Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Spot-On: Literary Tapas

Click to enlarge.

When I started writing about food I immediately started reading what other people wrote about food - primarily as a way to learn how to write about food myself. One of the first books I picked up was Best Food Writing 2001 and I was amazed at how many different ways there are to write about food, how many different ways there are to think about food, and how food can be such an easily conveyed metaphor for thinking about the rest of our lives. I've been studying the masters ever since.

Read the complete article at Spot-On.

Technorati: | | | |

Labels: , ,

4 Comments:

Blogger Christy said...

I do so love M.F.K. Fisher. She would have been recognized as one of the 20th century's greatest authors had she not been a genre writer. Incredibly sensuous prose. Her depiction of a restraunt meal served by a perfect waiter beats many a bodice ripper I've read.

I have a great fondness for her "How to Catch, Prepare and Eat a Slug," which I find funny, whether it was meant to be or not. (Close, but not the actual title.) I forget which book it's in; I have the huge The Art of Eating collection and never keep them straight.

6/03/2008 09:02:00 PM  
Blogger Kevin said...

Christy,
I OD'd on Fisher when I first discovered her, it may be time to return.

6/03/2008 09:23:00 PM  
Blogger Robert said...

Halfway through you post, I was thinking to myself, I wonder if he's read Jeffrey Steingarten and Calvin Trilling . . . and, of course, by the end I was gratified to see you name them both, since they are two of my favorite food writers. I think what really works for both of them is that they have distinctive voices and personalities that really come through in their writing--you feel like you know them and, though perhaps they are a little bumbling and eccentric, they come across as both very likeable and very passionate about eating. And it's that voice and persona that makes for such great writing. Nice post.

6/05/2008 12:32:00 AM  
Blogger Robert said...

Oops . . . "Trillin."

6/05/2008 12:33:00 AM  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

Create a Link

<< Home