The Sleep Garden by Jim Krusoe

Author:Jim Krusoe [Krusoe, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, azw3
ISBN: 978-1-941040-19-5
Publisher: Tin House Books
Published: 2016-01-26T16:00:00+00:00

Celebrity: a famous person. From the Latin celeber, meaning numerous, or much frequented.

“Do you have any regrets in your career as a successful chef? Is there anything you are still waiting to accomplish?”

Here a long silence follows. When Madeline finally comes back to the question it’s obvious from the mirror that her expression has changed. She is visibly sadder, almost weary.

“As a chef, no. But when I see all the hungry people in this world, people for whom a half bowl of cooked rice would be a feast, people who sit around all day gnawing on roots and bark, people who have to slaughter their family dog, or cat, or even their canary in order to get a little protein, people who comb through the dumpsters and trash cans outside of Madeline’s Gourmet Restaurants in search of some specks of crème brûlée, or for a smear of pâté someone has missed stuck to the bottom of a shred of lettuce, it makes me so unhappy.

“Also, Bruce, it may surprise you to learn there are people who are so hungry they consider themselves lucky if they come across a snake and beat it to death, or a toad, too, though with toads a person has to be careful, because there are several varieties that are extremely toxic, including the cane toad and the Asiatic toad, which, paradoxically, plays an important part in Eastern medicine, so if you get one of those and wolf it down without thinking just because you’re starving, without having first looked it up in a book about those things—and frankly most people won’t take the trouble to do this—you could be dead or at least seriously ill. Then there are also insects, naturally, which a person can roast after pulling off the wings and legs, and they don’t in fact taste too bad—sort of a nutty taste, it seems to me—although I suggest you avoid the ones with stingers—and unbelievably, there are also people so desperate that they actually eat fleas—yes, fleas!—which their womenfolk grind in a mortar until they’re dead and turn into a paste, and then the paste is mixed with just a little tree sap—I forget the name of the tree they use—to give it a little sweetness and to hold it together—not too much, because the resulting dish, called a “flea stick,” is meant to be crunchy, not chewy. And although it is true that because I am an artist I have no choice but to follow my art wherever it leads me, I still think it’s important for everyone to remember that in the world there are a lot of people who are destitute, miserable, and hungry as well, so even as an artist, I constantly try to think of innovative and delightful ways to please all palates, from the most sophisticated to the average, which is something I believe we all—and not just celebrities—need to do more of.”

“Thank you so much, Madeline.”

“Any time, Bruce. Ready and waiting.”

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