SOURCE: Gilbert, Francis. “The Devil's Larder.” New Statesman (3 September 2001): 41.

In the following review, Gilbert offers a positive assessment of The Devil's Larder.

Although The Devil's Larder is a novel about food, I wouldn't read it anywhere near the kitchen: some of the most striking of these interlinked stories include the description of a master chef cooking old leather in order to prove that man will eat anything; the tale of a fisherman dying a horrible death from food poisoning; the thoughts of a supermarket cash register and a recollection of an evening of “strip fondue” that results in much scorched flesh. As you might expect from one of Britain's most experimental mainstream novelists, this writing docs not hurry after the saccharine comforts of Joanne Harris's “foodie” fiction. While just as interested as Harris in describing the tastes and textures of eating, Crace is also intrigued by the by-products...