 First edition | |
| Author | Kate Christensen |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Published | 2004 (Doubleday) |
| Publication place | USA |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 351 |
| ISBN | 9780767910309 |
| OCLC | 52134834 |
The Epicure's Lament is a 2004 novel by Kate Christensen. It is about Hugo, a man living by himself at the family home and his interaction with various characters.
In a review of The Epicure's Lament, Salon wrote "The Epicure’s Lament is the result of an ambition so quixotic that you may get quite a few pages into Kate Christensen’s new novel before you decide to sign on for the duration. .. characters with voices so strong and attitudes so egregious that reading about them becomes a long, tricky balancing act between the reflexive sympathy we feel for whoever tells us a story and our suspicion that we’re dealing with a rather bad man." and concluded "The Epicure’s Lament becomes funnier the more Hugo begins to engage with the people he purports to loathe, and the more it becomes clear he’s not quite ready to leave yet. Why an author would set herself the formidable task of creating such a creature — and then convincing us to like him — is a bit puzzling, but why look a gift horse in the mouth?" [1] and The New York Times called it "readable, but it's also clever to a fault and often static." [2]
The Epicure's Lament has also been reviewed by Library Journal , [3] Booklist , [4] January Magazine , [5] Kirkus Reviews , [6] and Publishers Weekly . [7]
Christensen (In the Drink) has produced a mordantly comic romp led by a protagonist who often seems like a cross between Ignatius Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces and a Nabokov antihero.
Unexpectedly charming in some places, absolutely dastardly in others, Hugo is an utterly unforgettable character.
a juicy triumph, laced with laughs and behavioral tics which supersede its loose structural trappings. Christensen may be writing on impulse, but impulse isn't always as consistently witty as this.
First-rate adult entertainment, as they say, and Christensen's most impressive yet.
This is an impressive tome, one that tickles the funny bone and feeds the mind.