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Jan
12
Ruth Reichl and the Joys of Reading, Eating, and Reading About Eating
2012 at 5am Posted by Rebecca Joines Schinsky
One of the great pleasures of working in the book industry has been discovering how many book people are also food people. I’ve eaten some of the best meals of my life with fellow bibliophiles who love food almost (or even equally) as much as they love books. So it came as a total surprise to me when I realized, while perusing the shelves of the Blue Bicycle Books on a trip to Charleston, SC last week, that–cookbooks aside–I had never read a book about a food. This troubled me so much that I made charts for you! (Pie charts, natch.)
Before the trip, my reading-and-eating life looked like this:
Charleston is an incredible town for eating, and I didn’t plan to do much reading on the trip, but when I spied a copy of Ruth Reichl’s Tender at the Bone, I just couldn’t say no. I mean, I must have been high when I packed two longish novels for a trip whose itinerary was basically eat, walk, shop, walk, eat, nap, eat, walk, eat. (Or maybe I was too busy fantasizing about Husk’s pork fat-infused butter, so good it made my pal Emily declare that Jesus himself must have been out back churning it.) But essays? About food? Perfection. And now my graph looks like this!
Hooray for the tiny purple sliver!
In Tender at the Bone, Reichl recounts her childhood in New York, with a mother who would eat literally anything (spoiled or not!) and a father who was too absorbed in his work (as a book designer! *swoon*) to notice. Her mother’s dinner parties were known far and wide for the, uh, creative (and frequently dangerous) fare, and early on, Reichl took it as her duty to warn her favorite guests away from the worst dishes. Not a very promising beginning for a cook, but luckily, her encounters with food didn’t end with her mother, and there were family friends and cooks who willingly shared their culinary tricks with her even when she was quite young. Reichl’s chronologically organized essays create a charming narrative that takes her from New York to boarding school in Canada, to graduate school in the midwest, and eventually to California, where lived in what was essentially a commune while working at a local cooperatively run restaurant.
There’s a lot to enjoy and appreciate about Tender at the Bone simply as a memoir–Reichl’s life is fascinating, and her confession that some of the details are fudged makes her all the more likeable–but as a meditation on what food can mean in our lives, it is terrific. As in, not to be missed. And there are recipes!
This book was something of a revelation for me. For as long as I’ve understood that reading is how I make sense of the world, I’ve understood that other people use other art forms to do the same. I’ve known people who made sense of the world through music, painting, dance, poetry. For some reason, though I’ve always considered good food to be a kind of art, I never thought of food as the same kind of conduit. (This despite the fact that I spent every evening of my own childhood perched on a stool in my parents’ kitchen and have grown to love cooking as an adult.) When Reichl stated clearly that cooking and eating were her ways of making sense of the world, something clicked, and I was officially in love with her and with the idea of a food memoir in general.
And that’s where you come in! I have Anthony Bourdain’s multiple memoirs already on the TBR list, and I’m planning to read Reichl’s later books, but I want more. Please, tell me about your favorite food memoirs and help me end 2012 with a graph that looks more like this:
And if you’re headed to Charleston, I’d be happy to talk your ear off about the adventures in food I had there.
Related posts:
I too love Ruth Reichl’s books! Especially Garlic and Sapphires. And Anthony Bourdain’s stuff is great – the audio books are fantastic because he reads them himself.
But hands-down my favorite food essay book is My Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg. She’s Molly of Orangette and the book is just a continuation of her lovely writing and brilliant recipes from the blog. Hello French-style Yogurt Cake! Plus she actually met her husband via food blogging, and that’s a sweet story that’s all in the book.
Jessica @ Quirky Bookworm´s last [type] ..Review: Haiti: After the Earthquake
I haven’t read anything by Ruth Reichl (yet!), but Anthony Bourdain’s memoirs are very fun! And he narrates the audio versions, so there’s that plus, too, if you have some time for an audiobook. Have you considered Julia Child’s My Life in France?
And of course, for quirkier fare, I’ve had my eye on this collection from Penguin ever since it was first announced, partially for the subject and partially because I have a soft spot for any book designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith: http://www.cb-smith.com/index.php?/nonfic/great-food/
Kerry M´s last [type] ..#IndieThursday: Spotlight on The Annapolis Bookstore
Ditto on A Homemade Life. I listened to the audio version, and although Molly doesn’t narrate it herself, it’s still great. I want to buy it in print, so I can have all the great recipes she talks about. I also loved My Life in France by Julia Child; Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver; and Living in a Foreign Langague by Michael Tucker.
I have the following two sitting on my bookshelf to be read: The School of Essential Ingredients by Erica Bauermeister; and Blood, Bones, and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton.
You’ll LOVE reading about food!
I’m going to second two books mentioned above: Reichl’s Garlic and Sapphires is amazing, as is Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.
Now for some other books:
Former Vogue editor Julia Reed has written several (lighter) books on food and eating in the south, including The House on First Street (actually about her house in New Orleans and Katrina, but also about New Orleans eating) and Ham Biscuits and Hostess Gowns.
Julie Powell’s second foodie memoir Cleaving is interesting in its facts about meat around the world.
Elizabeth Bard’s Lunch in Paris was fantastic. Perhaps my favorite foodie memoir of all is Kim Sunee’s Trail of Crumbs. In the theme of Americans fleeing to more food-centric locales, Phil Doran’s The Reluctant Tuscan was also a good read. Judith Jones’ The Tenth Muse: My Life in Food is also excellent.
Since you decided in 2011 that Pat Conroy was worth reading, you also might enjoy The Pat Conroy Cookbook. Although it is a cookbook, what makes it most interesting is Conroy’s writing intertwined with the recipes.
For novels with a definite foodie twist, see Michael Lee West’s body of work. She also wrote a memoir, Consuming Passions, that details her lifelong love of food and the family that made that happen.
If you can’t tell, I’m am a total foodie writing junkie! Welcome to this fantastic genre.
Joanna´s last [type] ..January Wedding
More votes from A Homemade Life (SO good!) and Blood, Bones, and Butter. The Sweet Life in Paris by David Lebovitz is also delightful. And I’ve been hearing lately that M.K. Fisher is one of the “masters” of food writing — her books are in my TBR pile!
So glad you’re getting into this! One of my favourite genres that I feel is sadly under-appreciated.
You’ve hit on one of my favorite genres. At the top of my list Is Home Cooking by Laurie Colwin (also one of my favorite fiction writers); this collection of essays and recipes is moving, funny and never precious. Here are more food memoir faves: The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin; Under the Mango Trees by Madhur Jaffrey; Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser; The Tenth Muse by Judith Jones (after you’ve read My Life in France); Heat by Bill Buford; Apricots on the Nile by Colette Rossant; and The Best Food Writing collections edited by Holly Hughes are always fun.
The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin. Hands down my favorite. And here’s a special Fountain Foodie Favorites page of links for you along with my personal comments. http://www.fountainbookstore.com/fountain-foodie-favorites
Hoooray! I’ll take one of each.
One thing I like about food books is how they intersect with so many other things–travel, history, social questions… Food is, after all, universal. A few favorites:
Day of Honey: A Memoir of Food, Love, and War by Annia Ciezadlo
Farm City: The Education of an Urban Farmer by Novella Carpenter
The Apprentice: My Life in the Kitchen by Jacques Pepin
The Language of Baklava by Diana Abu-Jaber
Anything by M.F.K. Fisher
A special favorite is Blue Trout and Black Truffles by Joseph Wechsberg–he was a superb writer who emigrated from Czechoslovakia before WWII. Already in his 30s, I think, he didn’t speak English. But within a couple of years he was writing for the New Yorker and Gourmet. Blue Trout is his memoir of growing up in Czechoslovakia between the wars–completely takes you to a world that’s largely lost.
Giovanna´s last [type] ..Food Sake Tokyo
Most of the comments above are in line with the suggestions I would offer. I found M.F.K. Fisher later in the game of my culinary play after reading Reichl, Bourdain, Julie Powell, Molly Wizenberg, and Erica Bauermeister. Gabrielle Hamilton’s “Blood, Bones, and Butter” — was my favorite of 2011.
Because so many of the current “greats” reference Judith Jones, Marion Cunningham, James Beard, Alice Waters, and M.F.K Fisher … I kind of wish I would have started with their books as a foundation first. Anthologies have been helpful in discovering some of their writings if you don’t want to commit to the books. Gourmet has some great anthologies that I would start with. Another great book that gives you broad background on some of the food founders is Kim Severson’s book “Spoon Fed.”
There’s a new biography on M.F.K Fisher that just came out in 2011, that is on my “to-read list” called “An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M.F.K Fisher.” Also on my current list is Jason Epstein’s “Eating.”
Two that I would NOT endorse: “Heat” by Bill Buford (zzzzzzzzz) and Frank Bruni’s “Born Round.” Perhaps I prefer female authors? : )
Welcome to the amazing world of culinary reading! Good luck in your discovery! Once I fell down the rabbit hole, I was never the same.
Lots of great suggestions — I just put a whole bundle of requests in at the library!
While you doing newspaper columnists, I liked Born Round by Frank Bruni.
Joy Weese Moll´s last [type] ..Wondrous Words Wednesday
Ooooh, I might have to check this one out! I love foodie memoirs! My favorites are “My Life in France” (Julia Child), “The Art of Eating” (M.F.K. Fisher), and “The Sweet Life in Paris” (David Lebovitz). Any of Peter Mayle’s Provence books also include plenty of food chat too. Darnit, now I’m hungry.
Jaclyn´s last [type] ..Creamsicle Smoothie
Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris by A. J. Liebling
Savor every bite.
Marion Roach Smith´s last [type] ..A Modest Addiction: A Radio Essay
This is absolutely a genre gap in my own reading as well. I read Bourdain’s Kitchen Confidential and loved it, but since then, I haven’t explored. But I really love food and cooking, so it’s kind of surprising I haven’t read more. I did just get a recommendation as well for Blood, Bones and Butter so I will likely start there.
Also, we seriously need to chat about Charleston. I LOVE it there. Please tell me you had fried green tomatoes, preferably at Hyman’s on Meeting St.!! I go every time I’m in town
Rachel´s last [type] ..Looking back at 2011… and ahead to 2012
No fried green tomatoes on this trip because I’d just had them a week prior in Raleigh, but SO MUCH fried food. If you haven’t been to Husk, it’s a MUST on the next trip. Book Riot roadtrip?
Food memoirs are quite delicious, indeed. I heartily endorse many of the titles mentioned above: everything by Ruth Reichl, Julia Child’s My Life in France, Molly Wizenberg’s A Homemade Life, Laurie Colwin’s Home Cooking. I’d also add Molly O’Neill’s Mostly True, Kathleen Flinn’s The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, and Eat, Memory: Great Writers at the Table, edited by Amanda Hesser (author of the wonderful Cooking for Mr. Latte).
mep´s last [type] ..RWOP: Do you need anybody?
You are talking my language here! I love everybody’s suggestions…
Favorite food memoirs:
Anything written by MFK Fisher
Garlic and Sapphires – Ruth Reichl
Language of Baklava — Diana Abu Jaber (who also has written Crescent, which I would consider food fiction)
Under The Tuscan Sun – Frances Mayes
Food fiction:
Chocolat – Joanne Harris
Food of Love – Anthony Capella
Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake — Aimee Bender
Like Water for Chocolate – Laura Esquivel
The School of Essential Ingredients (ok, that’s mine, but I have to include it)
Not about food but it really is:
A Natural History of the Senses – Diane Ackerman