The Gastronomical Me

no one could have turned the culinary world into literature. she shames these narrow consumer-oriented marketeers like martha stewart. this is an artist and craftswoman at her best.

Do the former critics not read Tolstoy because he was a Count? I was born into a working class neighborhood in New York, and this is one of my favorite books. Being a gourmand is an enlightened point of view, a matter of personal taste. In my opinion this is Ms. Fisher's very best book. The writing, and the personality, are exquisite. Especially in the chapter about her Father and a childhood journey, and the discovery of her crush on a fellow boarding school student (female) and her love of oysters, at the same time! Am I the only one who feels that I've shared all of those wonderful meals with her when I put down this book? Great to pack along when you are traveling, even if you've read it before!

For anyone who lives tactitilly, and for those who enjoy the taste and aroma of white truffles, as well as the ferrous flavor of blood after a good fist fight, MFK Fisher is a catalyst, who not only shares her experience of food and companionship, but triggers ones own memories , good or otherwise, of family, friends and important events. After reading "The Gastronomical Me", I appreciate the memories of youth and the fiestas on Guam, goat cheese and Rioja wine shared with a lover, and "suffering a wound with the pleasure of a scar."

M.F.K. Fisher writes with elegant economy about food, and her style, which tends toward the vignette, is savory and inspriring as her subject. Set in short chapters and taking place mostly in France, her tales in The Gastronomical Me use the occasion of mealtime to explore what food serves, which is to say life or, rather, friendship, love, community, and the moments that define and nourish each. The Gastronomical Me concludes with a particularly striking and poignant moment from one of Fisher's trips to Mexico, in which a meal figures prominently in a touching romance that fails. Read this memoir because it is delectable, a bittersweet reminder that we all have gastronomical adventures and that however delicious the food, it is the company we share it with and the emotion it evokes that most powerfully endures.