From Publishers Weekly
Stone moved to Greece more than 20 years ago to work on a novel and, upon its completion, found himself unable to leave the beautiful country. In this memoir, he colorfully recollects his life there, particularly one summer when he runs a restaurant on the island of Patmos. The reading complete with appropriate translations of some Greek phrases and expressions adequately conveys the experiences of an American who thinks of himself as a native but is still an outsider, as he learns when a "friend" cheats him out of a substantial sum of money. Part autobiography and part travelogue, this audiobook should appeal to listeners who've spent time in Greece; Stone's descriptions of the landscape and the people will be recognizable to those already familiar with the country. The author's humility in accepting some of the more difficult aspects of his stay the financial struggles and the physical labor, among them seems genuine. However, perhaps because of the length, this audio grows somewhat tiresome. Listeners may grow weary of Stone's observations about tourists (after all, he was once one) and his deprecating comments about the Greek people; James's reading of these sentiments is at times smug.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
When an old acquaintance offers Stone a chance to be part owner and chef of a restaurant on the island of Patmos, he leaps at the opportunity, seeing it as a romantic, profitable summer escape from the drudgery of his teaching job in Crete. Stone turns out to be a success in the kitchen, in part because he supplements the Beautiful Helen's standard Greek menu with diverse dishes, such as Roman spaghetti carbonara and Texan chili. He also becomes infatuated with Patmos' history, famed as the site of St. John's exile and his ecstatic visions of the apocalypse. But what at first seems merely quaint about the natives' ways soon turns sinister as their superstitions become oppressive. Stone's discovery that his Patmian partner has been cheating him out of his share of the restaurant's profits turns the idyllic summer into a nightmare. Despite Stone's deep love for Greek culture and language, he has painted a compelling, but scarcely flattering, portrait of a genuinely insular way of life.
Mark KnoblauchCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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