Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009

Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery

Recommended.

Buy Buy

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Friday, October 10th, 2008

The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery

Recommended with reservations.

Self in Everyday Life

Saturday, September 13th, 2008

Michael Dirda of the Washington Post reviews Muriel Barbery’s The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

. . .halfway through [the novel], the lives of Paloma and Madame Michel are unexpectedly transformed. A Japanese gentleman named Kakuro Ozu buys a vacant apartment. Though clearly rich, he is also immensely courteous and shrewd, and immediately perceives that neither the little girl nor the concierge is just what she seems. Before long, Monsieur Ozu is gently contriving some little tests to discover more about their secret lives. And this leads to developments that range from the comic to the touching to the heartbreaking.