The Post-Apocalyptic Dining Guide: An End-of-Days Search for American Haute Cuisine and the Meaning of Human Existence

by Joe Buonfiglio, Richard Van Ingram (Illustrator)

EVENT OMEGA. The end of civilization. The end of the world. The end of everything. But hey, you still gotta eat. In the world back when there was a world, Rupert Viandy masterfully contributed nothing of any real value to his fellow man. He is devoid of any talent whatsoever...save one. Viandy is exceptional at the art of food; not preparing it, but critiquing it, judging it, depicting all its various nuances in vivid, yet readily comprehensible detail. Then, when he is at the top of his game, the whole planet goes to.... While the remnants of humankind switch into a bizarre mode of animalistic insanity, Rupert begins his quest to return the state of things to some modicum of civilization the only way he knows how: one restaurant review at a time. As Viandy moves from End Times' restaurateur to restaurateur, his continual encounters with one camouflaged culinary horror after another are Theatre of the Absurd worthy of the deviant evil that waits within the turducken at Gushi Sushi. "I feel as if I have made a Faustian deal with the Devil and all I traded for my soul were some overcooked cocktail weenies." THE POST-APOCALYPTIC DINING GUIDE drops you into a realm of pure madness. The humor comes from a dark place...a really dark place. The tale is completely absurd and the events downright shocking. Who knew the end of civilization could be so much fun!

280 pages, Paperback

Published November 1, 2018

About the author

Somewhere between Sci-Fi/Fantasy and outright Bizarro, Slipstream Absurdist-Humor author Joe Buonfiglio lurks in the shadows waiting to strike. He's that anomalous laughter coming from the back of your uncle's funeral wake. Joe's worldview melds into his writing; he embraces the random chaos of the universe that manifests in a type of humor that lampoons anyone or anything even attempting to create some semblance of order from it all. If there is any Intelligence behind the Design, Joe is fairly certain It's gone completely mad. An award-winning journalist and commentary writer, Buonfiglio's literary style has been described as "ribald academia that emerges from a dark place" and "locker-room intelligentsia laced with the tears of polite society." You'll find you are laughing at the literary tapestry he weaves, and yet, at the same time, ashamed of yourself for having done so. To experience more of Joe Buonfiglio's strange approach to both humor and literature (not to mention life), as well as encounter his "unblog" Potpourri of the Damned, go to his website at JoeBuonfiglio.com.

Reviews

[Brandon Ellrich · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not for the easily offended or light of stomach

Inventive and unique, the narrator describes a bleak future after an apocalyptic event by way of an American restaurant review, of sorts. Full of very dark and graphic humor. Not my type of book, but in a world of many pessimists and cynics, there is certainly an audience for it.

[Dee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had me laughing from start to finish. This book is out there and I loved every minute of it. I would love to spend a day in Joe Buonfiglio's head.