The Devil's Picnic: Around the World in Pursuit of Forbidden Fruit [Idioma Inglés] - Tapa dura

A journey into illicit pleasure the world over.

From Norwegian moonshine to the pentobarbital sodium sipped by suicide tourists in Switzerland—and,, in between, baby eels killed by an infusion of tobacco, a garlicky Spanish stew of bull's testicles, tea laced with cocaine, and malodorous French cheese—Taras Grescoe has written a travelogue of forbidden indulgences. As Grescoe crisscrosses the globe in pursuit of his quarry, he delves into questions of regional culture and repressive legislation—from the clandestine absinthe distillation in an obscure Swiss valley to the banning of poppy seed biscuits in Singapore—and launches into a philosophical investigation of what's truly bizarre: how something as fundamental as the plants and foods we consume could be so vilified and demonized.

An investigation into what thrills us, what terrifies us, and what would make us travel ten thousand miles and evade the local authorities, The Devil's Picnic is a delicious and compelling expedition into the heart of vice and desire.

Taras Grescoe is the author of two books, one of which, Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec, was shortlisted for the Writers' Trust Award and was a national bestseller in Canada. He is a frequent contributor to the New York Times, Salon, the Independent, and National Geographic Traveler, and has written features for Saveur, the New York Times Magazine, Wired, and the Chicago Tribune Magazine.