Comments on: In the Devil’s Garden - Stewart Lee Allen http://paperpalate.net/2006/08/11/in_the_devil_s_garden_stewart_lee_allen/ Food and wine in magazines and newspapers, cookbook reviews Fri, 29 Aug 2008 19:22:35 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.0.4 by: Rina http://paperpalate.net/2006/08/11/in_the_devil_s_garden_stewart_lee_allen/#comment-17356 Sat, 24 Mar 2007 19:10:58 +0000 http://paperpalate.net/2006/08/11/in_the_devil_s_garden_stewart_lee_allen/#comment-17356 I've just read In the Devil's Garden and was surprised at some of your comments. While I agree it was great fun to read, I thought your saying that Allensaid Marie Antoinette said "Let them eat cake" was actually incorrect. He doesn't adress the issue at all, all I could find was a reference that called her Marie "let 'em eat cake" Antoinette--I would take that to be identifying her with the phrase with which she is most commonly associated, like George "Bring 'em On" Bush. Moreoevr in the endnotes, he specifically points out that historicans doubt Marie actually made the comment. You then to on to say Allen says Hitler was a veggie. He does indeed write about people who have claimed that, then points out that vegetarians have been claiming he wasn't a vegetarian for years. The link you provided "debunking" Hitler being a vegetarian actually leads right to a vegetarian website, obviously displeased at being associated with Hitler. But even that site admits that for the last 13 years of his life Hitler practiced some sort of vegetarianism! So I'm a little puzzled by your comments that the book should be taken with a grain of salt. Perhaps your review should? Not that I mind salt. What interesting about Allen's book is the picture it gives us about our attitudes about food--vegetarianism equated with peaceniks, etc--rather than mintor historical points that people will no double be arguing about until the end of thime. Love your site I’ve just read In the Devil’s Garden and was surprised at some of your comments. While I agree it was great fun to read, I thought your saying that Allensaid Marie Antoinette said “Let them eat cake” was actually incorrect. He doesn’t adress the issue at all, all I could find was a reference that called her Marie “let ‘em eat cake” Antoinette–I would take that to be identifying her with the phrase with which she is most commonly associated, like George “Bring ‘em On” Bush. Moreoevr in the endnotes, he specifically points out that historicans doubt Marie actually made the comment.

You then to on to say Allen says Hitler was a veggie. He does indeed write about people who have claimed that, then points out that vegetarians have been claiming he wasn’t a vegetarian for years. The link you provided “debunking” Hitler being a vegetarian actually leads right to a vegetarian website, obviously displeased at being associated with Hitler. But even that site admits that for the last 13 years of his life Hitler practiced some sort of vegetarianism!

So I’m a little puzzled by your comments that the book should be taken with a grain of salt. Perhaps your review should? Not that I mind salt. What interesting about Allen’s book is the picture it gives us about our attitudes about food–vegetarianism equated with peaceniks, etc–rather than mintor historical points that people will no double be arguing about until the end of thime.
Love your site

]]>