Simon Wroe

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Chop Chop

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Brace yourself for this lively, amusing and alarmingly informative novel ... the horribly plausible cast and foul-mouthed mania of the kitchen - described by a former chef who knows what he's writing about - give this book its energy and best laughs

A greasy, hilarious tale of loyalty, revenge and dark appetites. A gripping look behind the kitchen wall

Perfectly baked [with] a rich, gooey pool of dark comedy hiding beneath the surface. Despite straying into the realm of sabotage, blackmail and secret dinner parties serving stomach-churning illegal fare, Wroe's novel makes for fresh, appetising reading

Confirms all your worst fears about professional kitchens in a debut novel that is dark, pungent, twisted, surprising and above all genuinely funny. If you enjoy eating out, don't read this book

William Sutcliffe, author of Are You Experienced?

Raucous and inventive, peopled with technicolour characters and savagely funny, Chop Chop announces Simon Wroe as both an heir to Martin Amis and an oven-fresh talent unto himself

A complete page-turner. Reminiscent of Kitchen Confidential but with an entirely fresh voice that is a pleasure to read

A brutally funny look at the world of professional cooking. Sometimes the truth is so strange it needs to be sautéed in a pan of fiction

Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story

Furiously funny, fast, surreal. The heat and the profanity feel painfully real; the prose, masterfully stylized, definitely the stuff of fiction

Anya von Bremzen, author of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking

Arch comedy ... Dave Eggers channels Anthony Bourdain

Depicts the literal underworld of a restaurant kitchen with wit, vigor, and gleeful, necessary profanity

Two months behind on his rent, young graduate Monocle swallows his dreams and takes the only job he can find: the lowest-rung chef in a gastropub in Camden. Here he finds himself surrounded by a group of deranged, criminal hoodlums (his co-workers) and at the mercy of an ingenious sadist (the head chef, Bob). What follows is a furiously-paced, ribald, raucous and deeply touching tale of loyalty and revenge, dark appetites and fading dreams, and a young man finding his way in the world as he is plunged into the fat and the frying pan and everything else besides.

* * * SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2014 COSTA FIRST NOVEL AWARD * * * 
 
Outrageously funny and completely original, Chop Chop by Simon Wroe is the story of a hapless young chef in the crazed world of the professional kitchen, featuring lust, revenge, neurosis and haute cuisine. 
 
'A greasy, hilarious tale of loyalty, revenge and dark appetites. A gripping look behind the kitchen wall' Shortlist 
 
Two months behind on his rent, young graduate Monocle swallows his dreams and takes the only job he can find: the lowest-rung chef in a gastropub in Camden. Here he finds himself surrounded by a group of deranged hoodlums (his co-workers) and at the mercy of an ingenious sadist (the head chef, Bob). What follows is a furiously-paced, ribald, raucous and unexpectedly touching tale of loyalty and revenge, dark appetites and fading dreams, and a young man finding his way in the world as he is plunged into the fat and the frying pan and everything else besides. 
 
'Perfectly baked [with] a rich, gooey pool of dark comedy hiding beneath the surface' Independent 
 
'Lively, amusing and alarmingly informative' Daily Mail 
 
'Arch comedy ... Dave Eggers channels Anthony Bourdain' Kirkus 
 
'Twisted, surprising and above all genuinely funny' William Sutcliffe 
 
'Raucous and inventive, peopled with technicolour characters and savagely funny' A D Miller 
 
'A complete page-turner. Reminiscent of Kitchen Confidential but with an entirely fresh voice' Thomasina Miers 
 
'A brutally funny look at the world of professional cooking' Gary Shteyngart 
 
'Furiously funny, fast, surreal' Anya von Bremzen 
 
Simon Wroe is a former chef who writes about food and culture for Prospect and the Economist, and regularly contributes to a wide range of publications including The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Evening Standard. In 2014 Chop Chop was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award. He is 30 and lives in London.

Simon Wroe is a former chef who writes about food and culture for Prospect and the Economist, and regularly contributes to a wide range of publications including The Times, Guardian, Telegraph and Evening Standard. In 2014 Chop Chop was nominated for the Costa First Novel Award. Simon Wroe is 30 and lives in London.

Chop Chop

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