Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Review: Chew, Vol. 1 - Taster's Choice

Chew is the sort of book that I would never read if it were not in graphic novel format.  I think the descriptions would probably disturb me, and I could very easily be grossed out.  Also, while I really love historical mysteries, modern-day police procedurals do not interest me.  But somehow, I saw this graphic novel at Borders one day and haven't quite been able to squelch my curiosity about it.  So, I read it!

Tony Chu is a cibopath- someone who gets psychic impressions from things that he eats.  For example, when he eats an orange, he knows where it grew, who picked it, who shipped it, and what happened to it before he ate it.  With meat, he gets stronger impressions.  As a detective who sometimes investigates murders...well, he can get a lot of information if he doesn't mind resorting to cannibalism.

Chu lives in an alternate version of our world, where a bird flu pandemic killed hundreds of millions of people, resulting in a poultry ban.  If people want to eat chicken, they have to buy it on the black market, and the black market is thriving.  Thus, the Food and Drug Administration (the FDA) of America has become one of the biggest and most important (and reviled) government organizations in the country, and when Tony is recruited to work for them, he doesn't hesitate to accept the offer.  But what about the rumors going around that it was not the bird flu that caused the world-wide pandemic?



This book, as you might be able to tell, was gruesome.  There were some graphics that were... well, graphic.  And just the premise itself is somewhat disturbing.  It reminds me a bit of the original comics that must have come out right around WWII.  Tony Chu, in some ways, is a superhero (he does have powers, after all).  And he is trying to stamp out crime.  There is a very noir-esque tone to the drawings and color used in this novel, and its somewhat dry and cynical tone reminded me a lot of Pinkertons.  There was a lot of humor, albeit most of it was very dark.  (My person favorite was the McBeefy's sign that was missing a key N on the "DINE WITH US" sign, followed by a nutritional information sign that said "98% fat".)

As this book is the first in a series, there is a lot of information we don't have, and of course the book ends without satisfying us on all those points.  But there are just so many interesting ideas brought up here!  It's not so hard to think of the country banning a certain type of food after a health scare, and that food then becoming a basis for an underground economy.  It's disturbing (but fascinating) to think of someone's ability to learn things through the food he eats.  Another character has the ability to make everyone around her experience food in exactly the way she experienced it, just by talking about her meal.  This is wonderful for the very classy, expensive meals she has.  Not so good are the dirty, disgusting meal descriptions that can go so far as to induce serious illness.

So while I don't know that this particular issue of this series was absolutely compelling, I do hope to continue with the story.  Tony Chu is an interesting character (though not as interesting as his mentor Savoy) with complicated familial and professional relationships.  He has a wisecrack sense of humor that I enjoyed, and I really want to know more about the post-poultry world that he lives in!  However... I don't recommend reading this book after a big meal!

14 comments:

  1. Ew, cannibalism - I think this is a book for when you are sitting in air conditioning. It's 90 degrees where I am, and the tiniest things are making me feel nauseated. :/

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  2. I don't think this one would suit me. I think I would struggle with the graphics on this and eating the evidence sounds a bit sick to me.

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  3. What a totally cool premise! A little less tame than the Sadness of Lemon Cake, it sounds like!

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  4. Jenny- I think you could be very right!

    Vivienne- It's definitely not one for everyone, but I didn't think it would do much for me, either, and I actually enjoyed it.

    rhapsody- Just a little ;-) Glad I haven't grossed EVERYONE out!

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  5. The whole graphic and gross part turns me off this book. Do not wanna see that

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  6. I am clearly in the minority here, but this sounds amazing! And what excellent timing...I just saw this book at Magers and Quinn this weekend!

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  7. Sorry, Aarti, but I'm another one who gets grossed out just reading about the book! Ew! :D But I'm glad you enjoyed it.

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  8. Oh my! This sounds like a very interesting albeit disturbing little book! I agree with one of the earlier posters that mentions the similarity of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake, but Chu sounds a little more compelling somehow. I do like weird things, and love a good weird book when it's done well, so I am going to be looking for this one. I bet it would be a great book for my son as well. He is in the gross out stage right now.

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  9. Well this isn't one I would find myself picking up on my own but after reading your review I am curious about it and wonder how I would react to reading it.

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  10. Isn't it interesting how it's easier to be adventurous when reading comics and GNs? I'm the exact same way. I very rarely read memoirs, for example, except for graphic ones. As for this book, it sounds very unlike my usual sort of read, but I'm still intrigued.

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  11. LOL, Great review! This one sounds just bizarre enough that I REALLY want to read it now!! :D

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  12. Sounds like this book would be almost easier to get down reading it in print rather than the graphic form. Argh. I'm tempted by it. It sounds like it has an interesting and unusual premise and I'm a bit of a sucker for that.

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  13. This book sounds a little "out there", but I'm still putting it on hold at my local library. Great review.

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  14. This is bizarre enough that it would grab my attention, and I'll keep this in mind when I'm ready to give graphic novels a try.

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