St. Burls Obituary

This was a great book. The reviewer 'Gluttony and Tedium' must have read a different book from what i read. I'd love to have dinner with Burl(before his obese-demise), just to share the joy of taste. This book is as good as the movie "The Big Night"--the transforming power of food, both good and bad is profound.

I've read this book several times and with each rereading find more to admire. It's rare to find a work that is at once original, erudite and unceasingly entertaining. It succeeds on several levels -- as a contemporary allegory, as a character study of the intelligent, funny and tormented-by-his-bulk Burl, and as a rollicking great yarn. Burl's enormous appetite is a terrific metaphor of our consumer society; his journeys through a hilariously gothic America and his virtual death and resurrection are the stuff of great literature.

I selected this book from the library shelf based on its intriguing cover. I read the first couple of pages right there, and was hooked. This is one of those rare books I shall remember all my life, as Burl was so real, quirly and loveable, and his life and views so fascinating, that I was sorry to finish and say goodbye to a new-found friend. Daniel Akst's language is a joy to read, his erudition impressive, and his wit absolutely beguiling.

Dan Akst sure is one of the brightest authors I've ever come across. Just to start with that statement. I guess one would have to read that marvel of a novel over and over again, just to discover all the literary cross-references he has embedded with such great subtlety. I've read it twice, and I'm sure that there's still loads of hidden treasures. An excessive, a disturbing and a brilliantly talented book. Phew. If we only had writers like that over here.

This novel entertained me for as long as I could make the reading last. Please call Joel & Ethan Cohen and have them make a moovie of Burl.