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Overview
Jason Epstein, the legendary editor and publisher of Norman Mailer, Vladimir Nabokov, Gore Vidal, and E. L. Doctorow, among many other distinguished writers, and the editor of such great chefs and bakers as Alice Waters, Wolfgang Puck, and Maida Heatter, takes us on a culinary tour through his eventful life, beginning with his childhood summers in Maine, where his decision to improve upon his grandmother’s chicken pot pie led to a lifetime at the stove.
From the great restaurants of postwar Paris to the narrow streets of New York’s Chinatown today; from a New Year’s dinner aboard the old Ile de France with Buster Keaton to an evening at New York’s glamorous “21” restaurant with the dreaded Roy Cohn; from Chinese omelettes with the great Jane Jacobs at the edge of the Arctic Ocean to a lobster dinner with the Mailers on Cape Cod, as well as a warning to examine the chair before you sit down to dinner with W. H. Auden, this delicious book celebrates a lifetime of pleasure in cooking and eating well.
The author agrees with the Greek philosopher Heraclitus that you can never step in the same river twice, that every act is unique and so is every dish. In Jason Epstein’s hands, rather than being presented in the usual rigid formula, recipes unfold as stories that he would tell a friend in stove-side conversation. And as Epstein demonstrates his personal touches in putting a dish together, he inspires his readers to be creative.
A rich and provocative book, Eating will whet the appetites of all who love good food and delightful company.
Synopsis
Jason Epstein, legendary publisher of Norman Mailer and Vladimir Nabokov, editor of such great chefs and bakers as Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck, takes us on a culinary tour through his eventful life.
From the great restaurants of postwar Paris to the narrow streets of New York’s Chinatown today; from a New Year’s dinner aboard the old Ile de France with Buster Keaton to an evening at New York’s glamorous “21” restaurant with the dreaded Roy Cohn; from Chinese omelettes with the great Jane Jacobs at the edge of the Arctic Ocean to a lobster dinner with the Mailers on Cape Cod, this delicious book celebrates a lifetime of pleasure in cooking and eating well.
The New York Times - Dwight Garner
The book is delicious, in its minimalist, essayistic way.
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
In many ways, this memoir is the very picture of leisure, a smoothly laced collection of memorable meals with unforgettable dinner companions. But, make no mistake; its author is no mere epicure; he is the legendary editor and publisher of Vladimir Nabokov, Norman Mailer, Gore Vidal, E. L. Doctorow, and Philip Roth, not to mention cooking pioneers Alice Waters and Wolfgang Puck. In Eating: A Memoir, he settles hospitably into reminiscences about childhood chicken pot pies and post-World War II Parisian cafes. Epstein's meals with the famous aren't just name-dropping celebrity sightings; his encounters with Buster Keaton, W. H. Auden, Jane Jacobs, and the ever-robust Mailer are occasions for telling glimpses into character as well as cuisine.Dwight Garner
The book is delicious, in its minimalist, essayistic way.—The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
Former Random House editor Epstein (Book Business: Publishing Past, Present and Future) combines his literary lunches with a personal, tried-and-true collection of meals and recipes. The breezy memoir touches on mayonnaise-rich dishes he's eaten with famous friends and neighbors-Olaf Olafsen, Norman Mailer and Jane Jacobs-in between recollection of childhood visits to Maine and recent trips to Sag Harbor, Long Island. Accompanying the stories are recipes meant to resemble conversations, mixed in with peculiar advice on sourcing ingredients and detailed tips on technique. Epstein-who readily admits he still doesn't think of Manhattan as home because of its lack of Ipswich clams-is most comfortable on the New England shore, if his recipes for salmon roe, lobster rolls and fried clams are any indication. While Epstein blends the down-home simplicity of chicken pot pie with the kind of dowdy French classics once served in lower Manhattan, his trips with chef Alice Waters to Craig Claiborne's lunch parties and suggestions for hard-to-find ingredients and out-of-print books cultivate a stuffy air of exclusivity, a tone tempered by the softer, improvisational voice from his kitchen. Be warned, the book's mouthwatering narrative recipes-from steak tartare enclosed in burnt hamburger crust to a simple braised duck with olives-might spur more than a couple of trips to the kitchen. (Oct.)
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