Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor

Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor combines two of my favourite things: well written fiction together with food! And in particular a fictionalized version of the Vancouver food scene.

We received this novel as a Christmas present. I started reading it at noon when I got on the GO Bus to go to my sister's house and was finished by midnight. I simply could not put this one down.

In addition to a well written story about a son who is working out childhood issues with his father and mother and is now a chef in Vancouver, this novel talks compellingly about the concept of how people are either part of the "Crips" or the "Bloods".

Crips are post-national innovative fusion artists. Bloods are traditionalists bound to local ingredients and culture, place and being.

This concept, which can be applied to everything in life not just food, resonates deeply with me. Barb and I are definitely "Bloods". Authenticity and culture are more important to us than fusion even though we appreciate fusion. That's why we love Italian food for example.

This novel applies this concept beyond food to life. It speaks about the gap between the homeless poor in Stanley Park eating squirrels and other locally found foods and the rich foodies in the rest of Vancouver eating high-end foods. The conclusion is stunning and fun.

Highly recommended if you love any or all of the following: eating, cooking, Vancouver, well written fiction.