The Feasts Of Memory By Elias Kulukundis

All books are second hand

The famous Greek shipping family of Kulukundis is the source of inspiration for a clever combination of travel book, Kulukundis' autobiography, and a collection of the family's stories. The tales told around the dinner tables of his family in exile recreate the ancestors' life on the island of Kasos.

These stories are imbued with the sophistication and wit of a Greek expatriate, but at the same time they delve deep into the motivating passions of the Aegean islands. Some of them reveal skeletons in the closet, and some, in the words of The New Yorker Magazine, are "as savage as Homer's."

An obliging Uncle George accompanied the author through the labyrinth of tales, narrating and explaining along the way. Uncle George's uncle, Doctor Nikolakis, was a honey-tongued bachelor who became the character of the longest story in The Feasts of Memory.