The Breadmaker's Carnival

by Andrew Lindsay

In the town of Bacherotto, remarkable forces of faith, sex, and hunger are driving the inhabitants into uncontrollable frenzies of bizarre and unexplained behaviors. The baker Gianni Terremoto begins to knead his rolls and sourdough breads in the form of his lover's breasts. His lusty daughter, Francesca, is about to become enshrined as the new local saint. His girlfriend Luigi Bacheretti is intent on photographing God. The local priest is convinced that the Virgin Mary has appeared to him, demanding that his congregation renounce the flesh -- an imperative that comes shortly after two amputees stage a popular ballet recital that celebrates the leg. These extraordinary events occur in the year when Good Friday and April Fool's Day coincide. Gainni, born on April Fool's Day Day, decides to bake a hot cross bun surpassing any that has ever been. The results -- hilarious, surprising, rejuvenating -- are beyond any that he and the townsfolk could have expected. A brilliant story of what happens when Easter and Carnival collide and when the community becomes controlled by its libido, The Breadmaker's Carnival defies both the sacred and profane.

Genres: Fiction

341 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2000

Reviews

[Hamish · Rating 1 out of 5]

I generally make it a point to finish every book I start, but I'm going to have to peace out early on this one. My dad gave it to me for my birthday, saying that he hadn't read it but a friend recommended it. I usually like the books he gives me (he has good taste and is far better read than I am), but I don't know what his friend was smoking.

It's a pretty egregious García Márquez (and Heller) rip-off, and an inept one at that. There are lots of passages about farts and periods, and Lindsay seems to be trying to be all literary and low-brow at the same time, but he tries so hard to be clever and funny and never succeeds at any of it. But boy is he trying. You almost want to cheer him on. You can do it! Keep at it! And that coy mix of literary narrative and dirty humor is the kind of thing where you can't succeed by degrees. You either hit the target perfectly or you miss, and if you miss it doesn't matter how close you were. After fifty pages it was just too painful to keep going.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read a great deal, but I realized by page 60 or so that I did NOT want to continue this book, if you like second grade boys bathroom humor and vulgarity read this book...otherwise let it sit on the shelf.

[Selena · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange, Strange, Strange book ... lots of sex, interesting characters, and written in a quirky way. I will never think of bread the same way again, LOL

[Paige Turner · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm surprised that others have described this book as 'sexy' and 'bawdy'. I don't think either descriptor applies. This book is crude and, to my reading, misogynistic. 'Smutty' even. Reading it, I felt the author straining to use every metaphor he could think of to link the naked body and sex with bread making. In the end it became boring.

Not even the plot could save The Breadmaker's Carnival because all the characters' stories seemed to spiral endlessly towards total chaos. Forget 'the narrative arc' ... nobody learnt anything.

I give the book 2 stars for inventiveness but would not search out any other books by this author.

[Wei Tang · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book at a used book store for $1.00 about fifteen yeras ago. I loved it so much and decided to translate it into Chinese. It took me ten years to translate and find a publisher for the book. The Chinese version was finally published in 2015. It sold about 11,000 copies up to now.

[Zi Li · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Ella Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it! A celebration of the joys of the flesh juxtaposed with the horror of being human.

[Catherine Garrett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm. I didn't enjoy this - I kept reading to see if I would connect with it more. A review on the back mentions the word 'bawdy' - yes, it was - very 'earthy' - very about the animalistic in nature. If you are not fans of the c-bomb or other language then you need to avoid this. I don't know that I will read it again. None of the characters are likeable - not even not likeable. I don't know that I have learnt anything or thought new things after reading this.

[Robin · Rating 1 out of 5]

uh- no fancy review here- my bias- a whore of a story. even as the author has been praised for producing a creative literary work and compelled the readers attention to a degree- and I did wrestle with curiosity, in the end it went into the trash with a heave of exasperation. I wish I could have finished it. I still wonder what happened? maybe someday...

[Kay]

It was not good, couldn't get into it. A really strange book.

[Bronwyn Rykiert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into it and gave up after the first CD. I thought the story was crap and I like a bit of sex in my stories but this just didn't do it for me.

[Steve · Rating 1 out of 5]

And the cover of the book was so captivating!

[alifehomemade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book.

[Karina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd, yet strangely compelling.

[Nancy Valentino]

Really weird. This book is going straight on my discard pile.

[Lei · Rating 1 out of 5]

it's got a very good ration on Douban, 7.6/10, 428ratings, most people gave it 4 star. That's incredible. I hate Douban's Rating.