Under the aegis of the Goddess of Love, Isabel Allende uses her storytelling skills brilliantly in" Aphrodite" to evoke the delights of food and sex. After considerable research and study, she has become an authority on aphrodisiacs, which include everything from food and drink to stories and, of course, love. Readers will find here recipes from Allende's mother, poems, stories from ancient and foreign literatures, paintings, personal anecdotes, fascinating tidbits on the sensual art of food and its effects on amorous performance, tips on how to attract your mate and revive flagging virility, passages on the effect of smell on libido, a history of alcoholic beverages, and much more. An ode to sensuality that is an irresistible blend of memory, imagination and the senses," Aphrodite" is familiar territory for readers who know her fiction.

Reviews

Sex and food, once celebrated as two of life's great joys, suffer a lot of bad press these days. Genuine epidemics, coupled with monthly findings of new things that are bad for us, have pushed otherwise happy souls into programs of agonizing denial and, in severe instances, abstinence. Thankfully, in this sophisticated defense of pleasure, novelist Allende (The House of the Spirits) puts the joy back into eating and loving with all the panache that marks the best of her fiction. Though passionate about her subject, she remains consistently whimsical with this mix of anecdotes, recipes and advice designed to enhance any romantic encounter. As always, her secret weapon is honesty: "Some [aphrodisiacs] have a scientific basis, but most are activated by the imagination." Allende's vivacity and wit are in full bloom as she makes her pronouncements: "There are few virtues a man can possess more erotic than culinary skill"; "When you make an omelet, as when you make love, affection counts for more than technique." Her book is filled with succinct wisdom and big laughs. Despite sections titled "The Orgy" and "Supreme Stimulus for Lechery," Allende comes down emphatically for romance over sex and for ritual over flavor in a work that succeeds in being what it intends to be‘fun from the first nibble to the last. (Apr.)

Stories, poems, and even recipes on the joys of food and sex. The Spanish-language Afrodita appears this month.

Is Isobel Allende Aphrodite or is Aphrodite her latest book? After reading this glorious celebration of the driving forces of human existence - food and sex - told with tantalising glimpses into her personal life, I wonder. Aphrodite: A Memoir of the Senses is one of those books that defies categorisation. Is it fiction or non-fiction? It's on Flamingo's fiction list, but the book really straddles both categories. The first half, Allende's commentary on aphrodisiacs, is a well-researched piece about the history and powers of the aphrodisiac, interwoven with a personal commentary of life and love. The prose comes alive with witty anecdotes of lovers and friends within a firmly feminist framework. The recipes in the second half of the book are equally fine. As an avid reader of cookbooks, a lover of good food and a capable cook, I judge a cookbook by the number of `yums' it elicits. My house has been echoing with `yums' for days. This book is not only a witty and sensual read but is also a wonderful and inspiring cookbook, even for the most basic of cooks. The manuscript didn't include Robert Shekter's illustrations, but if these are as good as the commentary and the recipes, then this book should be a runaway bestseller. Who could resist such a well-written celebration of food and sex? Erica Travers is a bookseller at Einstein's Moon, Collingwood (Vic). C. 1998 Thorpe-Bowker and contributors

"Like a slow, seductive lover, Allende teases, tempts and titillates with mesmerizing stories and legends about gluttony--sexual and otherwise." -- "Washington Post"