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The Lemon
The Lemon: A Novel | S. E. Boyd
2 posts | 3 read | 1 to read
Set in the intersecting worlds of fine dining, Hollywood, and the media, a darkly hilarious and ultimately affecting story about the underside of success and fame, and our ongoing complicity in devouring our cultural heroes. While filming on location in Belfast, Northern Ireland, John Doe, the universally adored host of the culinary travel show Last Call, is found dead in a hotel room in an apparent suicide. As the news of his untimely demise breaks, a group of friends, fixers, hustlers, and opportunists vie to seize control of the narrative: Doe’s chess-master of an agent Nia, ready to call in every favor she is owed to preserve his legacy; down-on-her-luck journalist Katie, who fabricates a story about Doe to save her job at a failing website; and world-famous chef Paolo Cabrini, Doe’s closest friend and confidant, who finds himself entangled with a deranged Belfast hotel worker whose lurid secret might just take them all down. With raucous, deliciously cutting prose, crackling dialogue, and an unpredictable, tightly plotted story line—bolstered by the authors’ insider knowledge of high-end restaurants and low-end digital media—The Lemon is a darkly hilarious and ultimately devastating interrogation of the underside of success and fame, and our ongoing complicity in devouring the cultural heroes we hardly deserve.
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review
Decalino
The Lemon: A Novel | S. E. Boyd
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Mehso-so

This satirical look at the world of celebrity chefs and fickle journalistic fame was biting and sometimes absurd, but I think the humor was a little too crass and cynical for my taste. I'm glad I finished it though, since the ending provided some necessary closure. It apparently occurs in a world where "John Doe" became famous and Anthony Bourdain didn't, but it was still uncomfortable at times, given the nature of their deaths.

review
kbuggle
The Lemon: A Novel | S. E. Boyd
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Mehso-so

The premise of the story is interesting, but… the novel is so fully based on the death of Anthony Bourdain that I couldn‘t get past it. And knowing this ‘debut author‘ is actually a pseudonym for three people- you can tell - the story just isn‘t as fluid as it could be. Some chapters were sarcastic and funny, but again.. just can‘t get past the blatant jump on that real life event. Take from that what you will. It‘s a pass for me.