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The Art of Eating: 50th Anniversary Edition Kindle Edition
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This comprehensive volume of essays on culinary and other pleasures of life comes from the legendary and widely traveled writer “whose artful personal essays about food created a genre” (The New York Times) and who writes “practically, often profoundly, and always beautifully” (San Francisco Chronicle). Spanning from the autobiographical to the historical, it compiles her works Serve It Forth; Consider the Oyster; How to Cook a Wolf; The Gastronomical Me; and An Alphabet for Gourmets.
“How wonderful to have here in my hands the essence of M.F.K. Fisher, whose wit and fulsome opinions on food and those who produce it, comment upon it, and consume it are as apt today as they were several decades ago, when she composed them. Why did she choose food and hunger she was asked, and she replied, ‘When I write about hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth, and the love of it…and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied.’ This is the stuff we need to hear, and to hear again and again.”—Julia Child
“Mary Frances [Fisher] has the extraordinary ability to make the ordinary seem rich and wonderful. Her dignity comes from her absolute insistence on appreciating life as it comes to her.”—Ruth Reichl
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherHoughton Mifflin Harcourt
- Publication dateMay 6, 2014
- File size4887 KB
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"Actress/producer Diane Baker's reading of gastronomical advice from the pen of Fisher lends to an evocative, absorbing production describing feasts, culinary experiences, and the fine art of gourmet pleasures. Selections from numerous Fisher works offer a unified and smooth commentary on the finer points of food appreciation." -- The Bookwatch, January 1992
"She writes about fleeting tastes and feasts vividly, excitingly, sensuously, exquisitely." -- James Beard
"These 13 excerpts from four of her books might well have been called not The Art of Eating, but The Art of Living, so broad ranging are their themes. They make up a delightful Fisher sampler that should win converts among the uninitiated and inspire approval among fans. Actress Diane Baker's clear and well-paced presentation rings with unmistakable enthusiasm, and adding to the pleasure of this book is the attractive cover painting. A treat!" -- H.W. Coonley, Kliatt, January 1992
"Fisher is a thoughtful and skilled wordsmith and for those with fancy food on their minds, it is likely three hours well spent." -- Rick Teverbaugh, Andersonville Herald-Bulletin, February 9, 1992
From the Inside Flap
SERVE IT FORTH
"The Standing and the Waiting"
"We talked, and well, and all the dinner was most excellent, and the wine was like music on our tongues. Time was forgotten. . . . We watched as in a blissful dream the small fat hands moving like magic among bottles and small bowls and spoons and plates, stirring, pouring, turning the pan over the flame just so, just so, with the face bent keen and intent above."
CONSIDER THE OYSTER
"The Well-Dressed Oyster"
"There are three kinds of oyster-eaters: those loose-minded sports who will eat anything, hot, cold, thin, thick, dead or alive, as long as it is oyster; those who will eat them raw and only raw; and those who with equal severity will eat them cooked and no way other. . . . The first group may perhaps have the most fun, although there is a white fire about the others' bigotry that can never warm the broad-minded."
HOW TO COOK A WOLF
"How to Boil Water"
"Probably the most satisfying soup in the world for people who are hungry, as well as for those who are tired or worried or cross or in debt or in a moderate amount of pain or in love or in robust health or in any kind of business huggermuggery, is minestrone. . . . It is a thick unsophisticated soup, heart-warming and soul-staying, full of aromatic vegetables and well bound at the last with good cheese."
THE GASTRONOMICAL ME
"The Measure of My Powers" (1919-1927)
"The first thing I cooked was pure poison. I made it for Mother, after my little brother David was born, and within twenty minutes of the first swallow she was covered with great itching red welts. . . . The pudding was safe enough: a little round white shuddering milky thing I had made that morning. . . . I ran into the back yard and picked ten soft ripe blackberries. I blew off the alley-dust, and placed them gently in a perfect circle around the little pudding. Its cool perfection leaped into sudden prettiness. . . . Mother smiled at my shocked anxious confusion, and said, 'Don't worry, sweet . . . it was the loveliest pudding I have ever seen.' I agreed with her in spite of the despair."
AN ALPHABET FOR GOURMETS
"G Is for Gluttony"
"I cannot believe that there exists a single coherent human being who will not confess, at least to himself, that once or twice he has stuffed himself to the bursting point, on anything from quail financière to flapjacks, for no other reason than the beastlike satisfaction of his belly."
From the Back Cover
"Mary Frances [Fisher] has the extraordinary ability to make the ordinary seem rich and wonderful. Her dignity comes from her absolute insistence on appreciating life as it comes to her."
JULIA CHILD
"How wonderful to have here in my hands the essence of M.F.K. Fisher, whose wit and fulsome opinions on food and those who produce it, comment upon it, and consume it are as apt today as they were several decades ago, when she composed them. Why did she choose food and hunger she was asked, and she replied, 'When I write about hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth, and the love of it . . . and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied.' This is the stuff we need to hear, and to hear again and again."
ALCIE WATERS
"This comprehensive volume should be required reading for every cook. It defines in a sensual and beautiful way the vital relationship between food and culture."
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B00K4JW2T4
- Publisher : Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 50th Anniversary Edition (May 6, 2014)
- Publication date : May 6, 2014
- Language : English
- File size : 4887 KB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
- Print length : 1060 pages
- Best Sellers Rank: #218,852 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #73 in Gastronomy Essays (Kindle Store)
- #77 in Gastronomy History (Kindle Store)
- #204 in Courses & Dishes
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Although Ms. Fisher parses details (a bit provocative for her time) of her private life (her biographies fill in the blanks), there's more than enough included to snag those readers who would be interested in how people responded to war and financial downturns in the first half of the 20th century versus our actions and attitudes today. This isn't a collection of cookbooks but it is a collection of books written about deriving some enjoyment of food and eating during a time when many ordinary people viewed eating a solely utilitarian action and aside from an occasional festive meal, one that required little attention beyond avoiding food poisoning. Each book has its own distinct flavor and character. One of my favorites is a vignette describing the solitary pleasure of preparing and eating a tangerine. I still remember my delight reading that someone else loved the results of the same method I'd used since childhood.
There're quite a few mentions of food, manners and technology that date the books but this, for me, is one of the reasons I enjoy reading and re-reading Mrs. Fisher's work. This is like listening to an elder who has lived such a full life we'll keep begging for more stories even after there are no more left to hear.
I find now that it is satisfying to pick it up from the coffee table after dinner and take in parts of each book for awhile. And lord knows, we all love the subject matter, food, eating, preparations, celebrations, and the families who do it well- or not very well. It's our human nature.