Home › Books › The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard
The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard
by
76/99
Critics' Rating Index
10/99
Readers' Rating Index
n/a
Scholars' Citation Index
96/99
Volume of Reviews
52/99
Volume of Reader Ratings
Sign in to add to your shelf, rate, or review this book.
About This Book
After World War II, a newly affluent United States reached for its own gourmet culture, one at ease with the French international style of Escoffier, but also distinctly American. Enter James Beard, authority on cooking and eating, his larger-than-life presence and collection of whimsical bow ties synonymous with the nation's food for decades, even after his death in 1985. In the first biography of Beard in twenty-five years, acclaimed writer John Birdsall argues that Beard's struggles as a closeted gay man directly influenced his creation of an American cuisine. Starting in the 1920s, Beard escaped loneliness and banishment by traveling abroad to places where people ate for pleasure, not utility, and found acceptance at home by crafting an American ethos of food likewise built on passion and delight. Informed by never-before-tapped correspondence and lush with details of a golden age of home cooking, The Man Who Ate Too Much is a commanding portrait of a towering figure who still represents the best in food.
Reviews
"Although he was good at delegating, he often felt burned out, depressed, and lonely."
"Birdsall has a good story to tell, and tells it well, but he is one of those authors who would amuse others more if he amused himself a little less ..."
"Food lovers will rejoice at this new portrait of one of America's all-time culinary greats, cheering for Beard's shining legacy and empathizing with his disappointments."
"How lucky we are to have John Birdsall, a former professional cook and restaurant critic who writes broadly and deeply about food—which is to say, about culture, politics and what it means to be human."
"Over the course of several juicy chapters, Birdsall traces Beard's ascent into the elite of New York's food-obsessed ..."
"Birdsall gives the reader an intimate view of gay life in America between 1950 and 1980."
"The Man Who Ate Too Much is more than a story of one man's existence; it is a portrait of 20th-century gay life and aesthetics ..."
"These aspects of Beard's story—both his sins and his suffering—relate directly to many of the problems plaguing today's food culture, in which debates over authority, identity, and appropriation had long been suppressed ..."
"Birdsall has done his research with enviable skill ..."
"The author of the groundbreaking article, 'America, Your Food Is So Gay,' turns a sharp but sympathetic eye on the carefully closeted food writer who celebrated the glories of homegrown ingredients and down-home cooking decades before they were fashionable ..."
Preview
Reader Reviews
0 reviewsSign in to write a review.
No reader reviews yet. Be the first!