食物於白先勇小說中無所不在，其明顯的文本存在，實是白先勇小說意義建構系統中極為重要的一環。本文以白先勇小說中的飲食活動作為討論的起點，探索其儀式性的吃與消耗的敘事行為，特別是飽食／暴食與饑餓的可互換性和重疊，以此檢視在白先勇那永遠把食物吃得精光的世界裡，吃與言說之間的辯證關係。相對於酒足飯飽正是無言，過剩也正意味著匱乏。二者之間的弔詭關係正說明了白先勇的欲望敘事建基於主體與客體的永遠無法交融，只能是一波推向一波的欲望徵逐，一個永無止盡及無償的循環。這欲望的徵逐循環在白先勇不但是個主題，更是促生整個敘事活動的原動力。它不但決定了敘事發展的模式，也啟動了每次書寫的開端。本文透過對「食」這個議題的討論分析，試圖在白先勇三十多年來寄寓著多重懷抱的作品中找出一些連繫的環節，並以之辨識其流動的發展軌跡。另一方面，本文也想透過一種不同的閱讀方式，重新思考過去有關白先勇的評論中，諸如文化鄉愁、現代主義、同性戀等等一些最受關注的課題，在文化研究盛行的今天，提出一個新的詮釋可能。

Food has such a conspicuous presence throughout Pai Hsien-yung’s oeuvre that it constitutes an integral part of the signifying system of his narration. This article examines the rituality of eating and consumption, in particular, the exchangeability of the overlapping hunger and gluttony in Pai Hsien-yung’s world, to reflect on the relationship between eating and speaking in his narrative discourse. It is argued that the interplay of lack and excess in Pai Hsien-yung results in a metonymical narrative of desire in which relations of the subject and the object can never be reciprocal and thus are destined to be reenacted in an endlessly renewable cycle of appetite and anxiety in the storytelling process. Food is a site that enables Bai to explore and develop his various but thematically connected topics. Focusing on Bai’s alimentary obsession, this article traces the development of his writing career in the last three decades and attempts a new approach to some of the most studied aspects of his fiction such as cultural nostalgia, modernism, and homoeroticism.