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The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with recipes)

The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with recipes)

by Kate Lebo

Farrar, Straus and Giroux ·2021 ·416 pages ·Essays
Near the Top
Near the Top
I Index
50/99
Near the Top

64/99

Critics

Maybe Someday

36/99

Readers

n/a

Scholars

77/99

Rating

52/99

Volume

23/99

Rating

48/99

Volume

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About This Book

Inspired by twenty-six fruits, essayist, poet, and pie lady Kate Lebo expertly blends natural, culinary, medical, and personal history. A is for Aronia, berry member of the apple family, clothes-stainer, superfruit with reputed healing power. D is for Durian, endowed with a dramatic rind and a shifty odor--peaches, old garlic In this work of unique invention, these and other difficult fruits serve as the central ingredients of twenty-six lyrical essays (and recipes!) that range from deeply personal to botanical, from culinary to medical, from humorous to philosophical. The entries are associative, often poetic, taking unexpected turns and giving sideways insights into life, relationships, self-care, modern medicine, and more. What if the primary way you show love is to bake, but your partner suffers from celiac disease? Why leave in the pits for Willa Cather's Plum Jam? How can we rely on bodies as fragile as the fruits that nourish them? Includes black and white illustrations


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Reviews

"brimming with obscure knowledge that's going to loom over every gin martini I drink for the next decade, and there are fantastic recipes too ..."

Alex Beggs· The New York Times Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"She also discusses such delightfully unexpected home and self-care items as paper and cloth dye, lip balm, skin care masks, and even hiker's toilet paper (thimbleberry leaves)."

Kirkus Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"[a] sensationally chaotic compendium ..."

Publishers Weekly Read review ↗ Top of the Pile

"Lebo undertakes an intriguing creative exercise in this wonder-filled book ..."

Annie Bostrom· Booklist Read review ↗ Near the Top

"Perhaps the most moving chapters are where Lebo turns inward, focusing on her hopes and dreams and how reflecting on the tastes and textures of various fruits has inspired her to write ..."

Meagan Storey· Library Journal Read review ↗ Near the Top

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