The Banquet Bug Book

With The Banquet Bug, her first novel written originally in English (her previous novels have been translated) Geling Yan captivates once more. This is the fantastical tale of Dan Dong, an unemployed factory worker whose life takes a series of unexpected twists after he discovers that, by posing as a journalist, he can eat insanely gourmet meals for free at corporate and state-sponsored banquets. But the secrets he overhears at these events eventually lead Dan down a twisted, intrigue-laden path, and his subterfuge and his real identity become harder and harder to separate. When he becomes privy to a scandal that runs from the depths of society to its highest rungs, Dan must find a way to uncover the "corruption" without revealing the dangerous truth about himself.

The New York Times - Ligaya Mishan

At a banquet hosted by a drug company, Dan dines on gelatin made of seahorses and bull penises (to boost virility) and frog uterus soup (an aphrodisiac). Like much of The Banquet Bug, the scene works splendidly as farce -- even as it arouses the nagging suspicion that it might not be so far-fetched after all.