ALTERED TASTES

The last time I had fried chicken was almost five years ago after a night of debauchery and ultra-violence. I always wanted to say that ever since “A Clockwork Orange” became an instant classic. For the record, it wasn’t really debauchery and ultra-violence except what was imposed upon my system.

The greasy components draped within this chicken tasted absolutely delicious. “I was cured alright”. The ills that the night produced just seemed to go away after consuming that chicken, however I have not had fried chicken since. Our tastes change over time, maybe our bodies even dictate what’s good for us, and what’s not.
The food we eat effects how we are, and over time we have learned what food is good, and what is not. In OVERLAND, Danny spent so much time in a foreign land in the east that his tastes altered so much that couldn’t adapt back to western tastes:

He lifts one of the metal plate covers and underneath is a plate of fried chicken and mashed potatoes. He takes a bite of the chicken, and puts it down in disgust. The American food tastes strange as his pallet has completely converted to Eastern tastes. He covers up the food with the metal plate. He calls room service and orders lentil soup and rice as he is incapable of eating what they provided for him. There isn’t any lentil soup but there is chicken noodle. It will have to do. While waiting for room service, he turns on the TV, and happens to catch a news story about himself, and his arrival in Paris. The story is a watery over-glamorized version of what he really lived.


We change with the times, sometimes because we want to, sometimes because we have to. Survival. That’s what it’s all about. See how Danny survives his trials and tribulations in OVERLAND.

Mark Stephen Levy recently published his novel Overland, a fictional account of an American stranded in Kabul, Afghanistan on December, 27, 1979