LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
Runner-up for the Betty Trask Award 2015.
Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2014.
A fabulous and surprising read about an English lit graduate taking a lowly job in the kitchen of a Camden restaurant but mostly it’s about the local gangster, the Fat Man, and his culinary demands. We are introduced to the colourful and eccentric bunch in the kitchen and its ruthless head chef, Bob. The Fat Man has some strange hold over Bob who drags his team in to produce some pretty dreadful private dinners: songbirds in brandy, a tiger cub, even a chimp! It’s extraordinary. The story flows at great speed with a tense atmosphere, plenty of shocks and great insight into the chef experience. It’s an astonishing read. Highly recommended.
The Costa Judges said Wroe's book was “a brave, audacious, invigorating and pacy black
comedy.”
Sarah Broadhurst
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Chop Chop Synopsis
Shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award 2014.
Outrageously funny and completely original, Chop Chop by Simon Wroe is the story of a hapless young chef in the crazed world of the professional kitchen, featuring lust, revenge, neurosis and haute cuisine. Confirms all your worst fears about professional kitchens in a debut novel that is dark, pungent, twisted, surprising and above all genuinely funny. If you enjoy eating out, don't read this book . (William Sutcliffe, author of Are You Experienced). Raucous and inventive, peopled with technicolour characters and savagely funny, Chop Chop announces Simon Wroe as both an heir to Martin Amis and an oven-fresh talent unto himself . (A D Miller, author of Snowdrops). A complete page-turner. Reminiscent of Kitchen Confidential but with an entirely fresh voice that is a pleasure to read . (Thomasina Miers, founder of Wahaca). A brutally funny look at the world of professional cooking. Sometimes the truth is so strange it needs to be sauteed in a pan of fiction . (Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story). Furiously funny, fast, surreal. The heat and the profanity feel painfully real; the prose, masterfully stylized, definitely the stuff of fiction . (Anya von Bremzen, author of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking). Two months behind on his rent, young graduate Monocle swallows his dreams and takes the only job he can find: the lowest-rung chef in a gastropub in Camden. Here he finds himself surrounded by a group of deranged hoodlums (his co-workers) and at the mercy of an ingenious sadist (the head chef, Bob). What follows is a furiously-paced, ribald, raucous and unexpectedly touching tale of loyalty and revenge, dark appetites and fading dreams, and a young man finding his way in the world as he is plunged into the fat and the frying pan and everything else besides. Simon Wroe is a former chef who writes about food and culture for Prospect and the Economist, and has contributed to a wide range of publications including The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Evening Standard. He is 30 and lives in London. This is his first novel.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9780241967133 |
| Publication date: |
5th March 2015 |
| Author: |
Simon Wroe |
| Publisher: |
Viking an imprint of Penguin Books Ltd |
| Format: |
Hardback |
| Pagination: |
336 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Simon Wroe Press Reviews
Confirms all your worst fears about professional kitchens in a debut novel that is dark, pungent, twisted, surprising and above all genuinely funny. If you enjoy eating out, don't read this book -- William Sutcliffe, author of Are You Experienced?
Raucous and inventive, peopled with technicolour characters and savagely funny, Chop Chop announces Simon Wroe as both an heir to Martin Amis and an oven-fresh talent unto himself -- A D Miller, author of Snowdrops
A complete page-turner. Reminiscent of Kitchen Confidential but with an entirely fresh voice that is a pleasure to read -- Thomasina Miers, founder of Wahaca
Author
About Simon Wroe
Simon Wroe is a freelance journalist and former chef. He writes about food for Prospect magazine, art and culture for The Economist and has contributed articles and features to a wide range of publications including Private Eye, Intelligent Life, The Times, The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Independent and The Evening Standard. Simon is 30 and lives in London. This is his first novel.
More About Simon Wroe
