Friday, March 1, 2013

Feasting Around the World


A Moveable Feast: Life-Changing Food Adventures Around the World –Don George, editor

Travel/Food Literature
297 pages / 313 KB
Footnotes/Endnotes: No
Illustrations: No
Suitable for eReaders: Yes
5 Stars

I hesitated to buy this book because there are so many 3 and 4 Star reviews on Amazon. Actually, when I bought it, there were six 5 Star reviews and six of the other two. I'm delighted I overcame my hesitation.

This book is a collection of short essays by chefs, travel writers, and writers. Each essay tells a story of how the author was deeply touched and or learned something from a single food or food experience they met along their journey.

Some of the essays are written by well-known chefs from television, most were by people I was only vaguely aware of, not reading the magazines they write for. All were excellently written.

Two of my favorite (and it's really hard to pick a single favorite) take place in Italy. One is about a glass of fresh orange juice in Venice, the other a wedding feast in Sardinia. How could one read, and not laugh out loud, off the gentleman who fixed freeze dried scrambled eggs for his host, and no one could eat them. Another favorite takes place in a small village in Thailand.

Not only did I enjoy this book, it inspired me to dip my toe back in the Essay pool. I had forgotten how enjoyable short essays are. (I love the longer essays of John McPhee, especially his essay "Oranges.") For the arm-chair traveller, for the kitchen-challenged cook, get and read A Moveable Feast. It's a fun and delightful book.

Thank you, Don George, for putting this together.

2 comments:

  1. Here's a book review--totally unrelated to Lenora's LOL
    A Picture *is* Worth a Thousand Words

    Proof of the adage is in the comparison between F.G. Haghenbeck’s 2012 novel “The Secret Book of Frida Kahlo” and art historian Frank Miler’s coffee-table book “Frida Kahlo” with 80 confessional paintings—the latter winning the day.
    I was probably only 1/3rd through the library-borrowed novel when I felt compelled to turn to my own copy of Kahlo’s 80 paintings to SEE what the novelist had been trying to describe. His words could hardly do justice to her brushstrokes, colors, and images.

    It took only a quick browse of Kahlo’s personal art for me to come to the conclusion that I don’t need to return to the novel.
    If you’re a word person, turn (as I do frequently) to another book, “The Diary of Frida Kahlo: an Intimate Portrait.” This illustrated journal includes her thoughts, poems, & dreams during the years 1944-54.

    Don’t speak Spanish, you say? Not to worry, there’s a full translation, plus commentaries, in the latter third of the book. OK, so tis a bit of a drag to keep flipping between full page diary entries to the back section for translation, but the revelations are well worth the effort.
    Skip the novel, borrow a picture book. http://www.fridakahlofans.com/

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  2. The above comment was meant to be a Guest Review, and I have since placed it as a main book.

    Thanks, Judith.

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