Mother for Dinner

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I enjoyed it from start to finish, the whole thing was right up my alley; the premise, the characters, the laugh-out-loud humour, the themes. Seventh has his unusual name because his mother (known to all as Mudd) was an identitarian fanatic determined to give birth to 12 sons through whom the fading Cannibal nation would be reborn.

The story is hilarious although it falls at the end with the deed only half done but reading thoroughly recommended.

This could be a portrait of any ethnic group that has been consumed by America, though, in this case, it’s unclear who is devouring whom. The novel does use our language of eating to great effect: Mudd will torment bullies by asking if they can have them for dinner, or telling children she’d like to gobble them up). His memoir, Foreskin's Lament, about his apostacy against Orthodox Judaism, is outrageously offensive. They are however pretty inept, and need the assistance of the patriarch Unclish, who founded the Can-Am University (where nothing but Cannibal thought is taught, even though it never really opened), to perform the Victuals.

Here, he creates a Cannibal-American community living covertly in the USA having come from the Old Country (no-one remembers precisely where) several generations ago. This is not unusual, as the Seltzers are Cannibal-Americans, a once proud and thriving ethnic group, but for Seventh, it raises some serious questions. Shalom Auslander hadn't then come to my attention since so I was delighted when I stumbled across this book.This is not unusual, as the Seltzers are Cannibal-Americans, a once proud and thriving ethnic group, but for Seventh, it raises some serious questions, both practical and emotional. It is, I might even say, almost sweet; which after the grotesque nature of what the reader has had to swallow is almost glorious. Irreverent and written with Auslander's incomparable humor, Mother for Dinner is an exploration of legacy, assimilation, the things we owe our families, and the things we owe ourselves. Shalom Auslander's Mother for Dinner is an outrageously tasty comedy about identity and inheritance, the things we owe our families and the things we owe ourselves. It is a rare and agile narrative, part deftly-written, Cannibal satire, part moving exploration of identity and party truly concerning recipe book.

The matriarch of the persecuted group the Am-Cams has died leaving the children to dispose of the body through traditional means. Shalom is saying -- LETS NOT FORGET WHAT'S IMPORTANT in life -- lets not throw the baby out with the bathwater -- well -- I get it! But you’re not reading As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner, but Mother For Dinner, the new work by the dizzyingly acerbic Shalom Auslander. The boys all have a purpose -- they are a chain of people who keeps their family and culture connected.Seventh is one of her sons who has broken free but is drawn back as the family gathers for Mudd’s death – after which, by tradition, they are expected to eat her. Una obra fantásticamente loca que, entre filete y filete, muestra el pesar de las tradiciones y cómo el estilo de crianza marca la vida de cada hija o hijo. Pues que obtendríamos una novela tan divertida, a la par que realista y deprimente, como es “Mamá para cenar”. Bajo una premisa de lo más peculiar y original, el autor construye toda una sátira desternillante a la par que triste de como gestionamos nuestra memoria familiar en una sociedad en la que cada vez tiene menos importancia, así como nuestro dolor y nuestra vida cuando alguien importante para nosotros muere.