I should probably point out that not every literary feast included in “Fictitious Dishes” will necessarily be delicious or even edible. A brief but compelling passage is included from Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis.” If you’re not familiar with this work from 20th century German literature, you should know that the main character, traveling salesman Gregor Samsa, awakens one morning to find himself transformed into an insect — something like a cockroach.
I’m pretty sure that most of us try not to think about cockroaches at all, especially in connection with food. But the images are powerful, and when it comes to reading, imagery is king; and images of food and eating often become some of the most influential, primal reasons for connecting, or not connecting, with a piece of writing.
For some, reading snippets from famous literary works has to be enough because busy lives demand high levels of multitasking which means taking in information in small, digestible chunks.
For others, titles such as “Fictitious Dishes” offer such appetizing literary morsels that personal lists of “books I want to read” increase tenfold. It’s a quick read with the potential for creating more reading, so in that way it is like eating: sometimes eating one potato chip, or reading one paragraph leads to, well, you know.
Best part? Fictitious meals mean no dirty dishes.