Tow #12- IRB/ "The Telling Room: A Tale of Love, Betrayal, Revenge, and the World's Greatest Piece of Cheese"/ Paterniti

When we put our minds to something, great things can be accomplished. When something is on our mind, great things are imagined. This idea is the basis for The Telling Room,a memoir by Michael Paterniti. Paterniti, a writer curious about a rare Spanish cheese called Paramo de Guzman, decides to visit Spain with his wife, young son, and friends. In a desperate search for the cheese, Paterniti and his friend end up in Guzman, a small, sleepy village home to the family the used to make the cheese. Paterniti speaks with Ambrosio, the cheese maker, and learns about the village's history through visiting Ambrosio's "Telling Room". The village's "telling rooms" have been dug into the caves in the surrounding hills and are common place to the villagers to bond and share stories.

Paterniti weaves the majority of his story through personal anecdotes and examples. His memories of how he discovered Paramo de Guzman and his brief history of Ambrosio and family provide necessary context to the story that is both interesting and appeals to pathos in readers. This pathos helps readers to connect to Paterniti and become involved in the story. His anecdotes and appeals to pathos also add credibility and appeals to ethos. They are a testament to Paterniti as a writer and show the skill that made him famous for both his books, The Telling Room and Driving Mr. Albert. The appeals to ethos are made through powerful diction as well, which helps to add imagery and characterization to his story. Imagery and characterization in this book resemble that of many fiction books, which probably makes the book more appealing to younger readers like myself. Overall though, Paterniti uses humor to tie his appeals to pathos and ethos and imagery, diction and characterization together. It takes elements of great stories, novels and articles and blends them together to make a memoir; both fact and fiction-like story together as one.

Guzman Spain. N.d. Photograph. Longfrom. Longform. Web. 8 Dec. 2013.