What are you reading these days?

fifi · June 28, 2003

I just finished Near a Thousand Tables by Felipe Fernandez-Armesto. This is one of the best written and most thought provoking books on food history that I have read in a while. The writing is delightful and he has some really different ideas. Every couple of pages could provoke an eGullet debating thread that would run on for pages. (There are, perhaps, some here that shouldn't read this. :laugh: ) One of his theses... The microwave oven threatens society as we know it.

Off topic... I am currently stuck in Nero Wolfe mysteries. (Maybe that isn't exactly off topic.)

edit: fumble fingers

Edited June 28, 2003 by fifi (log)

Xanthippe · June 28, 2003

How to Cook a Tart, Nina Killham (based on a back-of-the-book "endorsement" by no less of an authority than the redoubtable A. Bourdain, who sez of the novel: "How to Cook a Tart is gastro-porn, as if Julia Child and William Burroughs has a bastard child.")

I thought "How to cook a tart" was pretty good, if a little twisted :) (I hope I'm thinking of the right book. It was a while ago) What did you think?

Yep, you're thinking of the right book: the family that dismembers together stays together -- or something like that! :wink:

reverendtmac · June 28, 2003

On-topic - The Supper of the Lamb, Robert Ferrar Capon. He's a little long-winded in spots, but it's worth plugging through the wanking to get to the good stuff. Oh, and the Commander's Palace Cookbook by Ella and one of the other Brennans...

Off - Potter 5, naturally...and Courses for Golf by Geoff Shackleford (Golf course architecture - history and practical application for the player).

hjshorter · June 28, 2003

I just checked Bourdain's new novel out at the library, but haven't started it yet because I had to finish the new Harry Potter. :biggrin:

maggiethecat · June 28, 2003

I recently discovered the myriad joys of Balzac,

Yes! And the joys, as you say. are myriad. Balzac is a completely modern writer.

The last couple of weeks? The Apprentice, Bobby Gold , (yes, I cried) The Death of a Doxy and The Nero Wolfe Cookbook , reasearch for an upcoming piece. Reading Rex Stout is very pleasant research.

fifi · June 28, 2003

I bought The Nero Wolfe Cookbook for my sister for a gift. She is also a Nero wolfe freak. I thought it was kind of fun. I haven't tried any of the recipes, though. (No. I didn't read it before I gave it to her! She loaned it to me later.)

maggiethecat... I hope the piece you are working on is for eGullet!

maggiethecat · June 28, 2003

maggiethecat... I hope the piece you are working on is for eGullet!

Yes, it is! Thank you.

**Dave the Cook** · June 28, 2003

How strange! Though the order is different, this is my reading list for the last two weeks as well!

Finished Bobby Gold last night (didn't cry; possibly -- possibly -- some minor welling); started Death of a Doxy following a respectful interval.

**JAZ** · June 28, 2003

I finished Bobby Gold the day after I purchased it. I was disappointed in it for the first three quarters of the way through, but it ended up being strangely moving and somehow more complex than it should have been, given its brevity.

My latest find (fiction but full of food) was The Book of Salt by Monique Truong. Anyone else read this? It's the story of a fictional Vietnamese cook working in Paris in the 30's for Gertrude Stein and Alice B. -- really wonderful lyrical passages about food,

And I'm currently reading Bacchus and Me by Jay McInerney, who is a surprisingly good wine writer. Really enjoying this one.

(Oh, and I too am reading some Nero Wolfe -- for the first time.)

KNorthrup · June 28, 2003

Just started reading novels again for the first time in months. Usually all I can do to get through the paper plus New Yorker and half a dozen food magazine subscriptions. In the last week or so -- Daughter of Time (Josephine Tey) and The Seville Communion (Arturo Perez-Reverte). Current cookbooks - Taste (Rosengarten) and Zuni. Recommending most often - Lamb (Christopher Moore). Recommend frequently but with very mixed success - A Prayer for the Dying (Stewart O'Nan).

fifi · June 28, 2003

JAZ... If you are reading Nero Wolfe for the first time, try to catch some of the A&E series. They haven't been running them lately but are selling the DVDs and I expect they will be re-running them in the future. They really did a good job of casting (Nero, Archie and Fritz are spot on) and translating the books to the small screen. That series is one of the rare cases where the dramatized rendition has added to my enjoyment of the books.

helenas · June 28, 2003

And I'm currently reading Bacchus and Me by Jay McInerney, who is a surprisingly good wine writer. Really enjoying this one.

He writes a Wine column for "House&Garden": one of the main reasons for me to look forward to this magazine every month.

**JAZ** · June 28, 2003

Recommending most often - Lamb (Christopher Moore).

Oh, yes, Lamb is a truly great book.

"Bacon." (if you've read this, you'll know.)

I like all of Christopher Moore's novels -- even Bloodsucking Fiends, which is a great book, but with a totally lame ending. And you have to love The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, even if it's just for the title, but the book is good too.

And plus, my sister reviewed Lamb on a web site she writes for (a favorable review) and Mr. Moore wrote a very nice note to her thanking her. I like that.

coughy · June 28, 2003

I hate to admit but I am in the middle of the South Beach Diet Book.

NeroW · June 28, 2003

Reading Rex Stout is very pleasant research.

Word :wink:

I'm reading Susan Faludi's "Backlash," and an history book of my roommate's called "735 Baffling Bible Questions Answered."

OK, so not food-related. I'm on vacation.

bloviatrix · June 29, 2003

On topic: The Apprentice by Jacques Pepin
Am eyeing the new paperback of Prague. Has anybody read this?

I read Prague back in the fall. I found it quite good.

For those of you who read Bourdain's Bobby Gold and liked it - you should try Gone Bamboo. It's pretty wacky.

Right now, food-related -- I'm going through the Greens Cookbook. I finally picked it up after years of thinking about it.

Non food - Sunday Jews by Hortense Callisher.

Flocko · June 29, 2003

Just finished "Bobby Gold" and "The Apprentice". Just started rereading "The Raw and The Cooked", by Jim Harrison.................love everything he's written, fiction and non fiction.

Flocko

KateW · July 1, 2003

Went to a bookstore the other day just looking for something to pick up. I was browsing one table and ran my finger over the raised texture of a cover with a steak in the shape of a gun. Neat, I thought. Then I looked at the title. "Hey, it's bourdain's new book!" I exclaimed.

I bought it, but I haven't started it yet.

guajolote · July 1, 2003

And I'm currently reading Bacchus and Me by Jay McInerney, who is a surprisingly good wine writer. Really enjoying this one.

I really liked this one too. I don't generally like his fiction so it was a nice surprise.

I have the same problems with roses that he has.

NeroW · July 1, 2003

I'm glad to see so many reading Nero Wolfe novels.

Have laid aside "Backlash" and left the Bible book in Chicago.

In serious vacation mode now, I am reading Ludlum's "The Bourne Identity," and today while stretching out in the sun with a V&O, I shall start James Beard's "Theory and Practice of Good Cooking."

fresco · July 1, 2003

Has anyone read the massive (two-volume) biography of Rex Stout that came out some time ago? It is a little more exhaustive than is strictly necessary, but does provide some insights into the inspirations for Archie, Nero Wolfe, etc. and explains how Stout turned to detective fiction only when forced to write stuff with popular appeal out of economic necessity.

Sure makes you glad that he hit that rough patch.

Rhea_S · July 1, 2003

I'm glad to see so many reading Nero Wolfe novels.

Your nickname is inspiring. I just remembered that I have to go to the used bookstore today at lunch because I spotted a Nero Wolfe novel on sale for $1. Not in the best shape, but all the pages are there.

On-topic: Herbfarm Cookbook, A Real American Breakfast

Off-topic: Potter 5 (last week), Mapp and Lucia, So Big. I've been exploring the older section of the local library.

Chad · July 1, 2003

Just finished Pepin's The Apprentice and The DaVinci Code. Currenty re-reading Wolke's What Einstein Told His Cook, The Fourth Star, The Nautical Chart - Perez-Reverte, and re-reading Auster's New York Trilogy.

Chad

Edited July 1, 2003 by Chad (log)

Anna N · July 1, 2003

Picked up from the library for vacation read:

How to Read a French Fry - Russ Parsons - Fascinating - hard to put down. I want to rush out and buy the ingredients to try his recipes and learn something about his science!

The Art of Mexican Cooking - Diana Kennedy - haven't started it yet.

The Bread Baker's Apprentice - Peter Reinhart - far more than I ever wanted to know about bread baking and a bit intimidating! Still I might try his pizza crust.

Dessert Circus at Home - Jacques Torres - somewhat disappointing - but I'm not a big dessert person anyway.

Endless Feasts - Edited by Ruth Reichl - some good, some bad - depends on who you like to read I guess.

Gourmet Everyday - Quick and Easy Recipes from Gourmet - some nice ideas

Anna N

maggiethecat · July 1, 2003

[ Mapp and Lucia

A fellow E.F. Benson Fan! Although I miss Lucia and Georgino mio, I read "Secret Lives" a little while ago and giggled a lot.

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