A Certain Hunger (Paperback)
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Staff Reviews
"A delightfully dark tale about a food critic who also happens to be an insatiable psychotic murderer (think American Psycho but with feminist flavor). Summers brilliantly uses food metaphors to fill in the gruesome and gory details. The cornucopia of gallows humor, wit, and sarcasm make this twisted story palatable."--Reviewed by Cristina
December 2020 Indie Next List
“A surprising novel that will lure you in with its delicious writing and leave you hungry (in more ways than one). Food critic Dorothy Daniels wants good food and good sex, and she will go to whatever lengths she needs in order to get them. At once a critique of the food industry and a criminal’s account, A Certain Hunger is a stunning feminist page-turner. With its devious protagonist and delectable prose, you will devour this novel.”
— Marika McCoola, Porter Square Books, Cambridge, MA
Winter 2022 Reading Group Indie Next List
“Protagonist Dorothy is an unforgettable character—unapologetic and snobby, a confident aesthete who is a killer psychopath writing her memoir from prison. Reminiscent of early Donna Tartt and Bret Easton Ellis.”
— Mimi Hannan, La Playa Books, San Diego, CA
Description
One of Vanity Fair's Books That Will Get You Through This Winter
"One of the most uniquely fun and campily gory books in my recent memory... A Certain Hunger has the voice of a hard-boiled detective novel, as if metaphor-happy Raymond Chandler handed the reins over to the sexed-up femme fatale and really let her fly. --The New York Times Food critic Dorothy Daniels loves what she does. Discerning, meticulous, and very, very smart, Dorothy's clear mastery of the culinary arts make it likely that she could, on any given night, whip up a more inspired dish than any one of the chefs she writes about. Dorothy loves sex as much as she loves food, and while she has struggled to find a long-term partner that can keep up with her, she makes the best of her single life, frequently traveling from Manhattan to Italy for a taste of both. But there is something within Dorothy that's different from everyone else, and having suppressed it long enough, she starts to embrace what makes Dorothy uniquely, terrifyingly herself. Recounting her life from a seemingly idyllic farm-to-table childhood, the heights of her career, to the moment she plunges an ice pick into a man's neck on Fire Island, Dorothy Daniels show us what happens when a woman finally embraces her superiority. A satire of early foodieism, a critique of how gender is defined, and a showcase of virtuoso storytelling, Chelsea G. Summers' A Certain Hunger introduces us to the food world's most charming psychopath and an exciting new voice in fiction.
About the Author
Chelsea G. Summers is a freelance writer whose work focuses on sex, politics, tech, fashion and culture. She is a former academic and professor with Ph.D. training in eighteenth-century British literature, a discipline that has proven to be shockingly useful when writing about contemporary culture. She was a columnist for the now defunct ADULT magazine, has a piece upcoming in Roxane Gay's Medium series, and her work has appeared in VICE, Fusion, Hazlitt, The New Republic, Racked, and The Guardian. She splits her time between New York and Stockholm, Sweden, and can be found on twitter @chelseagsummers. This is her first novel.