[close] Judith Moore dishes up more than just her life story in Never Eat Your Heart Out, a mélange of unforgettable meals and bittersweet memories. In each of the 25 chapters, food and life experiences are inextricably linked. In "Pie" a meditation on the pleasure of making mud pies conjures up a particular afternoon in the author's childhood when thunder, chicken pie, and a dead baby bird converged to form a memory that is still sharp. In "Eating Peter Rabbit" the author changes gears, embarking on a thorough discussion of the differences between rabbits and hares, the reason why the majority of Americans won't eat either ("We gag on cute."), and the history of rabbits and the culinary arts from ancient times to the present. Another chapter, "Adultery," describes Moore's extramarital affair in terms of the meals she cooked while it occurred. In Never Eat Your Heart Out, Judith Moore follows in the grand tradition of M.F.K. Fisher, one of the first to understand that writing about food is really writing about life. Like Fisher before her, Moore creates a feast with her evocative prose; mouthwatering meals; and profound conclusions about life, love, and cooking. [close]