Mother for Dinner

by Shalom Auslander

The new book by the author of Hope: A Tragedy – ‘the funniest novel of the decade’ Sunday Times

Seventh Seltzer has done everything he can to break from the traditions of the past, but in his overbearing, narcissistic mother’s last moments, she whispers in his ear the two words he always knew she would: ‘Eat me’.

This is not unusual, as the Seltzers are Cannibal-Americans, a once proud and thriving ethnic group, but for Seventh, it raises some serious questions. Of practical concern, she’s six-foot-two and weighs over thirty stone – even divided up between Seventh and his eleven brothers, that's a lot of red meat. Plus, Second keeps kosher, Ninth is vegan and Sixth is dead. To make matters worse, even if he can wrangle his brothers together for a feast, the Can-Am people have assimilated, and the only living Cannibal who knows how to perform the ancient ritual is their Uncle Ishmael, a far from reliable guide.

Beyond the practical, Seventh struggles with the sense of guilt and responsibility he feels – to his mother, to his people and to his unique cultural heritage. His mother always taught him he was a link in a chain, stretching back centuries. But he’s getting tired of chains.

Shalom Auslander's Mother for Dinner is an outrageously tasty comedy about identity and inheritance, the things we owe our families and the things we owe ourselves.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Contemporary, Horror, Book Club, Comedy, Novels

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 22, 2020

About the author

Shalom Auslander is an American author and essayist. He grew up in an Orthodox Jewish neighborhood in Monsey, New York where he describes himself as having been "raised like a veal".[1][2] His writing style is notable for its Jewish perspective and determinedly negative outlook.

Auslander has published a collection of short stories, Beware of God and a memoir, Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir. His work, often confronting his Orthodox Jewish background, has been featured on Public Radio International's This American Life and in The New Yorker. In January 2012, Auslander published his first novel, Hope: A Tragedy.

Reviews

[Elyse Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

EAT ME!!!! THIS is a serious- CRAZY SATIRE novel --not for the squeamish! >> but actually has some profound thought provoking themes - (after getting pass the outrageous storytelling-crafting)

..... The Seltzers are Cannibal-Americans. Their faith requires human eating of a family member after they die. It was a way of escaping anti-Semitism.

Nobody deserves a mother like Mud! Her dying wish was 'eat me' --(literally) -- Gotta give mama credit for her faith-commitment --lol She even ate a dozen or so hamburgers -double bacon with cheese -no lettuce, a DAY --for a year -- to fatten up before death. Juicy meat you see! ha!


Ha, It takes courage -to get through this book - its kinda GROSS!! (not kinda - *definitely* - GROSS
.....STOMACH TURNING BOOK....
Sweeney Todd its NOT...........
No human meat pies - one only needs to take one bite from 'mama's dead body.

This review is making no sense - I can do better -should be able to do better -- but my god -- I can't get the visuals out of my head yet.
Its NOT boring.....
Its VERY creative!!!

Mama has 12 sons -- There names are: First, Second, Third, Forth, Fifth, Sixth, (Six died), Seventh, Eighth, Nineth, Tenth, Eleventh, Twelfth, and Thirteenth (called Zero --because she was the only girl)......
The boys all have a purpose -- they are a chain of people who keeps their family and culture connected. If they reject their people… They are nothing?/!/? .....

Second - converted to Judaism. He married a Jewish girl. He was circumcised as an adult. He said that he kept kosher and that he could not eat mama because she wasn't kosher.
Doesn't this tell you all you want to know about this book? hahahahah

Seventh is kinda the ring leader --(4th the smartest) -- but 7th--is the one who MOST wants to follow mama's instructions (money is involved for the boys -- but.... He says its not about the money) --
7th and 2nd -go at it -(argue) -- 7th said 2nd MUST eat mama -- he doesn't care if he converted to Judaism. He doesn't care if he was Abraham, or Moses, or Jesus fucking Christ, but 2nd is eating mama. NO MESSING AROUND with TRADITION!!! You hear me?/!!!!
Seventh was trying very hard not to lose his temper when telling Second what to do. He told him to throw up afterwards, that nobody would know the difference. But either way he's eating MAMA!!!

Eating Mama is a little like grieving with a purpose.

Little Zero (girl after my own heart) --felt that if somebody read this story 100 years from now and believed a word of it they would be idiots just like all the siblings.

"Being a good son is not about being a coward, being a good son is about bravery"! okay??/ eat mama!!!

Jack Nicholson is mentioned many times in this novel -but -- I might need some friends to help me understand why -- Some jokes went over my head - and some jokes were just too far in left field - to find them funny --

At the same time -- I'll confess -- I could actually read this book again -- (yep) --
Now that I've gotten over the SHOCK of what it is -- my feeling is -- I'd see the deeper meaning --if I did read it again.

If...Shalom is saying -- LETS NOT FORGET WHAT'S IMPORTANT in life -- lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater -- well -- I get it!
This book is also a little sad -- Its not easy keeping family members connected. There are upsets in families - righteousness - pride - anger - etc. --
but in "Mother For Dinner".... Mama means business -- DO NOT BREAK THE CHAIN!!!!

so...if you are a chain breaker in YOUR family -- (hard knock truth) -- you just might be seen as a NOBODY!!! (and how sad to be separated -and outcast nobody from separating yourself) ...

Win win? Not sure
Lose lose? Not sure

Good book ..........NO --I'm not recommending it -- BUT --I'm glad I read it!!!

[zoé · Rating 3 out of 5]

probably one of armie hammer’s favorite books

[Fátima Linhares · Rating 5 out of 5]

- É tradição - referiu Sétimo.
- É tradição? - perguntou Zero. - É essa a tua resposta?
- Sim, é a minha resposta.
(...)
- Nunca compreenderei o fascínio que nós, humanos temos com a tradição - disse Zero. - Um maluco qualquer, no passado, usava um certo chapéu ou comia uma certa comida ou travou uma certa batalha ou foi crucificado. E depois? Cá andamos nós a usar os chapéus que outros usaram e a comer a comida que outros comeram e com cruzinhas penduradas ao pescoço, sem nunca paramos para pensar que estas pessoas antigas que emulamos ignoravam as coisas mais elementares sobre o nosso mundo. Qualquer miúdo do terceiro ano sabe mais do que eles sabiam na altura. Não que a culpa fosse deles, mas também acreditavam que a terra era plana, que não havia nada de imoral em escravizar outros seres humanos, que a Terra só tinha seis mil anos e que Deus criou o mundo em menos de uma semana. Decidimos, inclusivamente, quem devemos odiar com base nesses velhos tontos. Duzentos anos atrás, os vossos antepassados palermas fizeram determinada coisa aos nossos antepassados palermas, por isso agora vão-se lixar. Que imbecis. Há duzentos anos, as pessoas eram todas umas imbecis, o tempo todo, com toda a gente. E o que tem isso que ver connosco? Temos de ser imbecis porque elas o foram? (...) Porque os ignorantes de há quinhentos anos que emulamos já emulavam, por sua vez outros ignorantes que tinham vivido quinhentos anos antes deles, e esses ignorantes já tinham também, por sua vez, emulado outros ignorantes que viveram quinhentos anos antes deles. Estamos literalmente presos ao passado.

O que me despertou a curiosidade para este livro foi o canibalismo, não vou negar. A premissa de que os filhos têm de comer a mãe porque é assim que se faz na sua "religião" é deveras interessante, e queria ver qual seria o caminho que o autor escolheu para a desenvolver.

Mas este livro é muito mais que isso, é uma reflexão sobre os costumes, o fanatismo religioso, aqui representado pela mãe e pelo tio, a forma como os vários filhos de Mudd (a mãe) encaram o seu passado e a educação que receberam e como isso os fez amar/odiar aquela mulher que os pariu e que só tinha a religião na cabeça e contava histórias muitas vezes sem pés nem cabeça porque eram as da "bíblia" canibal.

Será possível deixar o passado e as tradições para trás e seguir em frente sem culpas? Este livro diz-nos que sim. E melhor, sem termos de comer os nossos pais! :D

[Sid Nuncius · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mother For Dinner is an excoriating satire on the contemporary obsession with identity. It has a good deal of Shalom Auslander’s customary brilliance and wit, but has its flaws, too.

As in the brilliant Hope: A Tragedy, Auslander uses an outrageous premise to illustrate what he sees as the dangers of relying for one’s identity on a sense of both current and historic oppression and injustice. Here, he creates a Cannibal-American community living covertly in the USA having come from the Old Country (no-one remembers precisely where) several generations ago. A myth about their establishment in the USA is created, embellished and nurtured – by no-one more so than Mudd, monstrous matriarch of a Can-Am family and a parody of every over-zealous orthodoxy, who “loved her people, so much so that, as a matter of pride, she despised all others.” Seventh is one of her sons who has broken free but is drawn back as the family gathers for Mudd’s death – after which, by tradition, they are expected to eat her.

It’s a clever, grotesque device which enables Auslander to throw Orthodoxy dependent on ancient stories and tradition (of all kinds) into sharp and unforgiving focus. This passage is a good example: “...nobody remembers exactly what Remembrance Day was established to remember. Something happened— of that there can be no question— and whatever it was, it was bad. It was tragic. It was the most tragic thing that ever happened, otherwise why would they remember it, even if they didn’t? All that is known for certain is that somewhere (no one can remember where), on some particular day (no one can remember which), something terrible happened to their blessed ancestors (no one can remember what), and it is important that they never forget it, whatever it was and whenever it happened, and that they curse the names of those who perpetrated whatever it was that was perpetrated, whoever they were, and whatever they did.”

He also takes well-aimed swipes at some publishing trends exploiting ideas of identity and other targets. The message, that identity is important but becomes damaging if it is insular and wholly inward- and backward-looking, is very important and he can be very, very funny about it. However, toward the end the grotesquerie got just a bit much for me and rather obscured what Auslander was trying to say.

Mother For Dinner is often brilliant and hilarious and makes good, important points. You do need to be prepared for some pretty gross scenes, but I’d say it’s well worth it. Perhaps not the absolute gem that Hope: A Tragedy is, but still very recommendable.

[HorrorBabe911 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was …. Well.. quite interesting, disturbing, eye opening on so many levels, funny, and chaotic.

12 siblings must come together to participate in ancient traditions of cannibal-Americans. But not everyone agrees with their customs, and “mother” isn’t taking no for answer. Upon her death bed, she gives them her last dying wish—to eat and consume her😖. Diving into the new lives of the 12 siblings and their conflicting views on their cultural heritage, this story gets chaotic and can be sometimes hilarious.

[rockandfiocc]

divertentissimo! cosa succede in una famiglia di cannibali con 12 figli, una mamma integralista cannibale e un rito da portare a termine? crudo, grottesco e con uno stupendo umorismo british

[Lobstergirl · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not just bad, but phenomenally bad. I know I shouldn't be amazed this braindead dreck got published - in the "literary fiction" category ! - but I am.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ready for a clever, totally politically incorrect, story of a whole hidden nationality within the United States? That’s right, the Can-Am people are not from Canada. They are Cannibal-Americans from the Old Country. Which Old Country? They don’t remember. They do remember their rituals. Especially about having Mother for Dinner, after her death, as a main course.

There is some deep and intriguing world-building here. And some of it is even true. Henry Ford really did have an Americanization program and Day. I assume (hope?) that the rest of Cannibal traditions and history are fictional.

However, Mother for Dinner also has a deeper message about how the US melting pot works and how it doesn’t. Ultimately, should people continually refer to their historical ethnicity regardless of how long they, and their ancestors, have been living in a different country? Does it take two generations to change from referring to yourself as Chinese to Chinese-American to just American? Or will it never happen? This book will make you think, which is always a good thing. 4 stars!

Thanks to Riverhead Books and Edelweiss+ for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Monica Cabral · Rating 4 out of 5]

"As mães sabem muito mal.
São repugnantes, da cabeça aos dedos dos pés ( a cabeça é a pior parte). Não há tempero que lhes valha, podem perguntar a qualquer pessoa que já tenha ingerido uma."

Esta é a história de uma família canibal americana, os Seltzers , que quando a mãe está a morrer , são confrontados com o seu ultimato no leito de morte : se quiserem receber a vossa herança, têm todos de me comer quando eu morrer. Todos excepto Zero, a única rapariga da família, pois como se sabe as raparigas não contam.
Esta é a permissa deste livro provocador, intrigante, satírico, politicamente incorrecto e divertido, mas que levanta também algumas questões pertinentes : Quem realmente somos? Será a tradição assim tão importante para nós? Será a nossa própria família assim tão importante para nós?
Eu gostei muito deste livro e aconselho vivamente a sua leitura.

[David Slater · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think I'm ready to proclaim Shalom Auslander the funniest writer in America. His memoir, Foreskin's Lament, about his apostacy against Orthodox Judaism, is outrageously offensive. And hilarious. His novel, Hope: A Tragedy, about a man finding a cantankerous Anne Frank living in his attic, is wildly inappropriate. And hilarious. Mother for Dinner, about the plight of Cannibal Americans, should bring him wider attention. The novel is a revolting, hilarious indictment of identity politics, tribalism, and the human tendency to cling to traditions, whether or not they were originated by assholes. Obviously not for everyone, but you should read it right away.

[Courtney Ferriter · Rating 3 out of 5]

** 3.5 stars **

I found this book mostly entertaining, although it definitely got repetitive toward the end and the ending of the novel felt a bit unsatisfying, almost as if Auslander himself wasn't really sure how to close out his extended parable about Cannibal-Americans.

Would recommend for readers who are interested in reading about the constraints of identity, especially cultural/ethnic minorities.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mother for Dinner showcases rather analogous situations and attitudes to Hope: A Tragedy, one of my absolute favorites, but ultimately didn’t come together as successfully for me. It’s a satire on the immigrant and minority experience in the USA – the American dream of ‘melting pot’ assimilation that we see contradicted daily by tribalism and consumerism. Seventh Seltzer works in Manhattan publishing and has to vet identity stories vying to be the next Great American Novel: “The Heroin-Addicted-Autistic-Christian-American-Diabetic one” and “the Gender-Neutral-Albino-Lebanese-Eritrean-American” one are two examples. But Seventh is a would-be writer himself, compelled to tell the Cannibal-American story.

For years Mudd, the Seltzer family matriarch, has been eating Whoppers for each meal in a customary fattening-up called the Cornucopiacation. She expects her 12 children, who are likely the last of the Cannibal kind, to carry on the tradition of eating her corpse after her death. It’s a way for ancestors to live on in their descendents. The Cannibal Guide, disguised as a deer processing manual, sets out the steps: Drain (within two hours), Purge, Partition, Consume (within 24 hours). Unclish, the Seltzers’ uncle, drilled the rules into them when they were kids through rhymes like “A bite and half / and you won’t need another, / whether it’s your father, your sister, / or even your mother.” From her deathbed, Mudd apportions her body parts to her offspring, some tenderly and some vengefully. Their inheritance – a Brooklyn dump that will still net $5.2 million – is conditional on them performing the ritual.

Interspersed with sections on the practicalities of butchering and cooking a morbidly obese woman are flashbacks to key moments of Cannibal history, which has turned into myth. In 1914, Julius Seltzer left the paradisiacal “Old Country” with his sister Julia, who pretended to be his wife and traveled with him to Detroit to work for Henry Ford. (An overt parody of Jeffrey Eugenides’ Middlesex.) Mudd is vocally intolerant of all other minority groups, from Blacks to homosexuals, and always chooses the version of history that reflects best on her own ancestors, while the Seltzers’ father was more willing to admit flaws.

Auslander is pushing the boundary of what an author can get away with, not just with a literal cannibalism storyline but also with jokes about historical atrocities and the recent trend for outing beloved figures as reprehensible (what Seventh calls “Contemporary Assholization Studies”). He shares Lionel Shriver’s glee for tipping sacred cows. I did appreciate his picture of the pervasiveness of xenophobia – the “You’re Not Me” look that anyone can get when walking in an unfamiliar neighborhood – and his willingness to question the value of beliefs and ceremonies once they’ve stopped being reasonable or of use. But with all the siblings known by numbers, it’s hard to distinguish between them. The novel ends up heavy on ideas but light on characterization, and as a whole it leaves a bit of a bad taste in the mouth.

Originally published on my blog, Bookish Beck.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cuanto más joven es el muerto, más dulce es la carne. Cuanto más dulce la carne, más amarga es la pena.

Esta es la historia de una familia canibaloamericana. Cuando la madre fallece, sus 13 hijos deberán comérsela para cobrar la herencia, siguiendo con las costumbres de su pueblo. Pero no todos los hermanos son unos fervientes caníbales y muchos llevan años detestando a la madre y deseando alejarse de lo que son. Mientras debaten si deben comérsela y cómo, conocemos en profundidad la vida de esta familia y la cultura canibaloamericana.

Esto es una sátira a toda la humanidad. Es absurda a más no poder, pero por eso las risas están garantizadas en cada página. Además y sorprendentemente, se incluyen reflexiones bastante profundas sobre la identidad, la idea de grupo y nación, el pasado y la tradición.

Un libro que he disfrutado gracias a esta peculiar y disfuncional familia y a sus dilemas.

-¿Qué hace un padre, doctor? Dígamelo, por favor; no tengo ni idea.
-Quiera a su hija. Incondicionalmente. Quiérala por lo que es, no por lo que usted quiera que sea.
-Suena demasiado fácil.
-Entonces, ¿por qué hay tan pocas personas capaces de hacerlo?

[Gabriela Sikora · Rating 3 out of 5]

3/5⭐️

Bardzo dobra jako książka przerywnik, chociaż humor w niej według mnie był momentami przesadzony. Nie sądziłam, że kreacja świata będzie tak rozbudowana- poznałam dużo zasad, które rządziły światem naszych „kanibamerykanów”, co jest wielkim plusem. Całość odbieram jako gigantyczną hiperbolę zachowań ludzkich, które mocno wybrzmiewają przedstawione w ten sposób.

„Może Rosenbloom miał racje.
Może skoro wszyscy pakują sie w ciasne klatki i chwalą
to sobie jako własną wolność, on także powinien.
Może czas przyszedł, żeby sie pogodzić ze swoimi kajdanami.
Może czas przyszedł, by należeć do narodu, do którego się należy”

[Edeh · Rating 3 out of 5]

really interesting concept, i liked when they talked about the history of Can Am’s and how contradicting they all are. There were a lot of bits i really liked, especially in the first 100 pages

I just think it was a real surface level commentary on identity and identity politics that ended in ‘we’re ALL just annoying terrible human beings’ Characters were mostly one dimensional caricatures.

[Jordan McMinn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is irreverent, clever and darkly satirical.
It's also gross and, at times, mean-spirited.
Though well-written and humorous, I feel the ability to enjoy this book is dependent on how much casual bigotry you can stomach before it stops feeling like satire and starts feeling excessive.

[Andria Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cannibalism and family bonding. What a strange little book and I absolutely despised the mother. The children, however, were absolutely fascinating. 4.5 ⭐

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Una historia muy dinámica, con ideas, a ratos delirantes y a ratos más cuerdas que nada. Con una premisa que me llamaba mucho la atención y que ha cumplido completamente mis expectativas.
He disfrutado mucho del batiburrillo de voces y las distintas ideas que plantea el autor.

En algún momento, el hincapié en la breve historia de los caníbales se me ha hecho un poco repetitivo. Pero aun así, me ha parecido muy curiosa la concepción del mundo de la madre y del tío.

Creo que es muy buen material para adaptarlo a película, muy visual y visceral.

[Nina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomal!! Very funny satire described aptly by entertainment weekly as “like an unintentional bark of laughter at a funeral.” The assimilated children in a Cannibal-American family must eat their mother upon her death as per tradition. Pokes fun at micro-identities but is also an examination of identity. Recommended for people who enjoy Jewish humor.

File under: funny, satire, Jewish vibe
Learned about: tradition, assimilation, identity,

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dark, dry, satirical, outrageous - everything you would expect from Auslander, but also incredibly insightful.

Taken beyond face (pun intended) value this is a story about identity, culture, stereotypes and the complex push and pull of familial relationships. Oh, and eating your dead mother of course.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kurzmeinung / Leseerlebnis
Wow. Ich glaube nicht, dass ich jemals so etwas gelesen habe. Eine geniale Satire, die eine Bandbreite an Themen anspricht, unter anderem
Identität (Religion, Nationalität, Hautfarbe, sexuelle Orientierung, politische Gesinnung, Ernährungskonzepte bis hin zu
Grill-Vorlieben (Gas oder Kohle)), Tradition, Familie, Konsum, Zweifel und Trauer. Diese humorvolle und gleichzeitig tiefe Geschichte hat mich auf so vielen Ebenen erreicht. Ich habe es verschlungen und hoffe, dass es übersetzt wird, damit auch die deutsche Leserschaft hiervon zehren kann. 😉

[James Law · Rating 5 out of 5]

V funny, oddly wholesome and uplifting in parts? A good time

[James · Rating 3 out of 5]

12 cannibal Americans gather to fulfil their cultural obligations by eating their recently deceased mother. It’s a comedy, funny for the most part and disgusting throughout.

[Karima · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Everyone else was climbing into their boxes, writing Keep Out on the outside and sealing themselves up inside. Why shouldn't I?"

Identities, names, labels – they define you, set you free, and imprison you. Mother for Dinner talks a chunk of cannibalism, and another good chunk of questioning the banality of identity. The story centered on Seventh Seltzer, the (you guessed it) seventh kid of an apparently last Cannibal-American family living in Brooklyn. His mother's last wish is for her children to Consume her, and Seventh was torn between fulfilling his obligation to his people and finally break free from the tradition and identity that he had never wanted. He felt trapped by the box that brought him to life – his identity, his history, his people – yet couldn't tattered off the chain once and for all. For although the box confined oneself, it also provides belonging – comfort, warmth, love. Seventh, lying and running away all his life, longed for those.

He lied to his wife that his father a Haitian while his mother a Dominican-Brazilian. Both were actually living in Brooklyn. He struggled with his editing job in a publishing office, reading stories after stories of people crawling back into their boxes (So-and-So-and-So American, Such-and-Such Lesbian, etc.), putting labels on themselves voluntarily and claiming to be free by doing so. His favorite writer was Michel de Montaigne – as everyone else is trying to figure out who they are, Montaigne offered the idea that perhaps the quest itself is not important. Perhaps you are not a 'being', but a constantly evolving 'becoming'.

Another central piece in the story was Americanization Day held in 1914 by Henry Ford in attempt to 'Americanized' his immigrant workers: A huge black cauldron was set. Immigrants were wearing their cultural clothing as they jumped into the pot. Inside, they changed into a formal black-and-white suit. Emerged, they were now a true American. Everyone cheered.

Auslander used slightly ironic and comedic tone ornamented by the fantastical folklore of the past - on top of being funny and entertaining, it strips off the cliche, boring question of 'Why should we be divided, if we are all indeed the same human race?' to an interesting brainjerker that turned the argument into a wide, gray area of uncertainty. Seventh Seltzer and his family will make you pause, think, and chew on your long-held ideas and assumptions on family, identity, and what it means to define yourself through labels. The book runs on one long chapter with breaks, flashbacks, and background stories of Seventh in one long rhythm - this allows Auslander to properly set the stage for us, and I thoroughly enjoy every bits of the narration. All in all, easy 5/5.

[Giovanna Walker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't love it, didn't hate it. Satire to the MAX. I think I just wasn't in the mood for it, and didn't connect with it. I also got lost in all the siblings, named after numbers....it got a bit tedious after a while - SO many of them. I enjoyed the premise of the cannibal culture and where the author went with it, kooky & quirky. Definitely some very amusing asides. Also some insights about family, connection (or lack thereof), culture....unfortunately my 2nd book where I didn't connect with characters & to be honest, didn't care. Look, probably just me, nothing against the book, the writing itself was good, flowed.

[Lorena Pedrajas López · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una obra fantásticamente loca que, entre filete y filete, muestra el pesar de las tradiciones y cómo el estilo de crianza marca la vida de cada hija o hijo.
Pero, realmente, una vez muertos.. ¿Qué somos sino carne?

Muy recomendable 💙

[Lien · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark and funny. Good and bad. Satire about identity, immigration, consumerism, family…

I enjoyed reading this, however I think this could’ve worked just as well, if not better, as a short story or novella.

[wilma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not gonna lie: valde att läsa den här boken för att den så uppenbart handlar om kannibalism. Flera av mina bästa läsupplevelser förra året var trots allt på det temat! Men i den här boken är kannibalismen ett verktyg för att berätta något djupare - det är en satir över det moderna samhället och människans relation till sina traditioner, sin identitet och historia. Författaren själv växte upp i Monsey, New York, där många ortodoxa judar bor, och det märks att hans bakgrund varit viktig för berättelsen. Jag älskade den här boken, tyckte den var fruktansvärt smart skriven. Symbolismen var genomtänkt och jag kände att jag kunde förstå varför den var skriven som den var. Fick bättre förståelse för saker som assimilering, utanförskap, känslan av att behöva värna de som är ”våra egna” och det som är ”vårt”. Bitvis är boken provocerande, det är väl delvis poängen, och den är inte sällan rolig. Många citat på omslaget handlade om hur rolig boken är. Även om den är skriven på ett humoristiskt och groteskt sätt så tyckte jag den var superintressant och smart på ett Orwell-liknande sätt mer än att den var rolig. Ville i slutändan inte att den här berättelsen om USA:s sista Cannibal-Americans någonsin skulle ta slut, och det är ett riktigt gott betyg för att komma från mig, den snabbläsare som jag är

[Elynor Kamil · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot funnier than I expected a book about Cannibals to be. It's a bit gruesome, but it never feels gratuitous - any gore is there to make a point. Mostly it's about legacy and being part of an ancient series of traditions and beliefs that are increasingly muddy, contradictory, and dubious... and how that might affect a family and its dynamic.

It's a sharp book and delivers its points with wit and empathy for other points of view (even if our point of view character or the characters speaking don't necessarily have one iota of empathy). On the whole, it's not really a book about eating people; it's a book about family and their relationship with something analogous to religion. Superbly written and characterised. The ending itself was good, but some of the character beats of our main character, Seventh, felt a little glossed over towards the end, given he seemed increasingly on board with the whole traditions of Cannibalism (not to be confused with cannibalism), but when his uncle dies and the siblings start to part ways, he's suddenly like, nah, I don't fancy this and accepting old traditions that don't have anything to do with him anymore.

Even then, the book itself is so great across the board that I wasn't put off from giving this 5 stars. I strongly recommend this book.

[Setka z Kotem · Rating 5 out of 5]

Znakomita, zaskakująca powieść! Oto nowojorczyk o imieniu Siódmy (bo urodził się jako siódmy, spośród kilkanaściorga dzieci), należący do mniejszości etnicznej - ... Kanibamerykanów, otrzymuje informację, że musi pojechać do dawno niewidzianej matki. Ta bowiem umiera. Na łożu śmierci mężczyzna słyszy od matki: "Zjedz mnie". W tradycji narodu Kanibamerykanów należy zjeść nieżyjącego kanibala. Przed śmiercią matka wydaje dyspozycje, którą część ciała powinno spożyć każde z jej dzieci - w zależności od "zasług", zainteresowań, preferencji seksualnych oraz tego, jak ją traktowało za życia. Sytuacja wymyka się jednak spod kontroli, bo ciało matki waży ponad 200 kg, a właśnie jest bardzo upalnie. To jeszcze nie koniec problemów rodzeństwa. Wśród nich są bowiem m.in. weganin oraz osoba jedząca tylko koszerne jedzenie.... Ważne miejsce w tej opowieści odgrywają rzeczywiste, a nie tylko literackie postaci - aktor Jack Nicholson oraz producent samochodów, Henry Ford.