{"product_id":"zorbas-taverna-peter-barber-9781916574250","title":"Zorbas Taverna: The Trouble With Goats and Mayors","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome back to Telios, the Greek village where bureaucracy meets baklava, where the sea changes moods more often than the mayor, and where the goats-God help us-show more leadership potential than half the council.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eLife here should be simple: sun, sea, sardines, repeat. But simplicity and Greece haven't spoken since 1974, so naturally a new wave of regulations arrives just in time to ruin everyone's appetite. Overnight, Zorba's beloved seaside taverna finds itself under threat-again-thanks to rules so confusing they appear to have been written by a man who's never seen a kitchen and may, in fact, be allergic to joy.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePeter, reluctantly heroic, and Alex, heroically reluctant, rally the villagers in defence of their tables, their traditions, and their constitutional right to argue loudly over dinner. What starts as a gentle disagreement soon unfolds into full-blown municipal chaos, complete with spoon-wielding grandmothers ready for battle, a goat with unofficial diplomatic immunity, and a mayoral election in which every candidate is actively campaigning \u003cem\u003enot\u003c\/em\u003e to be chosen.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe gossiping hurricane known as Maria documents everything-selectively, creatively, and occasionally with 30% accuracy. Spiros, philosopher of the kafenio and part-time fisherman, contributes wisdom from his favourite bench (recently declared \"structurally questionable\" by the council). Father Evangelos dispenses blessings, warnings, and unsolicited advice with equal enthusiasm, while Theodora guards her kitchen with the ferocity of a Byzantine general. If anyone dares mention \"health inspectors\", she sharpens her ladle.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTogether they form the beating, laughing, quarrelling heart of Telios. The taverna becomes Greece in miniature: passionate, chaotic, generous, and gloriously alive. Plates clatter, cats demand rent, visitors wander in by accident and stay by choice, and somewhere in the background, Dimitri claims to have seen something monstrous in the sea-again.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart memoir, part comic fiction, \u003cem\u003eZorba's Taverna: The Trouble with Goats \u0026amp; Mayors\u003c\/em\u003e is Peter Barber at his funniest and most affectionate. A warm, witty celebration of island life, friendship, food, and the beautiful absurdity of trying to organise anything-\u003cem\u003eanything at all\u003c\/em\u003e-in Greece.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIf it didn't happen exactly this way... it absolutely should have.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Peter Barber\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1916574254\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781916574250\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ant Press Greece\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/28\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 424\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.08lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.50h x 5.50w x 0.86d","brand":"Peter Barber","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":48852670415103,"sku":"9781916574250","price":21.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/zorbas-taverna-peter-barber-9781916574250","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}