Synopsis
Thom Palmer’s richly imagined first novel offers a hilarious yet bittersweet examination of food, art, and love. The unnamed narrator of this brilliantly conceived farce, a struggling poet, finds that his life takes a dramatic turn when he meets and falls hopelessly in love with enigmatic young Maria Perpetua, a brainy and seductive food writer composing an encyclopedic masterpiece on spinach. Their ill-fated romance, and the consequences of her sudden rise to cult fame, form the core of a mock memoir related in a highly original fictional voice. Funny, strange, and poignant, The Florentine Papers is a sumptuous feast of food and language, a novel The Washington Post called “a fascinating tale with two marvelously memorable characters.”
Thom Palmer lives and writes in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
The Florentine Papers is his first novel. He is also the author of a second,
Desire.
“With a connoisseur’s attention to the delights of food and love, Palmer handles language in his first novel the way a gourmet cook uses ingredients in an inspired recipe.” — Publishers Weekly
“A lush narrative that brings to mind a Julian Barnes or Anthony Burgess. . . An original magical mystery tour that stakes out its own peculiar portion of the comic universe.” — Kirkus
“A talent to be reckoned with, an heir to Nabokov, a dazzling wordsmith to watch and possibly to adore. This is a compelling book, a stunning romp through untracked territory: our first great gastronomical novel.” — Donald Harington
“A playful and exuberant feast of language.” — Benjamin Hale
“Palmer leaves us with the taste of rue seasoned with laughter.” — Michael Harris, Los Angeles Times
