Women Who Eat: A New Generation on the Glory of Food

This is one of the better food anthologies I have read. The quality of writing here is so consistently good that I suspect the hand of an especially competent editor is involved.Among my favorite essays in this collection are Pooja Makhijani's School Lunch, in which a girl is embarrassed that her lunch box contains weird food, until a new girl comes to class. Also Camille Cusumano's Big Night, about a meal in Sicily that seems at first like heaven, until it turns aout to be quite the opposite. Rachel Fudge's remembrances of her parents' cocktail hour contrasts nicely with Christina Henry de Tessan's memories of family dinners in Paris.One essay even made me cringe, the repulsive After Birth by Alisa Gordaneer. Powerful stuff.

Good for you! I am a big fan of anthologies, and this is one of the best put out by Seal Press. I particularly loved Amanda Sullivan's "My Mother's Kitchen," which so poingnantly caputures the part food can play in critical relationships. Screamingly funny with just the right touch of gross was Ayun Halliday's ode to working in a dive of an Italian place. Good work, Editor Miller. I'm off for a snack...

Kate Sekules is a smart, delightful writer. I've been reading her for years in Food & Wine, so it's no surprise that her piece in this collection is wise and witty. And Amanda Hesser has been making food fun in the New York Times. Any book that contains the epicurean sagacity of these two women is sure to be good.