On genre the descriptive bit is certainly the more useful, I only mentioned it here as I couldn’t find the original debate and it seemed worth correcting myself.

On the genre question, my suggestion is that in English language countries we tend to use it as a category, while in Europe it is used more as a descriptive term. Description allows for multi-genre (mixed-genre?) works to succeed more readily; categorization, almost by definition, starts to put up fences that become a means for exclusion which does not seem useful. For my part, I tend to the descriptive idea as being most useful.

I suspect you’re right that mislabelling it as a later novel does the author no favours, giving a reader who’s tried Hedgehog the impression that Barbery is going downhill rather than gaining strength.

Oh, on an unrelated note, I commented recently that views on genre were much the same in Europe as the US, but I forget against which review. I mentioned it to my wife, Emma, who corrected me noting that in Germany and France there is much greater acceptance of genre and the dividing lines are less strict, as your other commenter was in fact arguing. I thought since I posted the disagreement, I should post the correction too.

P/S KFC grilled is actually quite yummy. Of course, you can’t go wrong with the original fried chicken

I agree with your policy of going easier on first novels and, therefore, also agree that the publisher does no favor to the author by passing off a first novel as a later effort. That said, this does not sound like a novel I will try, but maybe an author to watch. I will be interested to see what you think of her second (or third) novel if you read it.

While I am not much a foodie, my wife is. Your comments, nevermind the book excerpts, are making me hungry and I just ate. Maybe this is one in which she would be interested. I don’t know if she has had much exposure to foodie novels. Is there a must-read foodie novel?

Certainly there are parts of the book that show substantial talent — not just the food parts (I’d add descriptions of bread and celebrations of the picnics to the sashimi description) but also some of the humor she displays later in the book (the chapter on the dog eating the Yule Log is very well done). And in our house, we did have a cat that one year got to the Christmas turkey before we humans did. And I will admit that the conclusion of the book did motivate me to head out to the nearby bakery (not the supermarket, I admit) to buy some hot cross buns (as opposed to chouquettes, although I did briefly consider them) yesterday, since they are one of those childhood “flavors” that live on in my personal taste memory. In that sense, I’d have to say Barbery was a success.

Her publishers say she is at work on a third novel and I would say there is good reason to look forward to it.

The Japanese influence is more apparent in The Elegance of the Hedgehog but I think that is many due to the inclusion and narrative importance of a Japanese character. The sashimi is wonderfully described and, yes, this could definitely be attributed to Barbery’s experience of the country.