The Art of Eating
by M. F. K. Fisher
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Book Summary Information
Author: M. F. K. FisherEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1990-05-09
ISBN: 0020322208
Number of pages: 768
Publisher: Wiley
Book Reviews of The Art of Eating
Book Review: Delicious, with a Wee Aftertaste
Summary: 4 Stars
Even in paperback this is a thick and heavy book, which is a compilation of several of MKF Fisher's individual works offering different aspects of her thoughts on food in terms of origin, recipes, culinary preparation, and history. In addition, it divulges her own observations on the whole dining experience that we as humans go through in terms of customs, etiquette, ambience, socializing and so forth. But what makes this book stellar is the eloquent, imaginative, and sometimes even haunting style of Ms. Fisher's writing. She expresses her own thoughts and oftentimes outspoken opinions, mixing them with historical facts, tempting recipes, and home-cooked tales. With such a satisfying horn of plenty within the confines of two book covers, it is easy to understand why she still reigns as the queen of prose inspired by food and dining. I wish I had her ability to master in writing such joi de vivre and enthusiasm for food, eating, and drinking, which after all are such basic elements to our very existence.
The section I enjoyed most of all was "The Gastronomical Me", a biography-cum-travelogue in which she poignantly narrates her experiences by rendering them so lifelike that you can smell the smells and taste the tastes. She includes food episodes of her early years in California while growing up and later attending boarding school; in Dijon, France where the kitchens in restaurants and her apartments beckon you to partake of the offerings; in Switzerland where you visually can grasp the mountains and streams along train-rides she describes through the Alps to Italy; and finally in a small Mexican town, where she surpasses even the writing prowess demonstrated in her previous stories, by telling the most poignant tales.
An interesting sidelight is that this book not only covers food. You gather early on that she is far from a teetotaler since alcoholic drinks and drinking at mealtimes too are frequent topics, from sipping wines and champagnes and glasses of Pernod on ocean liners to mixing water with bourbon, which she keeps in a flask during a long, propeller-driven, airplane flight to Mexico.
The other sections I liked were the beginning (Serve It Forth) and Consider the Oyster. It amazed me that one person could write a whole expose covering around a hundred pages about only the oyster: the various types, methods of preparations, and culinary history. Plus she gives her own personal memories and anecdotes too. You name it, she said it about oysters--recipes included.
I did not care as much for How to Cook a Wolf, as I could not relate to either the off-color humor or to some of the topics she presented. (Sorry, but sweetbreads, halves of calf heads, and brains were not appetizing subjects.) Also, I gave up finishing the book. I started to read "An Alphabet for Gourmets", the last section, but got as far as "D" and couldn't force myself to read through the rest of the alphabet. It seems to me by the time in her life when she wrote this section she had become rather cynical and bitter, to the extent that everything she wrote sounded condescending. This section was such a let-down, a depressant to me after coming off the high of "The Gastronomical Me". Although I exaggerate, she seemed to repeatedly state something to the effect that she preferred to dine alone on crackers and milk rather than face gourmet meals with uncultivated people (with untrained palettes) who were unsavvy as to the proper way food should be eaten in the first place and incapable of appreciating what they shoved in their faces in the second. Anyway, other readers may disagree with me, but this last section lacks the consistency, and more important, the vibrancy and pep of her flowing, off-the-wall style that grows on you in the other sections.
Although I was a little disheartened at the end, her brilliance that shone through in the other sections more than outweighed the few negatives. I can recommend this book to everyone, especially to people who are interested in food as a literary subject in its own right instead of something that we simply cook and eat. Of course, foodies and cooks alike should appreciate it. And though it does have some very good recipes as added bonuses, this should not be considered a cookbook; instead, this book's function is to serve up delicious tidbits for our minds and imaginations to savor and enjoy.
Summary of The Art of Eating
The Art of Eating "...only wise men know the art of eating." ?Brillat-Savarin"There is a communion of more than bodies when bread is broken and wine is drunk. And that is my answer when people ask me, Why do you write about hunger, and not wars or love?" So M. F. K. Fisher begins The Gastronomical Me, one of the five memorable volumes collected together here in The Art of Eating. The five books cover an eclectic array of thoughts, memories, and recipes, from World War I vignettes of frugality at the table to a consideration of the social status of vegetables. Her recipes range from those for all manner of oysters, dressed and undressed, to Cold Buttermilk Soup, and are accompanied by the remarks and observations that provoked W. H. Auden to say, "I do not know of anyone in the United States today who writes better prose." "M. F. K. Fisher evokes the magic that shimmers just beneath the surface of the most commonplace, everyday experiences in prose you can wrap around your soul." ?Richard Sax, Chocolatier
"M. F. K. Fisher is one of the best food writers. She makes you laugh, tells you stories, intrigues your mind, gives you an appetite, takes you on her travels. She is witty, wise, and unpretentious." ?Jane Grigson
"One of the world's finest food writers and, in the eyes of many, the grand dame of gastronomy...M. F. K. Fisher has remained our guiding light, the source of infinite gastronomic and philosophic wisdom, the model of what a truly refined food writer should strive for." ?James Villas, Bon App?tit
A collection of essays by one of America's best known food writers, that are often more autobiographical or historical than anecdotal musings on food preparation and consumption. The book includes culinary advice to World War II housewives plagued by food shortages, portraits of family members and friends (with all their idiosyncrasies) and notes on her studies at the University of Dijon, in France. Through each story she weaves her love of food and passion for cooking, and illustrates that our three basic needs as human beings--love, food and security--are so intermingled that it is difficult to think of one without the others. The book won the 1989 James Beard Cookbook Award.
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