Friday, March 23, 2007

Crawling at Night by Nani Power (2001)

Don't laugh, I chose this book to see what is considered "erotic fiction" by the Library of Congress. I still don't know what they mean by that term, but I stumbled accross a very interesting book about various Asian immigrants in New York City. The format of the book is unusual, each chapter starting with a menu, where one might usually find a quote. The menu items often are from the Japanese cuisine, as is the main character chef Katsuyuki Ito, but they can range from fatty tuna, rice and sake to Froot Loops, Twinkies and beer. The "erotic" scenes were no more that what one would find in many a romance book or in many novels written for adults, where sexual relations are just part of life.

I tried to figure out what Nani Power's connection was to the Asian immigrants, as her name did not sound Asian, so I checked Contemporary Authors and found out she worked as a chef in a Japanese restaurant. This would explain why all her detailed descriptions of Japanese food and its preparation seemed so intense.

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