The Man Who Ate Too Much

The Man Who Ate Too Much by John Birdsall


ISBN
9781324020240
Published
Binding
Paperback
Pages
480

In the first portrait of James Beard in twenty-five years, John Birdsall accomplishes what no prior telling of Beard's life and work has done: He looks beyond the public image of the "Dean of American Cookery" to give voice to the gourmet's complex, queer life and, in the process, illuminates the history of American food in the twentieth century. At a time when stuffy French restaurants and soulless Continental cuisine prevailed, Beard invented something strange and new: the notion of an American cuisine.
Informed by previously overlooked correspondence, years of archival research, and a close reading of everything Beard wrote, this majestic biography traces the emergence of personality in American food while reckoning with the outwardly gregarious Beard's own need for love and connection, arguing that Beard turned an unapologetic pursuit of pleasure into a new model for food authors and experts.
Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1903, Beard would journey from the pristine Pacific Coast to New York's Greenwich Village by way of gay undergrounds in London and Paris of the 1920s. The failed actor?turned?Manhattan canapé hawker?turned?author and cooking teacher was the jovial bachelor uncle presiding over America's kitchens for nearly four decades. In the 1940s he hosted one of the first television cooking shows, and by flouting the rules of publishing would end up crafting some of the most expressive cookbooks of the twentieth century, with recipes and stories that laid the groundwork for how we cook and eat today.
In stirring, novelistic detail, The Man Who Ate Too Much brings to life a towering figure, a man who still represents the best in eating and yet has never been fully understood-until now. This is biography of the highest order, a book about the rise of America's food written by the celebrated writer who fills in Beard's life with the color and meaning earlier generations were afraid to examine.
Mothers Day Catalogue 2024 x Book Frenzy
26.36
RRP: $32.95
20% off RRP


This product is unable to be ordered online. Please check in-store availability.
Instore Price: $32.95
Enter your Postcode or Suburb to view availability and delivery times.

Other Titles by John Birdsall

The Man Who Ate Too Much
57.95
46.36
20% Off

You might also like

Three Women
22.99
18.39
20% Off
Strife
22.99
17.99
22% Off
Strap Yourself In
34.99
27.99
20% Off
In Bad Faith
34.99
27.99
20% Off
The Trauma Cleaner
24.99
19.99
20% Off
Work Strife Balance
34.99
12.99
63% Off
Hanging By a Thread
34.99
27.99
20% Off
The Wisdom Of Morrie
32.99
26.39
20% Off
Breath
32.99
26.39
20% Off
A Thousand Wasted Sundays
34.99
27.99
20% Off
Mine is the Kingdom
34.99
27.99
20% Off
Zero Risk
34.99
27.99
20% Off
Teacher
34.99
27.99
20% Off
Model Minority Gone Rogue
34.99
27.99
20% Off
Class
32.99
26.39
20% Off
The Fruit Cure
34.99
27.99
20% Off
The Half of It
29.99
23.99
20% Off
Her Sunburnt Country
by Deborah FitzGerald
55.00
44.00
20% Off

RRP refers to the Recommended Retail Price as set out by the original publisher at time of release.
The RRP set by overseas publishers may vary to those set by local publishers due to exchange rates and shipping costs.
Due to our competitive pricing, we may have not sold all products at their original RRP.