Calling this book "surreal" would be too obvious and to under-describe it. It's very slight, but has a spooky charm - partly because Ivor Cutler leaves out a lot of the "sensible" strings that would hold a more earthbound story together. There are mad leaps in the narrative that keep you hooked, waiting for the next one - quite apart from the joy of the central, inspired idea. A family wake up one morning to find their house blown away, except for the electrical points, the milk on the doorstep, and the eggs for their breakfast. Naturally enough, since Mr Diamond is a zookeeper, the solution is to bring animals from the zoo to form a new house - elephants and camels for walls, snakes for roof beams, birds for roof covering. Fireflies make light and heat, and their pillows that night are warm, furry, and breathing. Then their old house turns up ....... This book has enough tiny delights in it to bring you back time after time - our 9-year-old daughter still takes huge pleasure in it 5 years after we first got a copy. Now we want more - to give as presents! Somebody please reprint!

Oh! How I wish I had had this book a few years ago when we gave a party for more than 150 "mostly New Yorkers" at a grand hotel in the French Quarter.
It would have saved me a lot of talking and direction writing (which can be a real chore in this Crescent City). I would have gone out and purchased a copy for each couple and felt that "WHERE THE NATIVES FEAST" written by Jamie Menutis and Debby Hirsch Wood was a real bargain and a GREAT souvenir for all the guests!
Our guests really didn't want to eat where the tourists go; after all, they were young executives from the Big Apple who wanted the "insider track" on the "Big Easy".

This slim, easy to carry, book is filled with on-the-mark descriptions of each restaurant and its menus, to a point where some of MY super-secret places were too well described!! Thanks gals! The cover of the book is a delight; the setup (especially the printing of several maps for getting around New Orleans) is true genius in style and usage. And as lagniappe i.e. "gravy", the inclusion of some recipes allow the out-of-town reader to stock up on a few spice items before going back home.

I can't recommend this book more highly than 5 stars, 6 beans, 7 diamonds and 8 forks! It's a winner all the way!