A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig

Lamb wrote this mock-scholarly treatise on roast pig with complete seriousness, which is precisely what makes it hilarious. The essay pretends to investigate the origins of roast pig consumption, settling on an ancient Chinese origin story where a boy named Bo-bo accidentally discovers the delight of roasted pork when his family's cottage burns down, incinerating their litter of suckling pigs. The boy's father initially forbids him from eating the charred remains, but curiosity and hunger prevail, and thus begins humanity's love affair with roast pig. Lamb sustains this absurdist premise with mock-learned footnotes, philosophical digressions on the pleasure of eating, and an utterly straight-faced celebration of pork crackling that would make any carnivore weep. The real pleasure here is Lamb's voice: simultaneously reverent and ridiculous, treating pig with the gravitas normally reserved for philosophy or poetry. It is, in the end, a pure celebration of sensual pleasure and the art of taking pleasure seriously.