M.F.K Fisher

[racheld]

I enjoyed 'em---all of 'em. Perhaps it was my small-town upbringing that kept me from reading in all of the nuances and side-plots; maybe I was just concentrating on the great luxuries and sumptuous delicacies---the foie gras equally matched by the midnight cornflakes, the salt of lipsweat flavoring the first bite of that unexpectedly lavish lunch after that long hike, the running-board picnic of lifting the weight of crusty-warm peach pie to young, eager lips.

I generally ignored all the intimated affairs and got so tired of seeing the word "Chexbres" I had to slough it off like a pesky mantra in order to go to sleep.

I had no comparison to the jazzy lifestyle, the Evening-in-Paris, smokewhiff wardrobe for dinners and dances, the girls' school crushes and spite. The book was a grand revelation, akin to opening the sepia side of Dorothy's door onto a colorful realm of nightlife and restaurants and the cooking of marvelous dishes and dining in style.

One vignette has stayed with me, above the descriptive distaste for the visiting girlfriend with her languorous, lazy hand outstretched for endless cigarettes, beyond the several meager kitchens and the travel and ocean's crisscross: The morning's fresh peach, which by evening's last light was "bruised and voluptuously dying."

It's like Kriss Kristofferson's writing of Sunday Morning Sidewalk---I don't care if he'd retired on the spot and never hit another lick, and no matter what else he contributed, just that was enough.

Love her or hate her, she had a Voice to be reckoned with, and I'm ready to delve in with the crowd. If I can find where in the pee-diddle I put that book.

[zoe b]

Maggie said--

I think MFK is best read in youth, when you can be blown away by her prose. In middle age the actual content is terrifically painful,sad, and self-indulgent.

yes, I do agree--

and also, with Rachel

Love her or hate her, she had a Voice to be reckoned with.

she did burn into my consciousness in a way that few writers have done--she changed the way I experienced life, and i love her for that.

I haven't read her biography--just have a vague feeling that i read something about her not being terribly truthful--I don't care--My MFK Fisher is in the books--I don't really want to know too much about that other MFK Fisher.

Zoe

[eldereno]

Having been an avid reader most of my life, less so in these recent hectic times, it surprises me that I have never read M.F.K. Fisher. Since developing a greater and greater interest in cooking and food in the last 20 years, I have heard of her along the way. Even placed 'The Art of Eating' on my wish list at Amazon.com. Finally, in November when I did a mass ordering of cookbooks that I coveted, I ordered it. I have not yet gotten around to begin reading it (the holidays and all). This thread has provided the motivation to start. Glad to join "the bookclub."

I am not aware of the biographical information on her life. Are there recommendation as to whether I should learn more about her personal life or not....BEFORE I read her work?

[maggiethecat]

I am not aware of the biographical information on her life.  Are there recommendation as to whether I should learn more about her personal life or not....BEFORE I read her work?

No, please don't. Read her stuff first -- you'll be interested in checking up on the "real" Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher later.

Priscilla: I too adore strong personalities, especially if they look like ivan(giant Wub.) Whittier -- girl from the OC tell us more. What geographical/demographic/astrological factors would make Whittier produce both MFK and Julia Child?

I also know that you had a personal correspondence with MFK (top that, anyone!) in your youth,so you saw a part of her we didn't. It's hard for me -- I love unconditionally. You kick me to the curb, as learning about Fisher's later life did, the iron enters into my soul.

[Carrot Top]

I read a bit today of MFK. To begin with, "To Begin". With all this talk of her personality and life in my mind, the first sentence appears.

And what strikes me is the enormous self-assurance of the author. She comes in with a huge whoosh! strike! wham! with that very first sentence. No pansying around here. No making nice. No enticing little smiles or entreaties. It sounds to me as if she is speaking French, though it is English. There is that sort of arrogance, if that is the right word. A wonderful arrogance.

[Carrot Top]

The first sentence of 'To Begin' is:

"There are two kinds of books about eating: those that try to imitate Brillat-Savarin's, and those that try not to."

Midway through:

"Now I am going to write a book. It will be about eating and about what to eat and about people who eat. And I shall do gymnastics by trying fall between these three fires, or by straddling them all."

The final sentence of the essay is:

"I serve it forth."

She takes no prisoners.

Oh, yes, self-indulgent. But those words would not have existed (nor would many others penned by authors laboriously placed moment after moment on page) if it were not for good old self-indulgence.

.......................................

The next essay, 'When a Man Is Small', the one that jess quoted the first line from.

I have a question here.

Approached as 'open reading' with no preconceived expectations of content, just the title (as much as one possibly can), when you read this essay what is it that you would say you are reading *about*? It seems to me that there might be more than one answer to this question. . .

Edited January 7, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[jess mebane]

Gosh, that's harder to pin down than I thought, KR, but I would echo your sentiment that she writes in English with a decidedly Gallic assurance, almost as if you can see her toss an arrogant shrug after this or that sentence.

I read When A Man as a mother of small men, of course, and it finishes like a grim elegy of misspent youthful appetites. Then you go on to the vomitoria section of Garum and begin to feel sheepish when reading the line, "As Rome festered and decayed, the fever for fine eating mounted."

Chocolate fountains at Costco, anyone?

[H. du Bois]

I read The Art of Eating last year for the first time. Started with An Alphabet for Gourmets, which I think I enjoyed most. How to Cook a Wolf, which is what I'd most wanted to read from having heard about it, was the least interesting of the collected works to me - go figure.

I haven't read any biographies of the real MFK, but I've encountered terrible deconstructions of beloved memoirs by factual biographies (e.g., those of Lillian Hellman). It can curdle the pleasure of the memoir, so read the memoir first.

[Carrot Top]

I read When A Man as a mother of small men, of course, and it finishes like a grim elegy of misspent youthful appetites.  Then you go on to the vomitoria section of Garum  and begin to feel sheepish when reading the line, "As Rome festered and decayed, the fever for fine eating mounted."

Chocolate fountains at Costco, anyone?

←

( )

I haven't read any biographies of the real MFK, but I've encountered terrible deconstructions of beloved memoirs by factual biographies (e.g., those of Lillian Hellman).  It can curdle the pleasure of the memoir, so read the memoir first.

←

I only read one of the biographies, the one that her sister had a hand in producing. Apparently the other biography (which though I've not read, I've heard a good deal about so feel as if I've read it in some way) presents yet another, different, side of her life. I am not sure that I will ever read it.

On the other hand, I recently stumbled across MFK's name in a book by Michael Dirda (winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism himself). She is in excellent company in this book. (Book by Book, Notes on Reading and Life).

Edited January 8, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Carrot Top]

Favorite line in 'Greek Honey and the Hon-Zo':

"Great men grew concerned over their tables, and literary gourmets became didactic."

Heh heh.

[Carrot Top]

I'm reading very small bits at a time.

The Curious Nose. Great title. I laughed aloud at this part near the end, where she quotes Gervaise Markham (and it's not just that it was funny in itself, but had a lot to do with where she put this and the manner she did it with. . . )

'Of the housewife herself, Markham decided thus: "First she must be cleanly in garment and body, she must have a quick eye, a curious nose, a perfect taste, and ready ear (she must not be butter-fingered, sweet-toothed, nor faint-hearted); for the first will let everything fall, the second will consume what it should increase; and the third will lose time with too much niceness." '

[Carrot Top]

Well then. . .I'll prattle on, more for the purpose of getting it out of my mind and moving on to other things than any other good reason.

"Let the Sky Rain Potatoes" I liked very much. Lighter than the other pieces so far, to me. Language not as dense (though personally I do enjoy density in language, often).

It also is the first piece in this series that, were I a professional indexer of books, I would immediately say "Hey. Index this under 'Food'." For the other pieces, I am not so sure that 'Food' would be my first instinct as category of writing.

..................................

There's some bandwidth still here if anyone has thoughts they'd like to share, I do believe.

Edited January 9, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[srhcb]

There's some bandwidth still here if anyone has thoughts they'd like to share, I do believe. 

←

I left my copy of Art of Eating at the office, (although a book titled Art of Eating at the Office might be a good seller?), but where did MFKF's story about eating potato chips appear?

That had some clever turns of phrase.

SB (not much concerned over his table)

[Carrot Top]

I left my copy of Art of Eating at the office, (although a book titled Art of Eating at the Office might be a good seller?), but where did MFKF's story about eating potato chips appear? 

That had some clever turns of phrase.

SB (not much concerned over his table)

←

I don't remember that potato chip story, SB, but if you ever get to the office, do try to find it in the book and tell us about it. Please don't bother with doing any work first, just find the story, log on, and relate the tale.

Could she eat just one?

KR (more concerned about the story of any table than the table itself)

Edited January 9, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[srhcb]

I left my copy of Art of Eating at the office, (although a book titled Art of Eating at the Office might be a good seller?), but where did MFKF's story about eating potato chips appear? 

That had some clever turns of phrase.

SB (not much concerned over his table)

←

I don't remember that potato chip story, SB, but if you ever get to the office, do try to find it in the book and tell us about it. Please don't bother with doing any work first, just find the story, log on, and relate the tale.

Could she eat just one?

KR (more concerned about the story of any table than the table itself)

←

The potato chip story is in With Bold Knife and Fork, under the chapter heading "Once a Tramp, Always...".

The opening line set the tone of the piece:

"There is a mistaken idea, ancient but still with us, that an overdose of anything from fornication to hot chocolate will teach restraint by the very results of its abuse."

And continues a few paragraphs later:

"Somewhere between the extemes of putative training in self-control and unflagging discipline against wild cravings lie the sensual and voluptuous gastronomical favorites-of-a-lifetime...."

When we finally get to potato chips, (this is the line I like):

"...they hang like square cellophane fruit on wire trees in all the grocery stores,"

MFKF claims that potato chips ready availabilty allows her to eat them only once every three years, but ....

SB (thinking about tables)

[Carrot Top]

The opening line set the tone of the piece:

"There is a mistaken idea, ancient but still with us, that an overdose of anything from fornication to hot chocolate will teach restraint by the very results of its abuse."

And continues a few paragraphs later:

"Somewhere between the extemes of putative training in self-control and unflagging discipline against wild cravings lie the sensual and voluptuous gastronomical favorites-of-a-lifetime...."

When we finally get to potato chips, (this is the line I like):

"...they hang like square cellophane fruit on wire trees in all the grocery stores,"

MFKF claims that potato chips ready availabilty allows her to eat them only once every three years, but .... 

SB (thinking about tables)

←

KR (happily falling under the table)

[srhcb]

My copy of The Art of Eating, (1990 Macmillan paperback), has this quotation in the back cover blurb by W H Auden, who knew a little something about using words:

"I do not know of anyone in the United States today who writes better prose."

SB (perhaps a bit condescending, but high praise none the less)

[Carrot Top]

Yes, the cadence, the depth, the solidity, the *storytelling*!, the ability to thoroughly enchant and to romance, and now, this time around, I am finding humor - which did not strike me as much in past readings.

One thing that was interesting to note from her biography was that becoming a "foodwriter" was not her initial intention. She wanted to write of all things, of life, of stories. But jobs were offered to her writing about food (for she was a woman of a time and place where this tack was an easier one). And so the works began, for the paycheck and for a situated place offered in the world of writing.

A very lucky happenstance for those who like to read and think of the ways food might go beyond the plate and the palate.

[Carrot Top]

Earlier today I read 'I Arise Resigned'.

Sabri, the homesick Turkish lawyer, invited us for tea. We drank too much of it, and ate, ravenously or discreetly, according to our nationalities, at a large cake like a macaroon. Sabri had made it, and he told us how.

"Cook finest vermicelli thoroughly," he instructed, a cold polite smile on his face and his eyes very warm and melancholy. "Then when it is done spread it in a large shallow baking-dish and drip honey and sweet oil upon it until the dish brims."

I felt I knew Sabri when I read that, years ago. I had to make that "cake". And so I did, just exactly from his directions. All this was pre-professional cooking years. It was an adventure. And it was very good.

Then after a discussion about why this cake is eaten. . .the "reason" for it. . .

"Perhaps that's what ails us," he added, austerely. Then he grinned, and broke the last chunk of cake in his fat, too-sensitive hands.

I can see those hands.

I know Sabri, whether he is real or not.

Edited January 9, 2007 by Carrot Top (log)

[Carrot Top]

And *now*! For the second time in History, I've found the word (challenged by Pontormo in the food word game) warners!

In "In Sinistra Parte, Johannes Baptista", we are educated:

The three main courses of a banquet were heralded by spectacular puddings and tarts called warners. These, more often than not, were eaten, in spite of the silk, wire, wood, gilt, and feathers that decorated them.

Chomp chomp.

[Kouign Aman]

I found myself thinking "there's nothing new under the sun" when reading her descriptions of Roman banquets with appropriate odors wafted thru the room.

"Air", anyone?

I read When a Man not as a grim tale, but as almost a plea for sensible eating. Sensible meaning be aware of (sensible of) the effects of one's meals, as well as paying attention to the tastes. I've skied with many a partner who is useless after lunch due to over-eating.

The humor I remember is present, and the vividness. I'd forgotten the tiny mean streak she displays.

The description of the meal served by "the little Charles" - especially the onset of fatigue, the passing of the giddyness of food and wine, to the heaviness beyond - perfectly described.

She's keeping me up past my bedtime, again. Sigh.

[Carrot Top]

I'd forgotten the tiny mean streak she displays.

←

"Woe to the cook whose sauce has no sting."

(Chaucer)

(Seems right to me. )

[srhcb]

The humor I remember is present, and the vividness. I'd forgotten the tiny mean streak she displays.

←

Balancing this, however, is a poignency best illustrated in "I is for Innocence" from An Alphabet for Gourmets.

MFKF reluctently accepts a dinner invitation from a rather unpleasant and culinarily unsophisticated aquaintance whose wife had recently died, more out of pity than anything else.

I won't ruin the story for you, but these sentences appear only one paragraph apart:

"....one of the ghastliest meals I ever ate in my life. On second thought I can safely say, the ghastliest."

and,

"My gross friend, untroubled by affections of knowledge, served forth to me a meal that I was proud to partake of."

Not many writers could pull this off, and even MFKF, rather than run the risk of appearing mawkish, appends this story with a vaguely related tale concerning her father.

If you can read this chapter without experiencing, as Willy Nelson sang, "What's that little drop of water in the corner of your pane, now don't you try and tell me that it's rain", just throw The Art of Eating away and get out Larousse Gastronomique.

SB (loves both MFKF and Willie )

[Carrot Top]

Strangely enough, I am beginning to feel like a cheerleader for the first time in my life.

*Must* run out for some pom-poms later today.

[Carrot Top]

Except for that g*dawful name "Chexbres". Which is like a lump of unsoaked salt cod shoved down one's throat every time it appears.