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Holy shit, I loved this one!! During the Napoleonic Wars a young man named Tarare appears at a convent in Versailles. He is clearly very sick & there are many disturbing rumors about Tarare. For years now Tarare has travelled the French countryside with various characters, he has often been exploited for his insatiable appetite. The circumstances that Tarare & others frequently found themselves in were often deplorable & filled with (CONT)

“They look like grave-figures, the way they move along the dim corridors between the dim rooms. Its is because theirs long habits hide the movement of their limbs and the muted shuffle of their feet on the bare stone tiles, they look like they are gliding, as though it is some outside force that compels them along the dim corridors and between the dim rooms. They nod to one another when they pass.“

Another interesting one to read while battling a GI illness!! Based on a French fable, Blakemore takes a unique approach to writing about the French Revolution!

Tarare is borne into struggle. Kicked out of his home as a teen in 1700s France, he falls in with a group of grifters headed to Paris. When they discover his talent for eating literally anything, they exploit him for financial gain.

First off: this might be the most strangely beautiful cover I‘ve ever seen! I can‘t stop looking at it 🤩. Secondly: this is a gorgeously written historical fiction horror novel that combines the individual story of a poor Frenchman who develops a strange hunger that won‘t dissipate with the horrific world of the French Revolution at large. I went back and forth between the audio and physical books and I will say it was easier to digest ⬇️

I have had this out from the library for way too long. I hope it‘s a quick read!

Things have been busy already this week, but I was able to slip out to the library on Saturday. I picked up a Harper for next month‘s #AuthorAMonth, and I picked up The Glutton before I saw it in your email today @squirrelbrain . Def sounds weird!

I‘ve been rereading Bourdain‘s books slowly and hadn‘t read these two since I lost my original copies in an apartment flood 15 years ago. I‘ll make a larger post about my thoughts soon.

I started this as it‘s on the ‘Women‘s Prize eligible‘ list and it was immediately available on BorrowBox. I wish that I‘d waited to see if it *did* make the list as it‘s not really my cup of tea.

The Great Tarare supposedly existed in real-life Revolutionary France - a young man whose insatiable appetite made him an attraction.

Parts of the tale were really engaging but the fact that he ate live animals and human flesh were not.

I might have gone a little over board at the Barnes and Noble book sale 😬. And there were so many more I put back 😵‍💫!

Tararre was a real figure from 18th century France known for his uncontrollable appetite, and this historical novel paints a vivid picture of what his unusual life might have looked like from joining a group of itinerant performers to being accused of eating a small child while being treated at a hospital. I really enjoyed it.

3.5/5 🌟

A fictional tale centered around Tarare, a historical figure known for his insatiable appetite, was quite engaging in its first half as it delved into his childhood. However, the second half of the book became overly political for my taste, causing the storyline to lose momentum. I occasionally found myself zoning out and having to backtrack, making it an overall okay read.

Currently reading 📚🍖🍔

Wanting to start a new book, but having a migraine 😫

Wow, what a story this is. Blakemore deftly tells the story of The Great Tarare through a deathbed confession. We view the child/teen before he becomes the legend, provoking so much compassion for this child and his awful predicament as a polyphagic. Set during the French Revolution, which enables the author scope to expand on the human condition, depravity, humanity, poverty, and morality.

5⭐️

https://www.ripleys.com/weird-news/tarrare/