A history of cooking and fine dining in Western Europe from 1520 to 1660

"When factory worker Dan Dong accidentally discovers how easy it is to infiltrate state- and corporate-sponsored banquets by posing as a journalist, he quickly becomes addicted to the insane luxury of these meals. For the first time, he tastes crab-claw tips, exotic fungi, and a dish made from thousands of pigeon tongues arranged in the shape of a chrysanthemum. But when Dan's disguise enables him to become privy to a deep-rooted scandal, his conscience compels him to cross the line between subterfuge and reality by actually writing an expose. With the help of the witty, jaded reporter Happy Gao, Dan embarks on a journey that will take him from the highest rungs of society to its most sordid depths." "Throughout the book, food - from the spicy, oily fare Dan orders for a high-class prostitute at a restaurant called Pink Chamber, to the humble noodle dishes prepared by his long-suffering wife, Little Plum - is present on almost every page, described so vividly that you can almost smell and taste it. But by the final page of The Banquet Bug, it has become clear that the perils of consumption run parallel to its pleasures."--BOOK JACKET.

The Endless Banquet (Volume Two) is the second part of Shaykh Hamzah Abdul Malik's reading guide to help the average person understand the broader meanings of the Qur'an. This book picks up where The Endless Banquet (Volume I) left off, and explains each Surah of the middle third of the Qur'an by grouping its ayat together according to shared themes, to help you study its fundamental meanings and their connections with one another. It is followed by The Endless Banquet (Volume III), which covers Juz 21-30. All three volumes are available together as The Endless Banquet Series (3-book bundle). The Endless Banquet will help you discover: The benefits of the Qur'an's repetition of certain phrases, & stories, albeit with different variations & details The wisdom of ayat shift from discussions of law to stories, to theological arguments, to descriptions of heaven and hell Connections between each Surah The wisdom & significance in the order of the Surahs How each Juz is divided upon overarching themes The context in which certain ayat were revealed & why these verses are still relevant today The Endless Banquet is designed to help you develop a deeper appreciation for the Qur'an - especially the parts which most people don't ordinarily read. This will increase your sense of wonder and awe at the Qur'an, so that you may seek to learn more, and be inspired to ask new questions about Allah's final revelation. As you become more familiar with its subtleties, your personal relationship with the Qur'an will naturally grow stronger, if Allah wills. Each chapter of The Endless Banquet covers one Juz. Written in easy-to-understand language, this book aims to inspire a new generation of readers of the Qur'an, among Muslims who are comfortable reading and speaking English. The Endless Banquet was written in the hope that the Qur'an may open the hearts of all who read it, and to help you become inspired by its meanings, its relevance to the present day, and its connections to the human condition and to your own life. The Endless Banquet will help you to rekindle your love for the Qur'an, if Allah wills.

What is the basic point of this book? Theology makes a difference. The basic theology for addictions is that the root problem goes deeper than our genetic makeup. Addictions are ultimately a disorder of worship. Will we worship ourselves and our own desires or will we worship the true God?

The Banquet is a work written by Dante Alighieri roughly between 1304 and 1307. This unfinished work of Dante consists of four trattati, or "books": a prefatory one, plus three books that each include a canzone (long lyrical poem) and a prose allegorical interpretation or commentary of the poem that goes off in multiple thematic directions. The Banquet is a major stage of development for Dante, very different from the visionary world of the Vita nuova (although like the earlier work it too is a medium for the author's evolving sense of artistic vocation and philosophical-spiritual quest). This difference is reflected in how the two works use the prosimetrum format: in the Vita Nova there is a complex interrelation and intertwining between the prose and the poetry, while in the Banquet large blocks of prose have an autonomous existence apart from the poems; the content of the poetry is not amplified or edited in the prose so much as commented upon prosaically, to serve as points of departure for the various subjects that the Banquet discusses. Dante himself tells us that the prose of the Banquet is "temperate and virile," in contrast to the "fervid and passionate" prose of the Vita Nova; and that while the approach to this in the work of his youth was "like dreaming" the Banquet approaches it subjects soberly and wide awake, often modeling its style on Scholastic authors. The Banquet is a kind of vernacular encyclopedia of the knowledge of Dante's time; it touches on many areas of learning, not only philosophy but also politics, linguistics, science, and history. The treatise begins with the prefatory book, or proem, which explains why a book like the Banquet is needed and why Dante is writing it in the vernacular instead of Latin. It is one of Dante's early defenses of the vernacular, expressed in greater detail in his (slightly earlier) linguistic treatise De vulgari eloquentia (On Eloquence in the Vernacular).

After studying ancient Greek for a year, students often become discouraged when presented with unabridged classical texts that offer only minimal supportive apparatus. In welcome contrast, this intermediate-level textbook reinforces the first-year lessons and enables students to read Plato's Symposium, one of the most engaging works in Attic Greek, the dialect taught in most first-year courses. To meet the needs of students who are reading extended passages of challenging Greek for the first time, Louise Pratt, a classical scholar with more than twenty years' teaching experience, has lightly condensed the early readings, supplementing them with review exercises and new vocabulary. She includes the remaining portion of the dialogue in its entirety to give students the experience of reading Plato's imaginative dialogue in all its richness. All readings are glossed, with explanatory notes appearing on the same page as the relevant texts. Enlivened by twenty-five illustrations, Eros at the Banquet also features an introduction explaining the Symposium's historical and philosophical significance, a comprehensive glossary, and an up-to-date bibliography. Instructors may also supplement this volume with Pratt's The Essentials of Greek Grammar: A Reference for Intermediate Readers of Attic Greek, which includes many examples from the Symposium.