From Publishers Weekly
Tin House magazine contributor Wildgen collects essays on apples and odes to martinis. In the provocatively titled "Up Your Goose with a Boneless Duck," Chris Offutt describes an unusual dish he wanted to prepare for "a grand autumn feast" in Missoula, Mont. In "The End of Laughter," Lan Samantha Chang recalls meals with an unnamed friend: "We ate for love, for sympathy and fun. We ate out of confusion and emptiness and lust. We ate our meals in public and kept our true hungers a secret." Essays are supplemented with recipes for, among others, Steve's Ultimate Maple Crunch Chicken Salad, Eggs with Mushrooms and Truffles, Khoresht Bademjan and Oxtail Soup with Porcini Mushrooms. Not all selections work as well. "Dinner with the Borgias: Power, Politics, Passion, Provender, and Poison in the Italian Renaissance," by Lisa Grossman, proves less than satisfying, and Mark Statman's "Mezcal" fails to gel. However, the bulk of the collection is a gourmand-worthy spread.
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Review
"These essays are pure fun, pure joy, every last honey-colored, 80-proof, diet-be-damned one of them." -Debbie Vankin, The Los Angeles Times "Foodies who like to read have had an abundant year: They've been able to sink their teeth into the likes of David Kamp's The United States of Arugula, Julia Child's My Life in France and, of course, Bill Buford's Heat. Those books are great at capturing food trends and superchefs, but they don't have the personal touch or accessibility of Food & Booze, a collection of 25 pieces harvested from the literary journal Tin House, in which a group of mostly superb authors reflect on the pleasures of cooking, drinking and sitting down to eat." -Kelly McMasters, Time Out New York "This strange, dark, proudly literate collection is a triumph of unapologetic debauchery-after so much prudish, hothouse food writing, Food & Booze is as refreshing as an ice-cold Tin House Martini." -Julie Powell, author of Julie & Julia "I opened this neat little volume intending to read about solid, square meals, but then I found myself getting blitzed on absinthe cocktails in Portugal with Elissa Schappell, downing shots of mezcal in a Oaxacan cantina with Mark Statman, and cruising around in Sara Roahen's family car sipping huge travel mugs of brandy and 7-Up (what are these people thinking?). So I can only tell you that the booze half of the book is a blast. And now I'd like to lie down for a while, if you don't mind." -Pete Wells, Food & Wine columnist and winner of five James Beard Awards for writing on food and drink
About the Author
Michelle Wildgen is the author of the novel You’re Not You (St. Martin’s/Dunne). She is a senior editor at Tin House magazine, where she edits the Readable Feast and Blithe Spirits departments, and an editor at Tin House Books. Her writing has appeared in Best New American Voices 2004, Best Food Writing 2004, the anthology Death by Pad Thai, the journals StoryQuarterly, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, Small Spiral Notebook, and elsewhere.
