuosa e conflituosa. Darlene é uma mulher dilacerada pela dor e pela perda do seu adorado marido, Nat, em condições trágicas, que era dono de uma pequena loja e um activista civil negro. Numa espiral de decadência, entre a droga e a prostituição, Darlene é atraída e encaminhada para uma quinta, uma exploração agrícola no Louisiana, denominada Fruta Deliciosa – que serve de enquadramento a este admirável romance.
A particularidade de ”Fruta Deliciosa” é que um dos narradores é Scotty, que mais não é do que o crack, uma droga altamente viciante; num romance sobre o passado e o presente, revelando alguns relatos duros, duríssimos – há uma sequência absolutamente atroz - sobre o tráfico de seres humanos, a dependência e a exploração laboral, social, sexual e económica; sobre os conflitos e a discriminação racial, sobre o uso e abuso de drogas, sobre o horror e o sofrimento humano, mas também, sobre o amor, o perdão e a redenção.
James Hannaham escreve um excelente romance, um thriller sombrio, uma narrativa comovente, que oscila algumas vezes entre o trágico e o cómico, mas sempre pungente e enternecedor, com um conjunto inesquecível de personagens principais e secundárias, que conferem autenticidade a uma desesperante e memorável história dramática.
"As merdas que fazemos por amor. O amor que fazemos pela droga." (Pág. 30)
Darlene perguntava: "(...) se todas estas pequenas coisas que fazemos, todo este trabalho que é atirado para as nossas costas dia após dia, se todo o nosso amor e as nossas afeições não têm absolutamente nenhum significado e tudo acabará por ser incinerado, para quê nos darmos ao trabalho de fazer alguma coisa? Há alguma razão para continuarmos a viver? É por isso que é melhor que a nossa vida se vá em fumo, que o esquecimento e a morte parecem chamar-nos continuamente, como se nos chamassem de volta a casa? Como conseguimos fazer isto? Como conseguimos continuar?" (Pág. 310)
March 2, 2024
"Every black knows how to react to a tragedy. Just bring out a wheelbarrow full of the Same Old Anger, dump it all over the Usual Frustration, and water it with Somebody Oughtas...."
One of the narrators in Delicious Foods is cocaine. Yep, you read that right. It's the reason I was compelled to pick up this book. I had to know how Hannaham used this character to tell a story and how he chose to convey cocaine's voice. Reader, I was not disappointed.
The first chapter told from the perspective of cocaine (aka "Scotty") gives the impression that this book will be darkly comedic, but it's not. It's a tragic contemporary story about enslavement and exploitation. It's also a story of a mother's struggle with addiction: what it costs, what it takes from the person whose life it consumes, and how difficult it is to break free.
A slow burn that builds to a gruesome climax, Delicious Foods is a harrowing story of a mother and son's search for love, freedom, and forgiveness.
One of the narrators in Delicious Foods is cocaine. Yep, you read that right. It's the reason I was compelled to pick up this book. I had to know how Hannaham used this character to tell a story and how he chose to convey cocaine's voice. Reader, I was not disappointed.
The first chapter told from the perspective of cocaine (aka "Scotty") gives the impression that this book will be darkly comedic, but it's not. It's a tragic contemporary story about enslavement and exploitation. It's also a story of a mother's struggle with addiction: what it costs, what it takes from the person whose life it consumes, and how difficult it is to break free.
A slow burn that builds to a gruesome climax, Delicious Foods is a harrowing story of a mother and son's search for love, freedom, and forgiveness.
May 15, 2015
4.5 stars: This will be on the list of the best books for 2015. I can’t say this is for the average reader, as it is very unsettling, yet remarkably timely. It’s the sort of unsettling literature as “To Kill a Mockingbird” in it’s social injustice. Although the story seems outlandish, I’ve watched enough “Criminal Minds” to see how James Hannaham can tell this story without the reader thinking “come ON, this could NEVER happen”.
Hannaham also does something unique (as far as I know), where crack cocaine narrates chapters. He’s (yes, Hannaham assigned a gender) called Scotty. Scotty can be difficult to read at times because he uses street lingo, and not all of us are always familiar with the vernacular. Scotty can be funny though, which allows Hannaham to tell the story with levity. As you would assume, any story where crack cocaine is a main character is a tragic one.
Delicious Foods is a company that provides fresh produce to chain purveyors such as Chiquita. It’s a story of hellish abuse of the field workers. How Delicious Foods finds it’s employees and the treatment of the employees could be a Criminal Minds episode.
This is a heart-wrenching novel about drugs and how good people can fall so easily into it’s miserable clutches. It shows the tragedy left with family members. It’s a story of corporate greed and how naïve people can so easily be mistreated. It will change how you look at those strawberries next time you purchase them from the grocery. Amazing story!
Hannaham also does something unique (as far as I know), where crack cocaine narrates chapters. He’s (yes, Hannaham assigned a gender) called Scotty. Scotty can be difficult to read at times because he uses street lingo, and not all of us are always familiar with the vernacular. Scotty can be funny though, which allows Hannaham to tell the story with levity. As you would assume, any story where crack cocaine is a main character is a tragic one.
Delicious Foods is a company that provides fresh produce to chain purveyors such as Chiquita. It’s a story of hellish abuse of the field workers. How Delicious Foods finds it’s employees and the treatment of the employees could be a Criminal Minds episode.
This is a heart-wrenching novel about drugs and how good people can fall so easily into it’s miserable clutches. It shows the tragedy left with family members. It’s a story of corporate greed and how naïve people can so easily be mistreated. It will change how you look at those strawberries next time you purchase them from the grocery. Amazing story!
April 16, 2022
The word "mordant" could have been created for just this book. The use of humor and exaggeration to describe some very dark themes is unsettling in all the right ways. It's a disorienting and demanding read which is a fair place to put your novel when you're talking about forced enslavement and racism and violence toward the weak.
In some ways though the book as written was a little too demanding for me. I think the narrative voice and timeline of events jumps around far too frenetically for the needs of the story and this stylistic choice made me impatient sometimes and less willing to keep going.
Even so I was drawn in to this story, and cared about its characters, to the point that I got angry at some of the ways the author chose to lead the story--Hannaham is very mean to characters that I liked, and the characters themselves make some very stupid choices, and when that happened I reacted almost the way I would if reading a new Dickens novel--I wanted these characters to prevail and to make better choices than they did.
In some ways though the book as written was a little too demanding for me. I think the narrative voice and timeline of events jumps around far too frenetically for the needs of the story and this stylistic choice made me impatient sometimes and less willing to keep going.
Even so I was drawn in to this story, and cared about its characters, to the point that I got angry at some of the ways the author chose to lead the story--Hannaham is very mean to characters that I liked, and the characters themselves make some very stupid choices, and when that happened I reacted almost the way I would if reading a new Dickens novel--I wanted these characters to prevail and to make better choices than they did.
March 7, 2020
Why are independent bookshops such an integral part of a thriving community? Because a good independent bookshop promotes books like these.
I was traveling in Oregon last October when I stumbled into the little western flavored town of Jacksonville, not far from the California border. It was a small town, but infinitely charming, with only one main street, California Street, which could have stood in as a location in any number of old Clint Eastwood or John Wayne westerns.
At 157 California Street sits Rebel Heart Books. It's small, just a single room, so it doesn't contain as many books as may be found in your average bookshop. The difference is that each book it does contain belongs there, has been specially chosen to take up one of the valued spots on the shelf or the table.
I came away with several books that day, and I still haven't gotten around to reading them all. But one of the reasons why Rebel Heart Books is my absolute favorite bookshop anywhere is because of how knowledgable the woman at the counter was about all the books. As she was ringing me up, the lady (whose name I have so unfortunately forgotten) made comments on each of them, talking about how excited they (the shop) were to feature this book or that author. She clearly knew something about every book there, had very probably had a hand in selecting them all herself.
That's something that you just don't get at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or even a larger bookshop. Sure, many of them have their "Staff Picks" but in Rebel Heart Books, EVERY book was a staff pick. If they weren't, they wouldn't have been there.
All of which is my very long way of saying that I have that wonderful little bookshop on California Street in Jacksonville, Oregon, to thank for "Delicious Foods", a book that was was everything I hoped it would be and more.
Now onto the actual book.
Thanks largely to Jordan Peele, the political horror story has lately seen a revival. See Peele's "Get Out" for a great example of political horror done right, any of "The Purge" movies for an example of it done poorly.
But oh does James Hannaham's "Delicious Foods" do it right.
It does for literary horror what "Get Out" did for cinematic horror. It's a wonder, honestly, that it hasn't been adapted for the big screen yet.
Like "Get Out", "Delicious Foods" is a horror story with comedic elements. Definitely not a comedy with horror elements. It won't just stay with you long after you've put it down, it will haunt you.
There is so much going on here, so much to get into, but at the same time I don't really want to get into any of it because it is best to go into this blind.
I'll simply say that our story starts with a getaway. Our protagonist, Eddie, is driving as fast as he can away from "The Farm," the place he's just escaped from. His arms end in two bloody stumps because, for reasons we don't yet understand, both his hands have recently been severed. He steers by sticking his forearms "in two of the wheel's holes."
He has no idea where he's going, he just knows he has to get away.
From the very first page, I was deeply engaged in the story. That doesn't often happen. It will usually take me several pages, sometimes chapters, to really slip into the mood the author is setting. Not here.
Hannaham is such a talented writer, it's a wonder he's not better known. Here he writes convincingly as Eddie (both as a child and as a young man), as Eddie's mother, and as the drug said mother is hooked on. Yes, one of the three points of view in this story is told from the perspective of CRACK COCAINE. How crazy is that? It's trippily Pynchon-esque, positively Lynchian, but it's so much more than just a gimmick.
"Delicious Foods" is the kind of book that demands to be discussed. I can't remember the last time I read a book and so wished that I was part of a book club that was reading it. The themes here are nowhere near modest:
The legacy of slavery, white supremacy, racial injustice, human trafficking, drug abuse, industrialism, unfettered capitalism, exploitation.
This book tackles all of these issues in 367 pages and tackles them beautifully. In lesser hands, "Delicious Foods" would have been a mess, the perfect example of a novel that tries to overachieve. But "Delicious Foods" DOES achieve, exactly what it sets out to.
This is what great literature is. It shocks you and makes you think about the world you live in and all the wrongs that still need to be righted.
Thanks to Rebel Heart Books and great independent bookshops everywhere for promoting books like these.
I was traveling in Oregon last October when I stumbled into the little western flavored town of Jacksonville, not far from the California border. It was a small town, but infinitely charming, with only one main street, California Street, which could have stood in as a location in any number of old Clint Eastwood or John Wayne westerns.
At 157 California Street sits Rebel Heart Books. It's small, just a single room, so it doesn't contain as many books as may be found in your average bookshop. The difference is that each book it does contain belongs there, has been specially chosen to take up one of the valued spots on the shelf or the table.
I came away with several books that day, and I still haven't gotten around to reading them all. But one of the reasons why Rebel Heart Books is my absolute favorite bookshop anywhere is because of how knowledgable the woman at the counter was about all the books. As she was ringing me up, the lady (whose name I have so unfortunately forgotten) made comments on each of them, talking about how excited they (the shop) were to feature this book or that author. She clearly knew something about every book there, had very probably had a hand in selecting them all herself.
That's something that you just don't get at Amazon or Barnes and Noble or even a larger bookshop. Sure, many of them have their "Staff Picks" but in Rebel Heart Books, EVERY book was a staff pick. If they weren't, they wouldn't have been there.
All of which is my very long way of saying that I have that wonderful little bookshop on California Street in Jacksonville, Oregon, to thank for "Delicious Foods", a book that was was everything I hoped it would be and more.
Now onto the actual book.
Thanks largely to Jordan Peele, the political horror story has lately seen a revival. See Peele's "Get Out" for a great example of political horror done right, any of "The Purge" movies for an example of it done poorly.
But oh does James Hannaham's "Delicious Foods" do it right.
It does for literary horror what "Get Out" did for cinematic horror. It's a wonder, honestly, that it hasn't been adapted for the big screen yet.
Like "Get Out", "Delicious Foods" is a horror story with comedic elements. Definitely not a comedy with horror elements. It won't just stay with you long after you've put it down, it will haunt you.
There is so much going on here, so much to get into, but at the same time I don't really want to get into any of it because it is best to go into this blind.
I'll simply say that our story starts with a getaway. Our protagonist, Eddie, is driving as fast as he can away from "The Farm," the place he's just escaped from. His arms end in two bloody stumps because, for reasons we don't yet understand, both his hands have recently been severed. He steers by sticking his forearms "in two of the wheel's holes."
He has no idea where he's going, he just knows he has to get away.
From the very first page, I was deeply engaged in the story. That doesn't often happen. It will usually take me several pages, sometimes chapters, to really slip into the mood the author is setting. Not here.
Hannaham is such a talented writer, it's a wonder he's not better known. Here he writes convincingly as Eddie (both as a child and as a young man), as Eddie's mother, and as the drug said mother is hooked on. Yes, one of the three points of view in this story is told from the perspective of CRACK COCAINE. How crazy is that? It's trippily Pynchon-esque, positively Lynchian, but it's so much more than just a gimmick.
"Delicious Foods" is the kind of book that demands to be discussed. I can't remember the last time I read a book and so wished that I was part of a book club that was reading it. The themes here are nowhere near modest:
The legacy of slavery, white supremacy, racial injustice, human trafficking, drug abuse, industrialism, unfettered capitalism, exploitation.
This book tackles all of these issues in 367 pages and tackles them beautifully. In lesser hands, "Delicious Foods" would have been a mess, the perfect example of a novel that tries to overachieve. But "Delicious Foods" DOES achieve, exactly what it sets out to.
This is what great literature is. It shocks you and makes you think about the world you live in and all the wrongs that still need to be righted.
Thanks to Rebel Heart Books and great independent bookshops everywhere for promoting books like these.
October 2, 2025
“Delicious Foods” by James Hannaham is one of the most startlingly original works of Southern fiction I have read in a long time. At once audacious and hilarious, it is a dark tale of modern day slavery on steroids.
At the heart of this novel are three characters: a drug addicted widow named Darlene, abducted by a corporation called Delicious Foods; Darlene’s resourceful and strong-willed son Eddie, whose tenacity and will to survive is superhuman, and of Scotty, Darlene’s heroin addiction—a scary voice that will chill you to the bone, yet make you laugh out loud even during some of the novel’s most macabre and harrowing moments.
At the heart of this novel are three characters: a drug addicted widow named Darlene, abducted by a corporation called Delicious Foods; Darlene’s resourceful and strong-willed son Eddie, whose tenacity and will to survive is superhuman, and of Scotty, Darlene’s heroin addiction—a scary voice that will chill you to the bone, yet make you laugh out loud even during some of the novel’s most macabre and harrowing moments.
April 4, 2017
Fruta Deliciosa é tipo Tomate...
Tomate Em Salada — Corta-se, tempera-se com sal e azeite e come-se como entrada. Se não comermos mais nada, rapidamente ficamos com fome.
Fruta Deliciosa Em Leitura Leve — Uma boa escrita e uma história original que se lê e se esquece pouco depois.
Tomate Como Tempero — Refoga-se com cebola, adiciona-se alguns ingredientes que, na proporção certa, origina um delicioso prato principal. Muito apurado pode provocar azia.
Fruta Deliciosa Em Leitura Atenta — Uma história dramática sobre droga, amor filial e escravatura. Lê-se com interesse e pouca emoção.
Tomate Em Compota — Junta-se açúcar, coze-se lentamente e serve-se como sobremesa. Engorda e quem tem diabetes não deve abusar.
Fruta Deliciosa Em Leitura Analítica — Não é aconselhável sob pena de se chegar à conclusão que se trata de uma história (além de sem mãos) sem pés nem cabeça. Tal como esta minha review... mas eu posso, porque é gratuita e não vence prémios.
Quatro estrelas porque gosto de tomate de qualquer maneira.
Tomate Em Salada — Corta-se, tempera-se com sal e azeite e come-se como entrada. Se não comermos mais nada, rapidamente ficamos com fome.
Fruta Deliciosa Em Leitura Leve — Uma boa escrita e uma história original que se lê e se esquece pouco depois.
Tomate Como Tempero — Refoga-se com cebola, adiciona-se alguns ingredientes que, na proporção certa, origina um delicioso prato principal. Muito apurado pode provocar azia.
Fruta Deliciosa Em Leitura Atenta — Uma história dramática sobre droga, amor filial e escravatura. Lê-se com interesse e pouca emoção.
Tomate Em Compota — Junta-se açúcar, coze-se lentamente e serve-se como sobremesa. Engorda e quem tem diabetes não deve abusar.
Fruta Deliciosa Em Leitura Analítica — Não é aconselhável sob pena de se chegar à conclusão que se trata de uma história (além de sem mãos) sem pés nem cabeça. Tal como esta minha review... mas eu posso, porque é gratuita e não vence prémios.
January 7, 2017
3.5 Stars.
Delicious Foods begins with Eddie, a young man with freshly severed hands, frantically trying to steer a stolen car from Louisiana to Minnesota. It's a gripping first chapter that sets the stage for the rest of the novel. What exactly is Eddie escaping? How did he lose his hands?
From there, we step back quite a bit to see what led Eddie to this situation. We learn that his father died horrifically when Eddie was six years old. His mother Darlene, devastated by the loss of her beloved husband, turned to crack to cope with her grief and trauma. One day, when Eddie was still a child, Darlene disappeared. It turns out she had been lured away with the promise of a good job at a mysterious, nefarious company called Delicious Foods that essentially enslaves black employees, trapping them at the facility to conduct strenuous manual labor in exchange for drugs.
Delicious Foods is a southern gothic cultural satire with a distinctly surreal bent to it, and there are a lot of compelling metaphors at play: while modern slavery and unfair labor practices—particularly in the food industry—are current realities, Delicious Foods is just as much a commentary on pre-Civil War chattel slavery and the deep legacy of racial injustice in America. Hannaham's characters are bombarded with modern examples of systemic racism, and these struggles often drive them to desperation.
Perhaps the most brilliant thing about this book is that Darlene's chapters are actually narrated by crack cocaine (nicknamed Scotty). It's a strange narrative device, but it totally works—and it really drives home the hold that drug addiction has over people's humanity.
As much as I loved Hannaham's ideas and the ingenuity of his narrative approach, I struggled with the pacing of this book. I'm not sure it had to be as long as it was. And as interested as I was in the story, there were few scenes that gripped me quite like the opening.
I read this for a book club, and I'm glad I did. There's certainly a lot to discuss about slave labor, systemic racism, addiction, familial loyalty, freedom and forgiveness.
Delicious Foods begins with Eddie, a young man with freshly severed hands, frantically trying to steer a stolen car from Louisiana to Minnesota. It's a gripping first chapter that sets the stage for the rest of the novel. What exactly is Eddie escaping? How did he lose his hands?
From there, we step back quite a bit to see what led Eddie to this situation. We learn that his father died horrifically when Eddie was six years old. His mother Darlene, devastated by the loss of her beloved husband, turned to crack to cope with her grief and trauma. One day, when Eddie was still a child, Darlene disappeared. It turns out she had been lured away with the promise of a good job at a mysterious, nefarious company called Delicious Foods that essentially enslaves black employees, trapping them at the facility to conduct strenuous manual labor in exchange for drugs.
Delicious Foods is a southern gothic cultural satire with a distinctly surreal bent to it, and there are a lot of compelling metaphors at play: while modern slavery and unfair labor practices—particularly in the food industry—are current realities, Delicious Foods is just as much a commentary on pre-Civil War chattel slavery and the deep legacy of racial injustice in America. Hannaham's characters are bombarded with modern examples of systemic racism, and these struggles often drive them to desperation.
Perhaps the most brilliant thing about this book is that Darlene's chapters are actually narrated by crack cocaine (nicknamed Scotty). It's a strange narrative device, but it totally works—and it really drives home the hold that drug addiction has over people's humanity.
As much as I loved Hannaham's ideas and the ingenuity of his narrative approach, I struggled with the pacing of this book. I'm not sure it had to be as long as it was. And as interested as I was in the story, there were few scenes that gripped me quite like the opening.
I read this for a book club, and I'm glad I did. There's certainly a lot to discuss about slave labor, systemic racism, addiction, familial loyalty, freedom and forgiveness.
April 17, 2017
My reaction to the opening scene of this book was “What. The. F**k.” If any book ever hooked me, literally from the very first sentence, it was this one. After the prologue the story went back in time to where it all began but, when it finally caught up again, I was biting my nails and cringing, waiting for the inevitable to happen.
The story is told at varying times from the perspectives of Eddie, his mother Darlene, and Scotty (Scotty being the crack-cocaine to which Darlene is addicted). These are three very distinct voices and you can’t mistake one for the other. So what does crack-cocaine have to say for himself? Well, read the book and you will see. Brilliantly done, Hannaham.
In a nutshell this story tells of these people who are tricked into signing a bogus contract for work and end up as modern-day slaves for a company called Delicious Foods. They live and work in appalling conditions. Since there’s lots of them and there’s only a few guards, it seems like it should be easy for them to rise up and say “This is bullshit, I’m out.” doesn’t it? Sure, that probably would be the case if they weren’t already addicted to crack and/or alcohol. It’s a prison within a prison and it’s a seriously depressing state of affairs. Quite frankly, it’s frightening how easily something like this could happen and probably is happening somewhere out there.
If you can get through the kind of injustices that are happening here, this a very worthy read. I appreciated Darlene’s angle and seeing how the drugs took hold of her life during her weakest moments. Ultimately though, I felt that Eddie was the light at the end of the tunnel that is this story. Through it all he never stopped fighting for his freedom, even when he knew it meant he had to leave his mother behind in order to move forward.
The story is told at varying times from the perspectives of Eddie, his mother Darlene, and Scotty (Scotty being the crack-cocaine to which Darlene is addicted). These are three very distinct voices and you can’t mistake one for the other. So what does crack-cocaine have to say for himself? Well, read the book and you will see. Brilliantly done, Hannaham.
In a nutshell this story tells of these people who are tricked into signing a bogus contract for work and end up as modern-day slaves for a company called Delicious Foods. They live and work in appalling conditions. Since there’s lots of them and there’s only a few guards, it seems like it should be easy for them to rise up and say “This is bullshit, I’m out.” doesn’t it? Sure, that probably would be the case if they weren’t already addicted to crack and/or alcohol. It’s a prison within a prison and it’s a seriously depressing state of affairs. Quite frankly, it’s frightening how easily something like this could happen and probably is happening somewhere out there.
If you can get through the kind of injustices that are happening here, this a very worthy read. I appreciated Darlene’s angle and seeing how the drugs took hold of her life during her weakest moments. Ultimately though, I felt that Eddie was the light at the end of the tunnel that is this story. Through it all he never stopped fighting for his freedom, even when he knew it meant he had to leave his mother behind in order to move forward.
June 22, 2016
3.5 I struggled with this rating. The book takes a brutal look at the cascading events that can lead to addiction to crack cocaine and the devastating effect addiction has on children and families. The fact that modern-day slavery exists on farms (the Delicious Foods of the title) is sobering and makes you think about where your food comes from. It's a worthwhile book that led to a great book club discussion.
But I'm not a book critic. I'm just a reader who rates books according to how much I enjoyed the experience. This was a struggle for me to get through, yet I'm glad I read it. How's that for feeling conflicted? I thought the author's device of using crack cocaine, "Scotty", to narrate chapters was clever and effective.
These are all weighty important issues. This, along with a documentary I watched, The House I Live In, has led me to re-examine my opinions on poverty, addictions, and the so-called war on drugs. Any book that makes me think and change some pre-conceived ideas and prejudices gets a bump in my rating.
But I'm not a book critic. I'm just a reader who rates books according to how much I enjoyed the experience. This was a struggle for me to get through, yet I'm glad I read it. How's that for feeling conflicted? I thought the author's device of using crack cocaine, "Scotty", to narrate chapters was clever and effective.
These are all weighty important issues. This, along with a documentary I watched, The House I Live In, has led me to re-examine my opinions on poverty, addictions, and the so-called war on drugs. Any book that makes me think and change some pre-conceived ideas and prejudices gets a bump in my rating.
April 23, 2016
[*deep breath*]
After I finished this book I lay awake staring at the ceiling for 30 minutes, thinking: if this book doesn't win an award this year I don't know what the hell people think good literature is.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I knew its main theme was the devastating effects of crack cocaine, but had no idea of what kind of ride this book would take me on. The first chapter completely jars you out of any sense of comfort with its brutality; the rest is deep, slow burn of emotion. This was not a quick read for me. It took a while to get used to the narration of "Scotty," but once I did I found myself reading and re-reading those chapters, just to experience the rhythm and hip-ness of the language once more, and to laugh (inappropriately, of course) at the necessity of its existence in this book. Hannaham's writing here is sheer genius. I kept waiting for Scotty's narration to wane or sound ridiculous, but it never did. At times I had to pause and ask myself if it was really crack "talking" and not just another person in the book. Yes, it was THAT good.
I have to admit that the emotion of this book was, at times, too much for me to handle. Young Eddie is eleven years old when he discovers his mother is missing and begins to search, quite literally, through the depths of Hell to find her. My son is also eleven years old, and so many times in the book I found myself so overwhelmed with the image of my own child roaming the streets at night in my absence that I had to metaphorically look away. My feelings for Darlene and the choices she made throughout the novel alternated between full on rage and absolute pity, I was brought to tears too many times to count here.
This book will break your heart. Very few books do this to me. There wasn't a single character that wasn't real or a single word that's wasted here. So well written, emotionally gripping. I loved every minute of this book. Highly recommended.
After I finished this book I lay awake staring at the ceiling for 30 minutes, thinking: if this book doesn't win an award this year I don't know what the hell people think good literature is.
I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I knew its main theme was the devastating effects of crack cocaine, but had no idea of what kind of ride this book would take me on. The first chapter completely jars you out of any sense of comfort with its brutality; the rest is deep, slow burn of emotion. This was not a quick read for me. It took a while to get used to the narration of "Scotty," but once I did I found myself reading and re-reading those chapters, just to experience the rhythm and hip-ness of the language once more, and to laugh (inappropriately, of course) at the necessity of its existence in this book. Hannaham's writing here is sheer genius. I kept waiting for Scotty's narration to wane or sound ridiculous, but it never did. At times I had to pause and ask myself if it was really crack "talking" and not just another person in the book. Yes, it was THAT good.
I have to admit that the emotion of this book was, at times, too much for me to handle. Young Eddie is eleven years old when he discovers his mother is missing and begins to search, quite literally, through the depths of Hell to find her. My son is also eleven years old, and so many times in the book I found myself so overwhelmed with the image of my own child roaming the streets at night in my absence that I had to metaphorically look away. My feelings for Darlene and the choices she made throughout the novel alternated between full on rage and absolute pity, I was brought to tears too many times to count here.
This book will break your heart. Very few books do this to me. There wasn't a single character that wasn't real or a single word that's wasted here. So well written, emotionally gripping. I loved every minute of this book. Highly recommended.
April 6, 2015
*** Minor spoilers ***
I didn't realize the basis for "Delicious Foods" was a real-life events until I was almost finished reading it and when I found out, I wasn't particularly surprised. A farm that pays black employees in drugs and trumps up debt that contractually bars them from leaving the premises isn't too far-out a conceit.
By that point in my reading experience, this book had long ceased to be about the titular agricultural enslaver, Delicious Foods. At its core, the novel is about what it's like to have a drug addict as a mother (and as your only living parent). Eddie, who we follow non-chronologically from early childhood to late 20s(?) is the son of a widow, Darlene, whose husband was murdered by white supremacists. Unable to cope she turns to drugs and much, much worse.
It's a well-written book with POV shifts from Eddie to Darlene to "Scotty," the voice of Darlene's drug addiction. If that sounds weird, it isn't. You get used to it pretty early, but I found myself wishing less of the book were about Scotty's "insights" and more about Eddie's. The ending is anticlimactic and pat, given all that came before it. But it's a devastating, powerful read about betrayal and loyalty and how those things cease to have any meaning at all in the face of addiction.
I didn't realize the basis for "Delicious Foods" was a real-life events until I was almost finished reading it and when I found out, I wasn't particularly surprised. A farm that pays black employees in drugs and trumps up debt that contractually bars them from leaving the premises isn't too far-out a conceit.
By that point in my reading experience, this book had long ceased to be about the titular agricultural enslaver, Delicious Foods. At its core, the novel is about what it's like to have a drug addict as a mother (and as your only living parent). Eddie, who we follow non-chronologically from early childhood to late 20s(?) is the son of a widow, Darlene, whose husband was murdered by white supremacists. Unable to cope she turns to drugs and much, much worse.
It's a well-written book with POV shifts from Eddie to Darlene to "Scotty," the voice of Darlene's drug addiction. If that sounds weird, it isn't. You get used to it pretty early, but I found myself wishing less of the book were about Scotty's "insights" and more about Eddie's. The ending is anticlimactic and pat, given all that came before it. But it's a devastating, powerful read about betrayal and loyalty and how those things cease to have any meaning at all in the face of addiction.
December 16, 2014
Hannaham ventures into the Southern Gothic territory mastered by Daniel Woodrell with his newest DELICIOUS FOODS and delivers a masterpiece. Darlene, her son Eddie and drugs are the main characters in this tour de force work of love and freedom. Dark. Comic. Haunting. Hannaham's gorgeous prose rings in your mind as you paint the images he brings forth; some gruesome yet all rewarding. This could very well be THE book of 2015 talked about by readers across America. Enslavement, love, freedom... the struggle to overcome and achieve each are played out by Darlene and Eddie. These are two amazing characters. High praise to Hannaham and this glorious piece.
November 25, 2015
3.5- stars, really.
i finished the read this morning. i liked a lot about the book, but didn't end up loving it overall. i do think it's very creative and brings up some really meaty, important issues.
i went into this with the idea of satire in my mind, but that quickly fell away for me as the heavier themes came to the front. (though there is totally compatibility between satire and social critique.)
the read was quite visceral for me, and very vivid. hannaham is a great storyteller. (i will admit i totally googled 'scotty' as a crack reference, that was a new term for me.)
but.... i just was not as sucked into the story as i thought i would be. and i also kept struggling with, (i realize this is maybe nitpicking, but i was totally worried about these aspects of the story.) while nice, i didn't love the (very) end.
i do think parts of the novel will stick with me for quite a time. i loved the opening, and each time
i believe this book to be set from the 1970s through early 2000s ish. (thanks to a disco reference, and a not named reference to kurt cobain's suicide.) at times it felt like a much more current story, and at others, it felt set further back. but this novel is very timely.
i finished the read this morning. i liked a lot about the book, but didn't end up loving it overall. i do think it's very creative and brings up some really meaty, important issues.
i went into this with the idea of satire in my mind, but that quickly fell away for me as the heavier themes came to the front. (though there is totally compatibility between satire and social critique.)
the read was quite visceral for me, and very vivid. hannaham is a great storyteller. (i will admit i totally googled 'scotty' as a crack reference, that was a new term for me.)
but.... i just was not as sucked into the story as i thought i would be. and i also kept struggling with, (i realize this is maybe nitpicking, but i was totally worried about these aspects of the story.) while nice, i didn't love the (very) end.
i do think parts of the novel will stick with me for quite a time. i loved the opening, and each time
i believe this book to be set from the 1970s through early 2000s ish. (thanks to a disco reference, and a not named reference to kurt cobain's suicide.) at times it felt like a much more current story, and at others, it felt set further back. but this novel is very timely.
April 13, 2016
Well, crack cocaine was the narrator (a good one too), so that's an automatic three stars right there.
Hannaham was extremely inventive with his style in this book and, as unusual as it was, somehow it worked. The plot was unique and captivating. Crackheads who have signed a completely unenforceable contract whereby they agree to a lifetime of servitude picking fruits for Delicious Foods, a mysterious benevolent sounding corporation (but in a creepy way) where the workers are treated like slaves in exchange for endless hits crack. You just can't loose with that premise. A very high 3 that I'm rounding to 4. One of the most creative plots I've had the pleasure of reading in a while and a social commentary to boot.
Hannaham was extremely inventive with his style in this book and, as unusual as it was, somehow it worked. The plot was unique and captivating. Crackheads who have signed a completely unenforceable contract whereby they agree to a lifetime of servitude picking fruits for Delicious Foods, a mysterious benevolent sounding corporation (but in a creepy way) where the workers are treated like slaves in exchange for endless hits crack. You just can't loose with that premise. A very high 3 that I'm rounding to 4. One of the most creative plots I've had the pleasure of reading in a while and a social commentary to boot.
June 4, 2015
Wanted to like this book but also debated on buying it should have listen to gut. There was too much hype around it usually skip a book if overly hyped talking to you gone girl, ice cream star, girl on a train and anything by Stephen King. It was a struggle to get through delicious foods. Didn't care to know what happened
January 15, 2025
Absolutely superb. If this book does not win awards this year then I'll be damned if I know what they're looking for in a great novel. I'm not sure what I expected when I picked this up but it certainly was not what I got. The first chapter after the prologue was a bit jarring. It took a few pages to get used to the narrative style of "Scotty." I adjusted quickly, however, and it only took a few pages for me to be completely taken in. There was not a single character in the novel who did not come to life, even the emotionally grotesque How. My pity for Darlene and Eddie was at times more than I could handle. I was actually brought to tears by certain passages, and it has been a long time since a novel has done that for me. The story is dense, so don't expect to breeze through, but the slow burn is absolutely worth it. When I read book reviews that use cliche words like "haunting" and "poignant" I always roll my eyes. They are words that are so overused to describe books that are meant to tug at the heart of what makes us human, what it means to love and hurt. But I honestly can't think of two better words to describe this novel. I know James Hannaham has written another book and I will be seeking that out, as well as adding him to my list of new favorites. What a great way to start out my new year.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 12, 2015
I wanted to like the book more than I did, but it's still worth reading. An intelligent young couple with an infant child move down to Ovis, Louisiana to help politically organize the black population only to fall victim to a vicious racist attack.The wife lives on but is destroyed emotionally and falls into a chasm of depression, drug abuse and prostituition.only to disappear completely from sight.after having been shanghaied onto a produce farm, Delicious Foods, where all the workers are fellow drug addicts or alcoholics living under slave like conditions. Her 12 year old son, forced to grow up quickly and become self-reliant goes on his own personnal odyssey to find her.
It all sounds pretty grim and much of it certainly is, but there is quite a bit of humor that pops up in the telling and plot twists that border on the surreal. The story is told by various narrators, including the mother's drug of choice, a rather interesting device. However, the transitions in the story are rather jarring at times, especially between the opening narrative and the first chapter, which felt very disorienting to me. While there is much of value, the story line bogs down at points, wandering about to little apparent purpose. So, I have mixed feelings about it as a work, but I'm still glad to have read it. You certainly will look at your fruit and vegetables a bit differently when you are forced to consider the actual cost of putting it on your plate.
It all sounds pretty grim and much of it certainly is, but there is quite a bit of humor that pops up in the telling and plot twists that border on the surreal. The story is told by various narrators, including the mother's drug of choice, a rather interesting device. However, the transitions in the story are rather jarring at times, especially between the opening narrative and the first chapter, which felt very disorienting to me. While there is much of value, the story line bogs down at points, wandering about to little apparent purpose. So, I have mixed feelings about it as a work, but I'm still glad to have read it. You certainly will look at your fruit and vegetables a bit differently when you are forced to consider the actual cost of putting it on your plate.
April 10, 2016
I kept hearing buzz about this book, but it kind of got lost in my advance-reading. But I'm glad that I read it in audio because I really enjoyed Hannaham's reading. I want to say first of all that if you do this book in audio you'll hear the first chapter and think, "Why does everyone rate this narrator so highly? It feels really stiff." Just give it another chapter. There's a second narrative voice that works incredibly well and as you go through the juxtaposition of the two narrators will add a lot to the experience.
This book is incredibly ambitious and it takes on a lot of real-life issues in a way that could end up feeling like an after-school special in the wrong hands. Luckily the material here is handled with grace and finesse and while it loses a little momentum in the quarter, it's very satisfying. I love books that I can't compare to any other books, novels that create a unique reading experience. This is absolutely one of them and would have been on my Best of 2015 list had I read it upon or before release.
This book is incredibly ambitious and it takes on a lot of real-life issues in a way that could end up feeling like an after-school special in the wrong hands. Luckily the material here is handled with grace and finesse and while it loses a little momentum in the quarter, it's very satisfying. I love books that I can't compare to any other books, novels that create a unique reading experience. This is absolutely one of them and would have been on my Best of 2015 list had I read it upon or before release.
January 9, 2016
Added 1/8/16: FAVORITE READ OF 2016
Added 3/26/15: Approaching the end of the first quarter of the 2015 reading year, and this is still the best book of the 15 I've read so far.
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I copped an advance copy of James Hannaham's Delicious Foods, which comes out this March, and it is *intense*. To all my squeamish-reader friends out there, the ones who prefer feel-good reading: this ain't for you.
But if you like a good dose of the real world, particularly if, like me, you are one lucky sumbitch in the poker-hand-life-dealt-you category, then you might like this book as much as I did. An eye-opener of the orb-popping variety.
Delicious Foods is a gritty look at a disturbing swath of contemporary Americana, peeling back the veil that hides a particularly unpleasant practice: debt slavery. I for one believed that peonage was a thing of the past, but after reading this recent article about forced labor on Florida farms, the author's inspiration for this novel, I've been heartily disabused of my ignorance.
This is difficult subject matter: not just indentured servitude but also fatal racism, sexual brutality, drug addiction, dismemberment, and death - I told you this isn't for the faint-hearted! Several chapters are narrated by Scotty, The Voice of Crack Cocaine in the head of Darlene, a main character and (yes, you heard me right, one of the narrators is a drug--trippy!), IMO, the heart and soul of Delicious Foods. Scotty describes the out-of-time and out-of-body experience of a crack high this way:
That passage struck me as a perfect explication and indictment of the modern human condition.
Set predominantly in 1990s-era rural Southern America with much of the action taking place on a commercial farm run by an addled formerly-aristocratic white family that "employs" only down-and-out brown laborers, Delicious Foods is the locavore analog to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle; as many people as turned vegetarian after reading Sinclair's expose of the meat-packing industry in early 20th century Chicago could potentially give up agribusiness-grown and indentured-servant harvested produce for locally-sourced and, presumably, humanely-gathered small farm fruits and vegetables.
But it isn't all crack-heads and degrading circumstances, and Hannaham's prose is sublime. Early in the novel, before most of her harrowing storyline gets up a head of steam, there is a description of Darlene's power: "She accepted herself and demanded reciprocation as the price of her esteem." And Hannaham crafts exquisite similes too; one of my favorites? "When you start talking with Sirius B ist's like he tryna stab you with a conversation." I'm pretty sure most of my friends would recognize interactions with me in that image.
But even though it hurt to read this, what I was ultimately left with was a "...long-term hopegasm...", what Sherman Alexiecalled a "metaphorical book boner" in his The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Sometimes the ugliest beginnings lead to the most beautiful and profoundly positive endings.
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My selection for Task #23 (A book published this year) on the BookRiot #readharder challenge 2015
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I discovered this book via the BookRiot Books to Read: Buy, Borrow, Bypass column, the January 19, 2015 edition compiled by Derek Attig
Added 3/26/15: Approaching the end of the first quarter of the 2015 reading year, and this is still the best book of the 15 I've read so far.
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I copped an advance copy of James Hannaham's Delicious Foods, which comes out this March, and it is *intense*. To all my squeamish-reader friends out there, the ones who prefer feel-good reading: this ain't for you.
But if you like a good dose of the real world, particularly if, like me, you are one lucky sumbitch in the poker-hand-life-dealt-you category, then you might like this book as much as I did. An eye-opener of the orb-popping variety.
Delicious Foods is a gritty look at a disturbing swath of contemporary Americana, peeling back the veil that hides a particularly unpleasant practice: debt slavery. I for one believed that peonage was a thing of the past, but after reading this recent article about forced labor on Florida farms, the author's inspiration for this novel, I've been heartily disabused of my ignorance.
This is difficult subject matter: not just indentured servitude but also fatal racism, sexual brutality, drug addiction, dismemberment, and death - I told you this isn't for the faint-hearted! Several chapters are narrated by Scotty, The Voice of Crack Cocaine in the head of Darlene, a main character and (yes, you heard me right, one of the narrators is a drug--trippy!), IMO, the heart and soul of Delicious Foods. Scotty describes the out-of-time and out-of-body experience of a crack high this way:
"Someday I wanna switch places with y'all just for a while, so before you die you could feel what it like not to have no body. Sweet Jesus it take a whole lot of woriation out your head. First bout doctor bills, and then bout racism and sexism, and most positively, it immediately put a end to all that When Am I Gonna Die bullshit. I told Darlene that the whole problem of humanity is that if you got a body, you gotta have a time and a place. But when y'all got a time and a place, y'all really don't got shit--time don't do nothing but disappear. People and places and seasons and events be changing faster than you could recognize em, let alone remember em or appreciate em. How y'all supposed to live on fast forward all the motherfucking time? Don't ask me. Scotty don't got no idea."
That passage struck me as a perfect explication and indictment of the modern human condition.
Set predominantly in 1990s-era rural Southern America with much of the action taking place on a commercial farm run by an addled formerly-aristocratic white family that "employs" only down-and-out brown laborers, Delicious Foods is the locavore analog to Upton Sinclair's The Jungle; as many people as turned vegetarian after reading Sinclair's expose of the meat-packing industry in early 20th century Chicago could potentially give up agribusiness-grown and indentured-servant harvested produce for locally-sourced and, presumably, humanely-gathered small farm fruits and vegetables.
But it isn't all crack-heads and degrading circumstances, and Hannaham's prose is sublime. Early in the novel, before most of her harrowing storyline gets up a head of steam, there is a description of Darlene's power: "She accepted herself and demanded reciprocation as the price of her esteem." And Hannaham crafts exquisite similes too; one of my favorites? "When you start talking with Sirius B ist's like he tryna stab you with a conversation." I'm pretty sure most of my friends would recognize interactions with me in that image.
But even though it hurt to read this, what I was ultimately left with was a "...long-term hopegasm...", what Sherman Alexiecalled a "metaphorical book boner" in his The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Sometimes the ugliest beginnings lead to the most beautiful and profoundly positive endings.
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My selection for Task #23 (A book published this year) on the BookRiot #readharder challenge 2015
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I discovered this book via the BookRiot Books to Read: Buy, Borrow, Bypass column, the January 19, 2015 edition compiled by Derek Attig
December 11, 2015
www.shelfnotes.com review
Dear Reader,
I was not expecting this book to be what it is. I don't know why, but I had a vision in my head of how this novel was before even cracking the spine. I actually audiobook'd this... so all spines are still intact. I have to say though, you must audiobook this one.... if only because the Author, James Hannaham, does a fantastic impression of crack cocaine. Yep, you heard right. Crack cocaine is a main character, and a very strong one indeed. I was so enamoured by this excellent writing trick, I had friends and family listen to the first crack chapter. Every time I listened, I picked up something I missed. I would come to work feeling "energized" and "pumped up"... but not because I was high on drugs but from how AMAZING James Hannaham writes and reads that character, it makes you feel the buzz. No, it won't get you high... but I dare you to listen to that chapter and NOT be woken up.
I'm hard pressed to call this satire, even though I feel hints of it and have heard others call it that. I feel that the darkness looming over everyone is way too heavy to be satirical. Now, crack cocaine... that had humor. Eddie and his mother, that story is just downright sad.... a tragedy. I get a sharp pang thinking about them, I didn't cry but thinking back, it gets me a little emotional. Eddie, that poor boy who lost his father (fire) and then his mother (to drugs and delicious food) and had to find his own way to her. His story is heartwarming, sad and deeply tragic, warranting a book into itself. Eddie's mother, Darlene, holds a tragic story too. Her husband dies in a fire, she can't keep up with bills, she turns to drugs to self medicate and ends up (for lack of a better word) kidnapped by a corrupt company to slave drive them to "earn" their freedom. All this happens early on and we get set up for the "real" story. Think things can't get more tragic than that? Try again.
If you plan on reading this, I HIGHLY suggest audiobook format (the Author narrates his book perfectly). I would also plan on listening only during "light" days, this book can pull the darkness in a little and I could feel the storm clouds rumbling... don't make this mistake... it'll bring you down even more. But oh boy, is this book something... so much to discuss here, I could see this being a great contender for the TOB (Tournament of Books) next year (crosses fingers).
Happy Reading,
AmberBug
Dear Reader,
I was not expecting this book to be what it is. I don't know why, but I had a vision in my head of how this novel was before even cracking the spine. I actually audiobook'd this... so all spines are still intact. I have to say though, you must audiobook this one.... if only because the Author, James Hannaham, does a fantastic impression of crack cocaine. Yep, you heard right. Crack cocaine is a main character, and a very strong one indeed. I was so enamoured by this excellent writing trick, I had friends and family listen to the first crack chapter. Every time I listened, I picked up something I missed. I would come to work feeling "energized" and "pumped up"... but not because I was high on drugs but from how AMAZING James Hannaham writes and reads that character, it makes you feel the buzz. No, it won't get you high... but I dare you to listen to that chapter and NOT be woken up.
I'm hard pressed to call this satire, even though I feel hints of it and have heard others call it that. I feel that the darkness looming over everyone is way too heavy to be satirical. Now, crack cocaine... that had humor. Eddie and his mother, that story is just downright sad.... a tragedy. I get a sharp pang thinking about them, I didn't cry but thinking back, it gets me a little emotional. Eddie, that poor boy who lost his father (fire) and then his mother (to drugs and delicious food) and had to find his own way to her. His story is heartwarming, sad and deeply tragic, warranting a book into itself. Eddie's mother, Darlene, holds a tragic story too. Her husband dies in a fire, she can't keep up with bills, she turns to drugs to self medicate and ends up (for lack of a better word) kidnapped by a corrupt company to slave drive them to "earn" their freedom. All this happens early on and we get set up for the "real" story. Think things can't get more tragic than that? Try again.
If you plan on reading this, I HIGHLY suggest audiobook format (the Author narrates his book perfectly). I would also plan on listening only during "light" days, this book can pull the darkness in a little and I could feel the storm clouds rumbling... don't make this mistake... it'll bring you down even more. But oh boy, is this book something... so much to discuss here, I could see this being a great contender for the TOB (Tournament of Books) next year (crosses fingers).
Happy Reading,
AmberBug
December 27, 2015
A teenage boy whose arms have been lopped off drives a stolen car away from a Louisiana plantation, steering the vehicle with his bloody stumps. As opening scenes go, it certainly grabs your attention. And when you get to to the chapter that is narrated by crack cocaine, you soon realise that this is no ordinary novel.
We eventually learn that Eddie is escaping from a place called Delicious Foods, a vast farm which plies its junkie workers with drugs in return for slave labour. He finds his mother Darlene there after her descent into prostitution and addiction. Once a respected pillar of the community, the loss of her activist husband Nate sends her into a self-destructive spiral. The chapter where she describes her unbearable grief is agonizing and makes her crippling drug habit all the more understandable.
When the offer to work on this mysterious farm arrives, Darlene feels like it's her lucky day. She drops everything, including her 11-year-old son, to start a new life. However this dream job quickly proves too good to be true. Horrific working conditions turn it into a waking nightmare. Eddie has not given up on his mother though, even if she has recklessly abandoned him, and he will not rest until they are reunited.
This remarkable novel starts off a like a thriller but soon settles into a poignant, engrossing story of a family torn apart by violence. It's funny too - the chapters narrated by Scotty, as Darlene calls her drug, are irresistible. He is a loyal, non-judgmental, sassy best friend to her. It's a neat trick - Scotty is so charming and witty, even I was looking forward to seeing him again. Delicious Foods is a perceptive study of systematic racism, slavery and the stranglehold of addiction by an extremely talented writer.
We eventually learn that Eddie is escaping from a place called Delicious Foods, a vast farm which plies its junkie workers with drugs in return for slave labour. He finds his mother Darlene there after her descent into prostitution and addiction. Once a respected pillar of the community, the loss of her activist husband Nate sends her into a self-destructive spiral. The chapter where she describes her unbearable grief is agonizing and makes her crippling drug habit all the more understandable.
When the offer to work on this mysterious farm arrives, Darlene feels like it's her lucky day. She drops everything, including her 11-year-old son, to start a new life. However this dream job quickly proves too good to be true. Horrific working conditions turn it into a waking nightmare. Eddie has not given up on his mother though, even if she has recklessly abandoned him, and he will not rest until they are reunited.
This remarkable novel starts off a like a thriller but soon settles into a poignant, engrossing story of a family torn apart by violence. It's funny too - the chapters narrated by Scotty, as Darlene calls her drug, are irresistible. He is a loyal, non-judgmental, sassy best friend to her. It's a neat trick - Scotty is so charming and witty, even I was looking forward to seeing him again. Delicious Foods is a perceptive study of systematic racism, slavery and the stranglehold of addiction by an extremely talented writer.
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