Call number
Collection
Publication
New York : Dial Press, [2013]
Pages
xii; 349
Description
Biography & Autobiography. Cooking & Food. Travel. Nonfiction. HTML:NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER � NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR � Entertainment Weekly � Kirkus Reviews � The Christian Science Monitor In the picturesque village of Guzm�n, Spain, in a cave dug into a hillside on the edge of town, an ancient door leads to a cramped limestone chamber known as �the telling room.� Containing nothing but a wooden table and two benches, this is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secrets�usually accompanied by copious amounts of wine. It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a larger-than-life Spanish cheesemaker named Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras as he spun an odd and compelling tale about a piece of cheese. An unusual piece of cheese. Made from an old family recipe, Ambrosio�s cheese was reputed to be among the finest in the world, and was said to hold mystical qualities. Eating it, some claimed, conjured long-lost memories. But then, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong. . . . By the time the two men exited the telling room that evening, Paterniti was hooked. Soon he was fully embroiled in village life, relocating his young family to Guzm�n in order to chase the truth about this cheese and explore the fairy tale�like place where the villagers conversed with farm animals, lived by an ancient Castilian code of honor, and made their wine and food by hand, from the grapes growing on a nearby hill and the flocks of sheep floating over the Meseta. What Paterniti ultimately discovers there in the highlands of Castile is nothing like the idyllic slow-food fable he first imagined. Instead, he�s sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery, a blood feud that includes accusations of betrayal and theft, death threats, and a murder plot. As the village begins to spill its long-held secrets, Paterniti finds himself implicated in the very story he is writing. Equal parts mystery and memoir, travelogue and history, The Telling Room is an astonishing work of literary nonfiction by one of our most accomplished storytellers. A moving exploration of happiness, friendship, and betrayal, The Telling Room introduces us to Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras, an unforgettable real-life literary hero, while also holding a mirror up to the world, fully alive to the power of stories that define and sustain us. Praise for The Telling Room �Captivating . . . Paterniti�s writing sings, whether he�s talking about how food activates memory, or the joys of watching his children grow.��NPR.… (more)
Media reviews
“The Telling Room” never lives up to its subtitle hype, but that’s as much the hype’s fault as the writer’s. Mr. Paterniti wrings Ambrosio’s histrionics for all they’re worth, then throws in his own infatuation with all things Spanish, tasty and quaint. And he injects himself into
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Ambrosio’s life with enough humor to offset some of the flagrant artificiality that didn’t belong in a book about the importance of the authentic. “Yes, this was all about cheese,” he writes about the story’s central feud. “And now by resolving it, we could begin on the road to world peace.” Show Less
Awards
Audie Award (Finalist — Non-Fiction — 2014)
NPR: Books We Love (2013)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Nonfiction — 2013)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Nonfiction — 2013)
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
xii, 349 p.; 9.8 inches
ISBN
9780385337007
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member jnwelch
"The key to the telling room was a conical piece of metal, an artifact, it seemed, from Middle Earth. Because of its weight, I had to steer it with two hands into the lock . . . Up five steps was the telling room itself, with its white stucco walls, benches and a table, and the musty smell of hay
In [The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese] the author, [[Michael Paterniti]], shares with us tales from a small Spanish village that has had worldwide impact. His 10 year odyssey is triggered while working at an Ann Arbor deli, as he becomes fascinated by the world's greatest piece of cheese, Páramo de Guzmán, a famous hard sheeps milk cheese made in a small Castile village in north central Spain. His fascination eventually leads him to the village to meet the cheese's maker, the fabulous, larger than life storyteller Ambrosio. As Ambrosio spins his tales and shares his philosophy of life in the telling room, we learn he has been the victim of a terrible betrayal, which has filled him with a lust for revenge but hasn't dampened his voracious appetite for life.
His family, like others, makes its own cheese, its own wine. "Ambrosio had a memory of eating his family's cheese as a child, and even now could conjure its sharp tang and the images associated with it: his mother's kitchen, with its gas fires and simmering pots of milk, and the bodega shelves where it was stored - in each case surrounded by people, warmth, the past. As he understood it, the family cheese had been made for so long there'd never been a written recipe." After many failures, he combines all the necessary aspects to recreate that cheese, and it begins to "star at agricultural fairs", then to win awards in Spain, then international awards, and in time became so highly sought after it even turns up across the world in the gourmetAnn Arbor deli Zingerman's. All the while Ambrosio is preaching his gospel of slow eating, avoiding processed, industrialized food, and observing the "old ways." "Perhaps in the United States you don't know what it's like to have old flavors, flavors from the past, from centuries before. But we live with them every day here."
The author becomes understandably infatuated with Ambrosio, and eventually convinces his wife to move with his small children temporarily to Guzmán. Soon they also are captivated by Ambrosio and the village. "{T}here was no TV, no house projects, fickle cellphone coverage, and it took forty-five minutes to reach an Internet cafe. Without all the distractions, we quickly became reacquainted with each other, taking long walks, lingering over meals, sharing observations or delighting in some little thing our kids did . . ." Paterniti, however, struggles to complete the book, as one story after another carries him away into intoxicating digressions. The book is filled with wonderful footnotes, many humorous, about local and Spanish history and the author's travails. One of my favorites involves his tongue in cheek supposed lack of curiosity about a mysterious tattoo on his wife's ankle, the meaning of which she has sworn, along with other members of her girl gang, not to disclose. Another involves the author being reminded, while standing in a huge field of sunflowers, of a ridiculous Peter Gabriel performance. When Gabriel, without telling his band, took the stage as "Flower Man - floppy petals framing his pale, painted face" one of his laconic bandmates, upon seeing Gabriel "creeping on stage with his flute" simply said, "Oh, bloody hell."
Will the world's greatest piece of cheese be saved? Will Ambrosio get his revenge? Will [[Paterniti]] finish the book? Oh yeah, we know the answer to the last one. He did finish it, and it's a treat to read.
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and wet clay. When I threw open the shutters, the sun and warmth surged, bringing it to life."In [The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese] the author, [[Michael Paterniti]], shares with us tales from a small Spanish village that has had worldwide impact. His 10 year odyssey is triggered while working at an Ann Arbor deli, as he becomes fascinated by the world's greatest piece of cheese, Páramo de Guzmán, a famous hard sheeps milk cheese made in a small Castile village in north central Spain. His fascination eventually leads him to the village to meet the cheese's maker, the fabulous, larger than life storyteller Ambrosio. As Ambrosio spins his tales and shares his philosophy of life in the telling room, we learn he has been the victim of a terrible betrayal, which has filled him with a lust for revenge but hasn't dampened his voracious appetite for life.
His family, like others, makes its own cheese, its own wine. "Ambrosio had a memory of eating his family's cheese as a child, and even now could conjure its sharp tang and the images associated with it: his mother's kitchen, with its gas fires and simmering pots of milk, and the bodega shelves where it was stored - in each case surrounded by people, warmth, the past. As he understood it, the family cheese had been made for so long there'd never been a written recipe." After many failures, he combines all the necessary aspects to recreate that cheese, and it begins to "star at agricultural fairs", then to win awards in Spain, then international awards, and in time became so highly sought after it even turns up across the world in the gourmetAnn Arbor deli Zingerman's. All the while Ambrosio is preaching his gospel of slow eating, avoiding processed, industrialized food, and observing the "old ways." "Perhaps in the United States you don't know what it's like to have old flavors, flavors from the past, from centuries before. But we live with them every day here."
The author becomes understandably infatuated with Ambrosio, and eventually convinces his wife to move with his small children temporarily to Guzmán. Soon they also are captivated by Ambrosio and the village. "{T}here was no TV, no house projects, fickle cellphone coverage, and it took forty-five minutes to reach an Internet cafe. Without all the distractions, we quickly became reacquainted with each other, taking long walks, lingering over meals, sharing observations or delighting in some little thing our kids did . . ." Paterniti, however, struggles to complete the book, as one story after another carries him away into intoxicating digressions. The book is filled with wonderful footnotes, many humorous, about local and Spanish history and the author's travails. One of my favorites involves his tongue in cheek supposed lack of curiosity about a mysterious tattoo on his wife's ankle, the meaning of which she has sworn, along with other members of her girl gang, not to disclose. Another involves the author being reminded, while standing in a huge field of sunflowers, of a ridiculous Peter Gabriel performance. When Gabriel, without telling his band, took the stage as "Flower Man - floppy petals framing his pale, painted face" one of his laconic bandmates, upon seeing Gabriel "creeping on stage with his flute" simply said, "Oh, bloody hell."
Will the world's greatest piece of cheese be saved? Will Ambrosio get his revenge? Will [[Paterniti]] finish the book? Oh yeah, we know the answer to the last one. He did finish it, and it's a treat to read.
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LibraryThing member mckait
I have no idea where to begin. But of course with no beginning, there can be no story, there can be no end. And this, The Telling Room, is a story. It is a huge, stupendous story. This is a story about storytelling and about listening, there can be nothing to tell without first listening.The
The story is about cheese. Not just any cheese, but the best and most perfect cheese. A love story about a place, a way of life, a family and a man. A particular and compelling man. A man who made cheese and who was himself a storyteller. But no, it's a story about two families, two storytellers and two ways of life. Two stories that somehow became one. Or perhaps they were simply entwined with one another. Stories that were meant to mesh, and twist around each other until they became one. And in many ways, they did.
In the beginning, Michael sees a description of cheese in a newsletter for a deli. Years later, he decides to find the maker of this cheese. He travels to a place in the world that seems to be a place out of time, and this place was a Castilian village, called Guzman. He went there to meet a man who also lived out of step with time, a man by the name of Ambrosio Molinos, and of course his family. Ambrosio tells his story to Michael and it is a huge story, one about cheese making and family. Michael will tell the story, the one he listened to in the bodega, the cave, where the cheese was stored. A bodega is a good place to listen, and a good place to tell a story. A story that travels back and forth in time and in place.
Cheese, like any other food is best when it is real. When it comes from real earth, warmed by the real sun, offered by real animals and obtained with the proper amount of respect for the food itself. This is a truth. A truth explained by Antonio when he says that it is the Divinity, not the Machines. Life is like that, too. Better when it is real, no artificial ingredients. Whether you are the food or the consumer of the food, it is best when you know your place in the world. Michael, and later his family move to Guzman to live for a while in the magic of the village. To become part of what they have, if only for a little while.
There are heroes in this story, and lovers and friends. You need to begin at the beginning and find out if there is an end. Do stories ever have a true ending?. You will be surprised and enchanted and sad. But you will only be things things for a little while, and in between you will be other things. Things you don't want to miss. So read all of the footnotes, as they are stories within the story itself.
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Telling Room was years in the writing. Ten years from when the listening began, and the listening began as a lark, and became part of a way of life.The story is about cheese. Not just any cheese, but the best and most perfect cheese. A love story about a place, a way of life, a family and a man. A particular and compelling man. A man who made cheese and who was himself a storyteller. But no, it's a story about two families, two storytellers and two ways of life. Two stories that somehow became one. Or perhaps they were simply entwined with one another. Stories that were meant to mesh, and twist around each other until they became one. And in many ways, they did.
In the beginning, Michael sees a description of cheese in a newsletter for a deli. Years later, he decides to find the maker of this cheese. He travels to a place in the world that seems to be a place out of time, and this place was a Castilian village, called Guzman. He went there to meet a man who also lived out of step with time, a man by the name of Ambrosio Molinos, and of course his family. Ambrosio tells his story to Michael and it is a huge story, one about cheese making and family. Michael will tell the story, the one he listened to in the bodega, the cave, where the cheese was stored. A bodega is a good place to listen, and a good place to tell a story. A story that travels back and forth in time and in place.
Cheese, like any other food is best when it is real. When it comes from real earth, warmed by the real sun, offered by real animals and obtained with the proper amount of respect for the food itself. This is a truth. A truth explained by Antonio when he says that it is the Divinity, not the Machines. Life is like that, too. Better when it is real, no artificial ingredients. Whether you are the food or the consumer of the food, it is best when you know your place in the world. Michael, and later his family move to Guzman to live for a while in the magic of the village. To become part of what they have, if only for a little while.
There are heroes in this story, and lovers and friends. You need to begin at the beginning and find out if there is an end. Do stories ever have a true ending?. You will be surprised and enchanted and sad. But you will only be things things for a little while, and in between you will be other things. Things you don't want to miss. So read all of the footnotes, as they are stories within the story itself.
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LibraryThing member Alliebadger
I think this book would more accurately be called The Telling Room: A Tale of Some Cheese, an Eccentric Spanish Farmer, a Doe-Eyed Narrator, and Lots of Irrelevant Footnotes. The story rambles and flows. Our author is clearly a talented writer in that he describes things in a beautiful way - but he
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often forgets things like the plot. It's a very slow read, which makes sense with the subject of the tale, but I lost patience more often than I enjoyed. Show Less
LibraryThing member TimBazzett
Another reviewer commented that he almost gave up on this book after the first 50-60 pages or so. Well, me too. Remember that Pirandello play, SIX CHARACTERS IN SEARCH OF AN AUTHOR? Well, if ever there was an author in search of a subject, Michael Paterniti fits the bill with this mess of a book,
Maybe it's just not my kind of book, or maybe I just don't get it, but here's a book with more sideways than forward momentum in its myriad digressions and lengthy, annoying footnotes. The book starts out to be Paterniti's exploration into the origins of "the world's finest cheese," Paramo de Guzman, but instead of sticking to this, the author falls under the spell of the tiny Spanish village and the cheese's maker, a charismatic character named Ambrosio Molinos, who, to my mind, appears to be something of a bully, a blowhard and maybe even a self-aggrandizing liar. But Paterniti professes to be entranced by "the wonderfully digressive way of Castilian conversation." Wonderfully digressive? Well, the latter word certainly describes this book, but not the former. We get page after footnoted page of Spanish history and its civil war, with its ancient grudges and atrocities, the backstory on El Cid, wines, cheeses, sheep, farming, etc.
The author admits that, to some, he might appear as "Ambrosio's lap dog" in the way he follows the onetime cheese maker around and hangs on his every word (although Paterniti himself does not speak or understand Spanish). Indeed, he is caught up by Ambrosio's story, with his Lear-like raging at his friend Julian's betrayal. "But the story had no ending." No kidding. And it never really does, when you come right down to it.
Amrosio's stories do give off a kind of "Princess Bride" vibe with himself cast as the good giant and Julian as the bad barrister. I also couldn't help but remember that children's circle game, The Farmer in the Dell, with its final round of "the cheese stands alone." Because the tale of the cheese - and the farmer - does indeed go round and round, marching in endless digressive circles. Literally rivers of wine are consumed in the Molinos family Telling Room over the torturous ten-plus years it takes Paterniti to finish the book. Old folks die and children are born and still the author can't figure out how to put this book out of its misery.
Until FINALLY, 280 pages into it, Paterniti has a writerly epiphany when he realizes "this wasn't Ambrosio's book after all. It was mine." And it's only then, when he gets Julian's side of the alleged 'betrayal,' that the book gains some focus and even becomes quite interesting. Because Paterniti's writing is at its very best when he tells his own part in the story, from his college days in Ann Arbor to his marriage and the shaping of his own young family (which is how it got even three stars here). And he is an extremely gifted writer - once he figures out his subject. The trouble here is that it takes him too damn long to do it. Quite frankly, I could have quit reading this book just about anywhere. It was that frustrating. But I finished it. Whew!
I wonder how many people who buy this book will actually finish it. I do think the guy's a good writer, but, like I said earlier, this book is just ... well, a mess. I'm afraid that I could not, in good conscience, recommend it.
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THE TELLING ROOM. I mean I have a hard time believing he even got this thing published, but here it is, cruising right along selling steadily, and lavished with rave reviews.Maybe it's just not my kind of book, or maybe I just don't get it, but here's a book with more sideways than forward momentum in its myriad digressions and lengthy, annoying footnotes. The book starts out to be Paterniti's exploration into the origins of "the world's finest cheese," Paramo de Guzman, but instead of sticking to this, the author falls under the spell of the tiny Spanish village and the cheese's maker, a charismatic character named Ambrosio Molinos, who, to my mind, appears to be something of a bully, a blowhard and maybe even a self-aggrandizing liar. But Paterniti professes to be entranced by "the wonderfully digressive way of Castilian conversation." Wonderfully digressive? Well, the latter word certainly describes this book, but not the former. We get page after footnoted page of Spanish history and its civil war, with its ancient grudges and atrocities, the backstory on El Cid, wines, cheeses, sheep, farming, etc.
The author admits that, to some, he might appear as "Ambrosio's lap dog" in the way he follows the onetime cheese maker around and hangs on his every word (although Paterniti himself does not speak or understand Spanish). Indeed, he is caught up by Ambrosio's story, with his Lear-like raging at his friend Julian's betrayal. "But the story had no ending." No kidding. And it never really does, when you come right down to it.
Amrosio's stories do give off a kind of "Princess Bride" vibe with himself cast as the good giant and Julian as the bad barrister. I also couldn't help but remember that children's circle game, The Farmer in the Dell, with its final round of "the cheese stands alone." Because the tale of the cheese - and the farmer - does indeed go round and round, marching in endless digressive circles. Literally rivers of wine are consumed in the Molinos family Telling Room over the torturous ten-plus years it takes Paterniti to finish the book. Old folks die and children are born and still the author can't figure out how to put this book out of its misery.
Until FINALLY, 280 pages into it, Paterniti has a writerly epiphany when he realizes "this wasn't Ambrosio's book after all. It was mine." And it's only then, when he gets Julian's side of the alleged 'betrayal,' that the book gains some focus and even becomes quite interesting. Because Paterniti's writing is at its very best when he tells his own part in the story, from his college days in Ann Arbor to his marriage and the shaping of his own young family (which is how it got even three stars here). And he is an extremely gifted writer - once he figures out his subject. The trouble here is that it takes him too damn long to do it. Quite frankly, I could have quit reading this book just about anywhere. It was that frustrating. But I finished it. Whew!
I wonder how many people who buy this book will actually finish it. I do think the guy's a good writer, but, like I said earlier, this book is just ... well, a mess. I'm afraid that I could not, in good conscience, recommend it.
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LibraryThing member sangreal
This book could have benefited from a more discerning editor. The first third was fantastic, focused on the history of the fantastic cheese, the appearance and history of the actual Telling Room, and the larger than life characters who embodied them both.
Then, however, the author decided to include
I really believe he needed to focus the story on the wonderful character of Ambrosio in the perfect setting of Guzman, Spain and the cheese that dominated so many lives. While I understand that Paterniti meant to show how much of an impact the entire story had on him, I feel that it backfired and bogged the reader down in, sadly boring, unnecessary detail.
Then, however, the author decided to include
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a long, painful odyssey of his road to actually completing the writing of the book. The problem with that was he never quite decided whether he was writing a memoir, or someone else's story (namely Ambrosio). I really believe he needed to focus the story on the wonderful character of Ambrosio in the perfect setting of Guzman, Spain and the cheese that dominated so many lives. While I understand that Paterniti meant to show how much of an impact the entire story had on him, I feel that it backfired and bogged the reader down in, sadly boring, unnecessary detail.
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LibraryThing member shadowofthewind
I was very excited to win this book on LibraryThing. Ancient Spanish intrigue and betrayal, slow food, and cheese, it's hard to go wrong with that combination. Instead the author makes the book about himself. He half heartedly tells the story of Ambrosio, but too much of the story talks about him
Michael Paternity has an experience with an exotic cheese as an early struggling writer. Ten years later he meets the creator of the cheese and becomes enchanted with his story. It is a story of slow food, love of the old ways, Spanish intrigue, and cheese. He becomes so enamored of the story he moves his family to Spain, based on an advance of some £180,000 for this book, to find out the whole story. Instead of telling this story he falls under the spell of Ambrosio who bamboozles him into his myth. It results in the writer wasting his summer, not coming up with a book, and owing the money to the publisher. We understand parts of Amborsio's story, but it is only when the author threatened with losing everything does he go back to Spain and find out the truth.
The book is filled with so many missed opportunities and pretension. It is like he wanted to be the child of David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers who became a slow movement foodie. The worst part are the footnotes, cute at first, but then so tiring. He never really picks a direction to go in resulting in bits and pieces of a story he has cobbled into a book about himself. I think the thing the upsets me the most about this book is that I am intrigued with Spanish history post-Civil War, as well as cheese, but the writer doesn't know very much about either. There isn't a passion there, only a passion about himself and telling a story. The book gives off a false impression which I didn't appreciate.
Favorite parts:
He was webbed to the here and now, sunk into it, while I seemed to spend a great deal of time racing through airports, a processed cream-cheese bagel in hand, trying to reach the future. Now I sat noticing everything infused with mindfulness...p 46
It cut to the heart of how he felt a human being should eat. "I'd much rather drink wine by somebody who's serving it to me, because I'm drinking that person...I'm becoming impregnated by that persons being, their love." P.79
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writing about this book. I would rather be immersed in these elements via the storytelling, instead I have to watch his reaction to it. It would be like watching a baseball game through the reaction of a fan that really isn't paying attention.Michael Paternity has an experience with an exotic cheese as an early struggling writer. Ten years later he meets the creator of the cheese and becomes enchanted with his story. It is a story of slow food, love of the old ways, Spanish intrigue, and cheese. He becomes so enamored of the story he moves his family to Spain, based on an advance of some £180,000 for this book, to find out the whole story. Instead of telling this story he falls under the spell of Ambrosio who bamboozles him into his myth. It results in the writer wasting his summer, not coming up with a book, and owing the money to the publisher. We understand parts of Amborsio's story, but it is only when the author threatened with losing everything does he go back to Spain and find out the truth.
The book is filled with so many missed opportunities and pretension. It is like he wanted to be the child of David Foster Wallace and Dave Eggers who became a slow movement foodie. The worst part are the footnotes, cute at first, but then so tiring. He never really picks a direction to go in resulting in bits and pieces of a story he has cobbled into a book about himself. I think the thing the upsets me the most about this book is that I am intrigued with Spanish history post-Civil War, as well as cheese, but the writer doesn't know very much about either. There isn't a passion there, only a passion about himself and telling a story. The book gives off a false impression which I didn't appreciate.
Favorite parts:
He was webbed to the here and now, sunk into it, while I seemed to spend a great deal of time racing through airports, a processed cream-cheese bagel in hand, trying to reach the future. Now I sat noticing everything infused with mindfulness...p 46
It cut to the heart of how he felt a human being should eat. "I'd much rather drink wine by somebody who's serving it to me, because I'm drinking that person...I'm becoming impregnated by that persons being, their love." P.79
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LibraryThing member Kristine-Williams
For the first two-thirds of The Telling Room, I would have awarded it 3 stars--I was nearly as exasperated with the author as he was with himself! I found the footnotes fascinating, but their constant pull out of the narrative made for a bumpy ride. However, unlike some of the other reviewers, I
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found the ending both heart-breaking and extremely satisfying and the image it left of a modern Don Quixote surveying a lost world is indelibly etched in my mind. Ambrosio is all of us really--in an increasingly surface-oriented world, probably the happiest among us are those who are able to create and maintain belief in a personal world where myth carves a bigger space for the individual in the universe. Sometimes the accommodations we all make to "get-along" just don't fit into that personal narrative. So, would Ambrosio have been a happier person if he had been able to see how his own weaknesses led to his downfall? Would it have been more "satisfying" if he had been able to forgive Julian? Maybe, but somehow I don't think so. Storytellers like Ambrosio are the keepers of our hero myths, and sometimes that primal need for a louder voice in a noisy world has to take precedence over the social pressure to use our "indoor voices.". Show Less
LibraryThing member Larxol
I write this review, sitting among the impedimenta still to be sorted for my impending move from Cape Cod to someplace where it never freezes, but where, neither, are there snappy autumn days like today to invigorate the body and soul. I worry, though, about how you, the review reader, will handle
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the complete irrelevance of my setting. After all, isn’t the review supposed to be about the book, the author, the story? Perhaps, but in this case, the book is titled The Telling Room – a tale of love, betrayal, revenge and the world’s greatest piece of cheese and it is a book about writing a book, not just any book, but writing this very book. The title is about a Spanish farmer and his experience producing a very fine artisanal cheese, and although he’s likeable, with an out-size booming personality, there’s not much story there. The author ends up writing about his problems dealing with this lack of material in what turns out to be more of a personal diary than a story of rural intrigue. The book is padded with extraneous asides and annoying footnotes. Without a story to tell, it never really achieves any flow or cohesion. It would have been better with less diary and more dairy. Show Less
LibraryThing member mitchself
Having lived in Spain seven years and having passed through some of the landscape described, I found myself re-immersed in the land and culture that I had come to love so much. But, especially in the first half of the book I was irritated by the author's repetition and circular storytelling; there
At the same time, I recognized the Spanish character, which consists mostly of being bigger and more idiosyncratic than the American character. The story swayed me, but probably because some of it was already embedded in me.
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was just a bit too much bellybutton contemplation for me. At times I forgot I was reading nonfiction instead of myth-making fiction until the Paterniti revealed those unmistakeable details of real contemporary life, eg. Ambrosio's youngest son with a purple mohawk. At the same time, I recognized the Spanish character, which consists mostly of being bigger and more idiosyncratic than the American character. The story swayed me, but probably because some of it was already embedded in me.
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LibraryThing member Carolee888
The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti was a struggle for me to read but I enjoyed it. It was a strange intertwining of several themes at once. One theme was the extraordinary story of a famous cheese from Guzman, Spain, the story of the author’s passion for the storytelling and culture
The pull of this cheese story was so strong that the author even broke his own rules about being sparing with footnotes. There are some of the longest footnotes in this book that I have ever seen. They were almost always interesting but they provided some distraction. It is difficult to edit when you love your subject so much, you feel that everything is important. It seemed and the author was so captivated by story that it almost like he was afraid to edit.
At the beginning of The Telling Room, Mr. Paterniti tells us how he first became lured into this cheese story. He wrote for magazines and lost his job during bad economic times. He was job hunting and offered his services at an expensive sandwich shop. That is where he met the cheese. It was the most expensive cheese that this shop had ever sold. This cheese had a fabled history and was made in the Castile Region of Spain in the small town of Guzman. Michael Paterniti fell in love with this storied cheese. It was $22 a pound and was named Paramo de Guzman.
The cheese entranced him so much that he had to go to meet the creator. He tried to break free from the cheese’s lures but it wasn’t possible. He had to go to Spain and meet the originator of the cheese factory of this special cheese, Ambrosio. The author didn't know at the time that he would return many times. Ambrisio is an amazing character. I wanted to sit in the same room with him and listen to his families stories that he guarded. He demonstrates the old way of how to feel and think. I learned so much about the region, El Cid and cheese making.
Despite the struggle to stay on the subject, I would recommend reading this book. I am hoping that Michael Paterniti never gets ensnared into another cheese story.
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surrounding this magnificent cheese. The pull of this cheese story was so strong that the author even broke his own rules about being sparing with footnotes. There are some of the longest footnotes in this book that I have ever seen. They were almost always interesting but they provided some distraction. It is difficult to edit when you love your subject so much, you feel that everything is important. It seemed and the author was so captivated by story that it almost like he was afraid to edit.
At the beginning of The Telling Room, Mr. Paterniti tells us how he first became lured into this cheese story. He wrote for magazines and lost his job during bad economic times. He was job hunting and offered his services at an expensive sandwich shop. That is where he met the cheese. It was the most expensive cheese that this shop had ever sold. This cheese had a fabled history and was made in the Castile Region of Spain in the small town of Guzman. Michael Paterniti fell in love with this storied cheese. It was $22 a pound and was named Paramo de Guzman.
The cheese entranced him so much that he had to go to meet the creator. He tried to break free from the cheese’s lures but it wasn’t possible. He had to go to Spain and meet the originator of the cheese factory of this special cheese, Ambrosio. The author didn't know at the time that he would return many times. Ambrisio is an amazing character. I wanted to sit in the same room with him and listen to his families stories that he guarded. He demonstrates the old way of how to feel and think. I learned so much about the region, El Cid and cheese making.
Despite the struggle to stay on the subject, I would recommend reading this book. I am hoping that Michael Paterniti never gets ensnared into another cheese story.
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LibraryThing member ozzer
What was this book about? It started out about the history of a magnificent artisan cheese, made in a small Castilian village by a charismatic Spaniard, but morphed along the way into something else entirely. The main theme certainly was stories and story-telling: how they come into existence, are
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needed and are changed by each teller. The image of the telling room as a place where villagers meet to converse, drink wine and tell each other stories is indeed powerful. Paterniti weaves into his tale his own personal struggle with the birth of his story of the cheese, while simultaneously attempting to understand Ambrosio’s story of developing the cheese recipe only to have it stolen by his best friend. Ambrosio’s story is countered by two other contradictory ones—one told by his friend, Julian and another told by Ambrosio’s lawyer, Llipos. “Ambrosio had it all. He had a great design, and an extremely well appreciated product in the marketplace. It was all going beautifully for him, but it was like caviar—and not everyone loves caviar.” Paterniti comes to realize that truth is an illusive creature, colored by each teller’s perspective and that in the end it is unknowable. This said, Paterniti crafts a remarkable book that conveys his love for Castile, its culture, people, myths and geography. Show Less
LibraryThing member Dabble58
A man, a cave, a cheese. A Castilian cheese maker improbably named Ambrosio, after his father.And around this, wonderful storytelling, the feeling of cave dampness, the taste of homemade wine, the sense of villages coming unravelled.
Originally I thought of this book as a curiosity, an amuse bouche,
I enjoyed it tremendously and plan to share it widely. Some stories are told so well, you can't keep quiet about them. This is one of those.
Originally I thought of this book as a curiosity, an amuse bouche,
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as the French would say - but it is so much more than that. It's the history of a place, a time, of the small and large viciousness of people, of hatreds and loves and all the grand emotions of life, centred around a cheese.I enjoyed it tremendously and plan to share it widely. Some stories are told so well, you can't keep quiet about them. This is one of those.
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LibraryThing member abealy
For a short while at the end of the twentieth century, one of the great cheeses of the world came from the medieval Castilian village of Guzman, crafted in the old-world way by larger-than-life cheesemaker, storyteller and visionary Ambrosio Molinos de Las Heras — half Don Quixotes, half Sancho
Michael Paterniti weaves a tale of obsession (his) with a cheese (Ambrosio’s) that lasts decades, sending them both into debt and discovery. This is more than a book about an award-winning cheese. It is just as much a coming of age story of the author and a redemptive narrative of the troubled cheesemaker.
Passions run high and hot in Castile, both for good and ill and this is a tale of a life-long friendship gone wrong. Ambrosio was a cheesemaker, not a businessman, and when he involves his lifelong friend Julian, a more buttoned-down lawyer, the tale spins between glory, revenge, feuds dating back to Franco and the revolution.
I’m not sure if Paterniti can be characterized as a humorist, but The Telling Room is packed with asides, footnotes, tangentially relevant fables, morals and history that is a joy to read.
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Panza. Michael Paterniti weaves a tale of obsession (his) with a cheese (Ambrosio’s) that lasts decades, sending them both into debt and discovery. This is more than a book about an award-winning cheese. It is just as much a coming of age story of the author and a redemptive narrative of the troubled cheesemaker.
Passions run high and hot in Castile, both for good and ill and this is a tale of a life-long friendship gone wrong. Ambrosio was a cheesemaker, not a businessman, and when he involves his lifelong friend Julian, a more buttoned-down lawyer, the tale spins between glory, revenge, feuds dating back to Franco and the revolution.
I’m not sure if Paterniti can be characterized as a humorist, but The Telling Room is packed with asides, footnotes, tangentially relevant fables, morals and history that is a joy to read.
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LibraryThing member michigantrumpet
I so wanted to love this book! Like the author, I received a liberal arts educatioin at the University of Michigan, love Ann Arbor's Zingerman's deli, am a huge fan of artisanal cheese and a devotee of locovore politics. The books' description was intriguing -- the author, writing the Zingerman's
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catalog, becomes intrigued by a Spanish farmer proudly making great cheese using old-fashioned methods --only to have the enterprise snatched away by his former childhood friend/lawyer/backer. Unfortunately, the book dwells equally on the author's involvement in the story and travails as he struggles to bring the book to fruition well beyond deadline. Portions of the book are engaging and lyrical. Using extensive footnotes was initially engaging, but soon became tiresome. Show Less
LibraryThing member ValerieOzgenc
I really liked the end of this book--the introspection from the author, the literary devices to bring closure to the story, and the poignant moments he chose to include to make his concluding points.
That said, I'm rather surprised I made it all the way through. It's not a particularly long book
It's an interesting story, and if you have an interest in Castille or Spain, you'll find yourself completely enamored.
That said, I'm rather surprised I made it all the way through. It's not a particularly long book
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(344 pages), nor is it told in a dry way; Paterniti's voice is engaging and approachable. However, his journalistic background, coupled with the digressions and tangents that his mentor (arguably the "other" main character of the book) went off on, lent itself to a book chock-a-block with footnotes. A dense read, to be sure. I almost gave up 5/8 of the way through, and resolved to not read anymore footnotes!It's an interesting story, and if you have an interest in Castille or Spain, you'll find yourself completely enamored.
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LibraryThing member EsotericMoment
Very rarely do you come across a written work that so excellently emulates a good storyteller. Much of the novel follows the author's pursuits to understand the rich history of an Italian cheese maker, Ambrosio. This journey is filled with many footnotes and diverges from the main story, just like
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when you listen to a family storyteller. I think these lengthy footnotes can become a frustration as many of them are dull or completely irrelevant. But that happens with any good oral story. Sometimes you want the teller to speed ahead to the good parts and other times you want to enjoy the witty side stories. I really enjoyed the novel after part three where we finally start to get into the meat of Ambrosio's great pain, the loss of his cheese and his best friend. It's a good novel overall that really captures the oral tradition well. I just wish there was a bit more substance to the tale and fewer footnotes. Show Less
LibraryThing member mermaidatheart
I was very excited to win this book in early reviews, and itwas very late in arriving. It wasn't quite as good as I wanted it to be though. I, like many others here, didn't care for the footnote conceit. I understand it--he's mirroring the roundabout speech patterns of Ambrosio--but the effect in
I could tell from page one the writer had a high opinion of himself, and in the end it did eclipse what I thought should be the central theme of the book, but all in all I still enjoyed it.
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writing is not at all the same as that of a captivating speaker. Most of the time, the footnotes were kind of irrelevant--they were meant to be colorful illustrations (I think) but mostly just served the purpose of interrupting the story. The problem lies in that the reader has to do the work of getting back into the main story, whereas that's the onus of the storyteller in a live scenario. I could tell from page one the writer had a high opinion of himself, and in the end it did eclipse what I thought should be the central theme of the book, but all in all I still enjoyed it.
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LibraryThing member dele2451
It'll make you laugh, cheer, boo, and cry, but mostly it'll make you want to go to Spain and drink.
LibraryThing member janewellehan
I have not yet finished The Telling Room, but Paterniti has me sneaking away from my kids to get just another few minutes with the book. It is very funny, and it is so easy to imagine Mike and his friend on the quest to discover the greatest pieces of cheese ever!
LibraryThing member Oryan685
The Telling Room by Michael Paterniti is terrific in every sense of the word-delightful, delicious, compelling, and rich. I was completely engrossed from the very first pages. It is so good to find a piece of nonfiction that can draw you in just like you are reading your favorite fiction book. I
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don't know if Michael Paterniti has written anything else, but I am going to find out. Show Less
LibraryThing member halsteadt
For a book ostensibly about cheese, The Telling Room manages to cover the philosophy and worldview of the Spanish people and the author's struggle to cope with modernity. If coherently combining those themes sounds like an impossible task, it's because it most certainly is. At times Paterniti
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conveys the story as if divinely inspired by some culinary god and the reader savors each story of Ambrosio and his wonderful cheese. At other times trying to sum up his own indecision and ambivalence about Ambrosio and about the old way of life he represents, he can stumble along for several highly annotated paragraphs lacking conclusion. His ruminations about old Castile and the impossibly perfect cheese come off as mostly charming and sincere, rather than flippant. The author invites you to gently suspend disbelief and be engrossed with Ambrosio and his wonderful story of a cheese that changed lives. The resulting tale is a enjoyable read that might not satisfy at the ending, but is at least filling for the duration. Show Less
LibraryThing member SharronA
Thoroughly enjoyable book -- a non-fiction account of stories, storytellers, storytelling, and listening. Oh yes, and a very special cheese. Beautifully written, with the most entertaining (thought sometimes tangential) footnotes I've encountered for a long time. Ambrosio, the legendary, heroic,
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larger-than-life cheesemaker, dominates most of the book. He is such a compelling character that I did not want to read the latter sections the author gleaned from those who might contradict Ambrosio's stories and thus diminish him. But by the end of the book, I turned the last page almost expecting to see another chapter, or even a footnote, containing that single remaining hoped-for event. Show Less
LibraryThing member MinaIsham
-- A few weeks ago I finished reading TELLING ROOM & returned it to public library. Book reminded this reader of UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN by Frances Mayes albeit TELLING ROOM is about Spain not Italy. --
LibraryThing member winterorchid
Mr. Paterniti's tale of chasing down the story behind the world's greatest cheeses is a fantastic journey. His enchanting descriptions of the place and people are vivid and the book is as much about the way he ages and changes as it is about the betrayal of the Ambrosio Molinos, the cheesemaker.
A fun read.
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The occasionally florid sentence, extensive (and informative) footnotes and whimsical digressions serve to emphasize the feeling of sitting in Ambrosio's telling room and hearing his story develop. A fun read.
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LibraryThing member reader1009
Adult narrative nonfiction/travel writing. I couldn't get into this one, and found myself, 36 pages in, growing tired of it. I'm apparently not that into storytelling for the sake of storytelling, but if you happen to enjoy long windy passages of prose, there is a lot of that.