The Last Supper, Rachel Cusk
The Last Supper, Rachel Cusk
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The Last Supper
A Summer in Italy

Author: Rachel Cusk

Narrator: Antonia Beamish

Unabridged: 7 hr 55 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/05/2022

Synopsis

A vivid and elegant account of a family’s season abroad by one of our finest contemporary authors.Casting off a northern winter and an orderly life, a family decides to sell everything and go to Italy to search for art and its meanings, for freedom from routine, for a different path into the future. The award-winning writer Rachel Cusk describes a three-month journey around the Italy of Raphael and rented villas, of the Piero della Francesca Trail and the tourist furnace of Amalfi, of soccer and the simple glories of pasta and gelato. With her husband and two children, Cusk uncovers the mystery of a foreign language, the perils and pleasures of unbelonging, and the startling thrill of discovery—at once historic and intimate.Both sharp and humane in its exploration of the desire to travel and to escape, of art and its inspirations, of beauty and ugliness, and of the challenge of balancing domestic life with creativity, The Last Supper is an astonishing memoir.

About Rachel Cusk

Rachel Cusk is the author of the Outline trilogy, the memoirs A Life’s Work and Aftermath, and several other works of fiction and nonfiction. She is a Guggenheim Fellow. She lives in Paris.

About Antonia Beamish

Antonia Beamish is a voice-over artist and AudioFile Earphones Award–winning narrator. She is also a professional actress best known for performances in films such as The Last Horror Movie, Dead Creatures, and Chemical Wedding.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Trish on August 25, 2018

One has to ask oneself why we read memoirs of travels. Wouldn’t it be better to just take off on our own, not knowing of other people’s troubles or joys in case we are fearful or disappointed? But Rachel Cusk reminds us why we read other people’s tales: she is observant, and terribly funny. Tales of......more

Goodreads review by Kasey on September 30, 2010

My sense is that there are lots of books out there about going to Italy (or Provence) and how wonderful it is, and how it can change your life. And though I haven't read any of those books, one thing I love about Rachel Cusk's memoir is that I am sure it's completely unlike all of them. The way she......more

Goodreads review by John on March 10, 2021

Cusk is so brilliant. Utterly compelling in her brilliance. To see through her eyes for the time it takes to devour her books is a privilege.......more

Goodreads review by Laura on December 16, 2023

Cuskin kyky tavoittaa kaunetta arjesta, taiteesta, siirtymistä ja ihmismielestä on aivan vastustamattoman upeaa, uskomatonta, hienoa, lähentelee jopa nerokasta. Miten joku voikin saada harmaan meren päällä lipuvan autolautan, kuluneen vanhan kupoliteltan tai tavallisen roomalaisen kadun niin vahvast......more

Quotes

“As elegantly written and astutely observed as her fiction, Cusk’s memoir describes looking at art and getting to know the locals from Tuscany to Naples…Compelling.” Kirkus Reviews

“[Cusk] writes with the intelligence, wit, and keen eye for detail demanded by any kind of reporting.” New Yorker

“[Cusk] has an amazing ability to strike to the heart of things, to look afresh and not to overlook, which is suited to this journey into otherness…Lively, ardent, and suffused with generous empathy.” Guardian (London)

“Each sentence is crisply perfect, blinding brilliantly detailed descriptions to sensitive, sharp observations…Brutally honest…Cusk is a master of restraint.” Bookforum

“A fascinating inquiry into expectations and of our desire to rigidly control our lives.” Los Angeles Times

“Exquisite prose.” Boston Globe

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