Purchase
A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese
The Dial Press
August 2013
On Sale: July 30, 2013
345 pages
ISBN: 0385337000
EAN: 9780385337007
Kindle: B00BABTA0Y
Hardcover / e-Book
Add to Wish List
Non-Fiction Biography
In the picturesque village of GuzmΓ‘n, Spain, in a cave dug into a hillside on the edge of town, an ancient door leads to a cramped limestone chamber known as βthe telling room.β Containing nothing but a wooden table and two benches, this is where villagers have gathered for centuries to share their stories and secretsβusually accompanied by copious amounts of wine.
It was here, in the summer of 2000, that Michael Paterniti found himself listening to a larger-than-life Spanish cheesemaker named Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras as he spun an odd and compelling tale about a piece of cheese. An unusual piece of cheese. Made from an old family recipe, Ambrosioβs cheese was reputed to be among the finest in the world, and was said to hold mystical qualities. Eating it, some claimed, conjured long-lost memories. But then, Ambrosio said, things had gone horribly wrong. . . .
By the time the two men exited the telling room that evening, Paterniti was hooked. Soon he was fully embroiled in village life, relocating his young family to GuzmΓ‘n in order to chase the truth about this cheese and explore the fairy taleβlike place where the villagers conversed with farm animals, lived by an ancient Castilian code of honor, and made their wine and food by hand, from the grapes growing on a nearby hill and the flocks of sheep floating over the Meseta.
What Paterniti ultimately discovers there in the highlands of Castile is nothing like the idyllic slow-food fable he first imagined. Instead, heβs sucked into the heart of an unfolding mystery, a blood feud that includes accusations of betrayal and theft, death threats, and a murder plot. As the village begins to spill its long-held secrets, Paterniti finds himself implicated in the very story he is writing.
Equal parts mystery and memoir, travelogue and history, The Telling Room is an astonishing work of literary nonfiction by one of our most accomplished storytellers. A moving exploration of happiness, friendship, and betrayal, The Telling Room introduces us to Ambrosio Molinos de las Heras, an unforgettable real-life literary hero, while also holding a mirror up to the world, fully alive to the power of stories that define and sustain us.
 Media BuzzOn Point - September 5, 2013
All Things Considered - July 28, 2013
Weekend Edition Saturday - July 27, 2013
| 
© 2003-2026