Delicious

By Mark Haskell Smith

Book Overview

When the greedy owner of a Las Vegas movie catering company tries to muscle in on a local, family-owned business in Honolulu, it leaves a very bad taste in the mouths of the natives, and the battle for paradise begins for Joseph, a young Hawaiian chef. As far as Joseph's father Sid is concerned, this is an invasion on par with Captain Cook and the mainlanders have to be stopped at all costs. As Joseph defends his family he encounters a TV producer rebounding from a bad breakup and sufferingfrom an unrelenting chemically induced erection, the producer's androgynous New Age-y assistant, and a trash-talking lap-dance-addicted stroke survivor. Adding to this frenetic luau is Joseph's old-school Polynesian uncle, his bodybuilder cousin, and his politically correct, retro-Hawaiian girlfriend. With the lines drawn and the locals breathing fire down their necks, the Sin City boys decide to enlist the services of an ecstasy-popping ex-Marine hit man. Then things go horribly wrong-or, depending on how you look at it, just right. Mark Haskell Smith's 'Delicious' is an uproarious, delectably dark mystery that offers a take on Hawaii that definitely hasn't been endorsed by the tourist bureau.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802142486
• ISBN13: 9780802142481
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 321 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Armchair Travel to Hawaii--A Fun Ride

It only took one day to digest this slice of gourmet goodness, concocted with writerly mastery, fun plotting and interesting characters--and some laugh-out-loud moments. I hate to make comparisons, but it reminded me a bit of Carl Hiaasen (with Hawaii substituting for Florida, of course). The madcap characters, crazy plot-twists, matter-of-fact debauchery and jaw-dropping madness equals FUN. Also, without pedantics, the writer manages to sneak in a bit of info about how the tourist trade has affected authentic Hawaiian culture. I first heard Mark Haskell Smith mentioned on NPR's book recommendations segment. His other books (Moist and Salty) are definitely going on my "to-read" list.

A lulu of a luau

Mark Haskell Smith is like Elmore Leonard on speed, only funnier. Both "Moist" and "Delicious" are immensively creative, hysterical (in the comic sense) romps. I can't wait for his next one.

Fun Read!

My husband and I both loved this book. Couldn't put it down. His other book, Moist is a good read too. Mark Haskell Smith is an excellent story teller with quite a wild imagination. Fun stuff!

MDMA and dolphins, together at last.

This book was really fine. Which real person was the inspiration for the character Joseph? I want to eat at the restaurant where he is now working. I couldn't put this book down.

Combination Pizza: Burroughs with Wodehouse

This odd exhilarating book is as well-paced and plotted as a P.G. Wodehouse novel but it is studded with incidents and bizarre moments that are as disgusting as a book by William Burroughs. And it's all set in Hawaii of all places so you get bizarre insights into that culture. If you liked Moist, you will like Delicious. The author is a screenwriter who was hired to make a postmodernist version of Hawaii 5-0 but although that season was cancelled this book gives an indication of the author's viewpoint and why such a bizarre series could never have made it to television except on the furthest out cable channel. Hit men, prostitutes, sleazebags, opportunistic Hawaiians, Spam, sushi, cooking. I read it in one sitting and felt like I had taken two hits of Ecstacy. Wonderful, dangerous book.