Feast of the Seven Fishes

Feast Of The Seven Fishes is a delicious slice of life. The combination of the story and recipes makes it an irresistible package. It will add new traditions and memories to your Christmas Holidays. It will for us.... and we're not Italian!

Anyone who grew up in an Italian family or married into an Italian family will love this book. Reading it made me hungry. It is a realist version of Moon Struck.

If you grew up Italian or another European ethnic, this will bring back great memories and you will become teary eyed as you remember those amazing immigrants, our Grandparents. The story is a realistic observation of the family celebration and the recipes are as authentic as you'll find for the traditional Italian Christmas Eve Feast. Those Italians never measured anything, they just put enough in until it feels right. You will see that the Tinnells put enough love into this book and it feels just right.

In this age of detached irony and perennial coolness, Christmas has become about as hip as dinner with your Aunt Bertha. Kudos then to Robert Tinnell, Alex Saviuk and Ed Piskor, whose graphic novel "Feast of the Seven Fishes" captures the spirit of Christmas for a generation that doesn't quite know what to believe in anymore. Part coming-of-age story, part loving remembrance, Feast balances humor, angst and joy in well-measured doses. Like life, the secret is not in the ultimate outcome, but in the journey itself. You'll spend time with characters that you'll swear you know (or wish you did). And you'll find yourself shaking your head in a "been there, done that" manner as this group of family and friends sorts out their relationships, past and present, over a memorable Christmas season from long ago. The story is told in a brisk and inviting manner-you'll learn a lot about this cantankerous clan in a short time and you'll find yourself wondering what happens after the story ends. That's the best compliment I can pay to any storytellers, graphic novel or not. Smart without being smarmy, sentimental without being maudlin, Feast touches just the right Yuletide nerve. It may not make you believe in Santa Claus, but it will make you think about the years gone past, the people you've loved and the thread of tradition that holds it all together.

I loved this book - the comic strip novel format is interesting and direct, really pulling you into the story. Coming from an italian-american backround, this story is an accurate depiction of the cross currents of emotion and family hierarchy that are disrupted when someone outside of the tribe is introduced into the familial mix. The book brought back lots of memories for me as I think it would for anyone who grew up in an ethnic community. As families become more and more extended and spread from one coast to another, this book will teach your kids how it used to be, and introduce them to holiday traditions which are in danger of vanishing. For this reason alone, the book is a worthwhile read. I have also tried a couple of the recipes and they are terrific.