Tenderloin

The bloody and enticing latest from Sorman (Life Sciences) centers on a butcher who tends to his abattoir like a priest to his chapel, seeking the primordial “state of nature” behind the meat. The story begins sometime before Pim opens his now famous butcher shop in contemporary Paris, tracking his two-year apprenticeship in Brittany. Prone to inexplicable tears and sporting a prime rib tattooed on his shoulder blade, he first ascends to the “tragic and secret citadel” of a slaughterhouse before moving to Paris. Known throughout the meat-processing industry for his mystical sense of cuts and rigorous attitude toward all “born beef,” Pim possesses a bone-deep sympathy for animals; he even dreams of becoming one and making his body a banquet. Instead, he settles on an unnerving act of defiance against his fellow man. Sorman’s novel is primitive in the best sense, slicing through pretense to return the flesh to its “starring role” in nature and society. Gourmands will be sated by this slim and sublime morsel. (Apr.)