What do you think?
Rate this book
Eating with the Pilgrims and Other Pieces
Acclaimed New Yorker journalist, novelist and poet, Calvin Trillin is also America's funniest and best-loved writer about food. This selection of some of his wittiest articles sees him stalking a peripatetic Chinese chef, campaigning to have the national Thanksgiving dish changed to Spaghetti Carbonara and sampling the legendary Louisiana boudin sausage - to be consumed preferably 'while leaning against a pickup'.
Eschewing fancy restaurants in favour of street food and neighbourhood joints, Trillin's writing is a hymn of praise to the Buffalo chicken wing, the deep-fried wonton, the New York bagel and the brilliant, inimitable melting-pot that is US cuisine.
This edition is part of the Great Food series designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
Eschewing fancy restaurants in favour of street food and neighbourhood joints, Trillin's writing is a hymn of praise to the Buffalo chicken wing, the deep-fried wonton, the New York bagel and the brilliant, inimitable melting-pot that is US cuisine.
This edition is part of the Great Food series designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith.
99 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2011
115 people want to read
About the author
Calvin Trillin
89 books278 followersCalvin (Bud) Marshall Trillin is an American journalist, humorist, and novelist. He is best known for his humorous writings about food and eating, but he has also written much serious journalism, comic verse, and several books of fiction.
Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.
Trillin attended public schools in Kansas City and went on to Yale University, where he served as chairman of the Yale Daily News and became a member of Scroll and Key before graduating in 1957; he later served as a trustee of the university. After a stint in the U.S. Army, he worked as a reporter for Time magazine before joining the staff of The New Yorker in 1963. His reporting for The New Yorker on the racial integration of the University of Georgia was published in his first book, An Education in Georgia. He wrote the magazine's "U.S. Journal" series from 1967 to 1982, covering local events both serious and quirky throughout the United States.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 15, 2021
This book is part of Penguin's Great Food series. The series has 20 books, each by a different author. Calvin Trillin is the author of this one, and I enjoyed his collection of articles. It's only 99 pages, so, a very quick read.
3 Stars = Good. Glad I read it.
3 Stars = Good. Glad I read it.
August 6, 2017
Funny wee book, and definitely one of the better ones in this Penguin series of food-related excerpt books. I'd assumed this was going to be full of recipes from the pioneer times of the USA, which just goes to show what I know, and the fact that I had obviously never heard of Calvin Trillin before. Whoops.
These articles were written in the 80s and 90s, that is to say the 1980s and 1990s. They are quirky foodie articles about American food and eating habits, and as he lives in New York there is much about bagels. There's also a bit about Thanksgiving dinners, which is why the Pilgrims reference comes in. And he mentions the British brussel sprout thing, which I have to agree is vile, but we don't do thanksgiving over here - just Christmas. I particularly liked the story about travelling with his young daughter to go to some catfish festival; the young daughter being particularly fussy with food (so you just know she's never going to try it). Just good writing that's nice to read.
These articles were written in the 80s and 90s, that is to say the 1980s and 1990s. They are quirky foodie articles about American food and eating habits, and as he lives in New York there is much about bagels. There's also a bit about Thanksgiving dinners, which is why the Pilgrims reference comes in. And he mentions the British brussel sprout thing, which I have to agree is vile, but we don't do thanksgiving over here - just Christmas. I particularly liked the story about travelling with his young daughter to go to some catfish festival; the young daughter being particularly fussy with food (so you just know she's never going to try it). Just good writing that's nice to read.
January 3, 2018
Some years ago, I was gifted one of the best presents ever. The complete collection of Penguin's Great Food series.
It's a beautiful looking object and looks wonderful on the shelf...and there it stayed for quite a while.
But I've been on a lark of reading my bookshelves of late, instead of constantly checking out new titles from the library, and the slipcased series caught my eye. I decided then and there that I'd read all of them this year.
I had to start somewhere, so I picked this one.
I couldn't have picked a better starter. It's made up of twelve separate essays about food. A lot of them involve some sort of detecting work, trying to figure out who really invented the buffalo wing, where to find a particularly elusive "bagel" (the quotation marks will make sense once you've read the chapter), and where the (Master)Chef Chang has moved to now.
There's also a great piece called "Don't Mention It" about a restaurateur that would give the Soup Nazi character on Seinfeld a run for his money. It's a hilarious essay and I'm sorry that I never had a chance to visit the place.
All in all, a very enjoyable compendium of Mr. Trillin's writing. I'm certainly looking forward to both reading more of his work and picking out the next book in this series.
It's a beautiful looking object and looks wonderful on the shelf...and there it stayed for quite a while.
But I've been on a lark of reading my bookshelves of late, instead of constantly checking out new titles from the library, and the slipcased series caught my eye. I decided then and there that I'd read all of them this year.
I had to start somewhere, so I picked this one.
I couldn't have picked a better starter. It's made up of twelve separate essays about food. A lot of them involve some sort of detecting work, trying to figure out who really invented the buffalo wing, where to find a particularly elusive "bagel" (the quotation marks will make sense once you've read the chapter), and where the (Master)Chef Chang has moved to now.
There's also a great piece called "Don't Mention It" about a restaurateur that would give the Soup Nazi character on Seinfeld a run for his money. It's a hilarious essay and I'm sorry that I never had a chance to visit the place.
All in all, a very enjoyable compendium of Mr. Trillin's writing. I'm certainly looking forward to both reading more of his work and picking out the next book in this series.
December 18, 2017
Calvin Trillin is a joy to read. Many of these pieces appeared more than 30 years ago. They are about restaurants, or specific foods made by specific cooks—the most ephemeral of ephemera. Yet he works the magic of finely honed writing and perfect comic timing. He brings up family and friends. He simultaneously obsesses about a food and pokes fun at obsessing about food. He comes off as good-natured, big-hearted, wry, appreciative. Amazingly, none of the pieces feels particularly dated, even though most are a little nostalgic. Long may Trillin wave!
May 28, 2016
From the first page I knew I would really enjoy this book. It's a collection of essays and articles written by Calvin Trillin about food. All of the writings are really interesting and they are so funny. I got quite a few laughs out of this book.
October 10, 2012
What Shakespeare is to plays Trillin is to food writing---hilarious, heartfelt, even ponderous. Trillin is an American treasure. If only this book came with free dumplings.
July 6, 2014
Witty take on food writing, this slim volume is finished far too quickly. Killer bagels for a start!
July 17, 2015
A solidly funny book of food writing but refreshingly unstodgy. A real pleasure to read.
July 7, 2015
Quick little book. I forget how funny Trillin is. The Eating with the Pilgrims essay may need to be read every year.
February 18, 2024
Forgive me, but chillin with Trillin is one of life’s pleasures.
November 30, 2019
At 100 pages, this was a quick and easy read. The standouts in the collection for me were some of Trillin’s New Yorker pieces - Missing Links from 2002 on the hunt for the best boudin in Louisiana, Don’t Mention It from 2002, a profile of Kenny Shopsin of Shopsin’s General Store fame, and Where’s Chang from 2010, on the hunt for talented Chinese chef Peter Chang as he hopped from restaurant to restaurant across the USA.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews