Food and Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast

by Michelle Wildgen (Editor), Steve Almond, Grace Paley

Food and Booze celebrates seven years of delicious writing culled from Tin House’s “Readable Feast” and “Blithe Spirit” departments. The pieces, contributed by some of the finest fiction and nonfiction writers working today, range from the humorous to the lyrical, recipes to rhapsodies, the historic to the personal, and from humble to haute cuisine. All share one common feature: the superb writing readers have come to expect from the magazine, the only literary journal with its own martini recipe.

Contents:
Foreword, by Michelle Wildgen
Food, by Grace Paley
Ode to a Martini, by Elissa Schappell
My Soul upon the Grill, by Steve Almond
Eating Fish Alone, by Lydia Davis
Notes from the Nauseous, by Carla Spartos
Dinner with the Borgias, by Lisa Grossman
The Lotus-Eaters, by Jeff Koehler
Becherovka, by Francine Prose
The Apple of their Eyes, by Sara Perry
Ode to an Egg, by Michelle Wildgen
Here's to Crime!, by David Lehman
Yellowtail, by Stuart Dybek
Mezcal, by Mark Statman
The Path of Righteousness, by Matthew Batt
The Green Fairy, by Elissa Schappell
Persian Cuisine, by Shusha Guppy
My Life with Sukiyaki, by Anthony Swofford
Rummy, by A.J. Rathbun
Beating the Heat, by Rich King
Drinking my Inheritance, by Sara Roahen
A Season in Elk Country, by Lynne Sampson
Up Your Goose with a Boneless Duck, by Chris Offutt
The Taste of a Wild Mushroom, by Eugenia Bone
The End of Laughter, by Lan Samantha Chang
In a Crowded Kitchen, by Heather Hartley

Genres: Food, Anthologies

225 pages, Hardcover

First published October 4, 2006

About the author

Michelle Wildgen is a writer, editor, and teacher in Madison, Wisconsin. In addition to being an executive editor at the literary journal Tin House, Michelle is the author of the novels Bread and Butter: A Novel (forthcoming from Doubleday), But Not For Long and You’re Not You (both available in paperback from Picador), and the editor of an anthology, Food & Booze: A Tin House Literary Feast (Tin House Books). You’re Not You has been adapted for film, starring Hilary Swank and Emmy Rossum.

Michelle’s nonfiction has included a weekly column on food television as well as individual essays on a wide range of topics: from American Girl doll Rebecca Rubin, Burt Reynolds’ 1970s fan mail, and obscure Wisconsin card games to the craft of writing, fresh mozzarella, deer-hunting for the neophyte, and the number of times one has to endure anaphylactic shock before giving up shellfish for good.

She received her MFA from Sarah Lawrence College and has taught fiction and nonfiction at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Tin House Summer Writers’ Workshop, and the Iowa Summer Writing Festival.

Her fiction, personal essays, and food writing have also appeared in publications including The New York Times, O, the Oprah Magazine, and anthologies such as Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer, Dirty Words, Best New American Voices 2004, Best Food Writing 2004 and 2009, Death by Pad Thai and Other Unforgettable Meals, and journals including StoryQuarterly, TriQuarterly, Prairie Schooner, and elsewhere.

Awards and honors include a scholarship to Bread Loaf, residency at the Hall Farm Center in Vermont, and the Virginia Faulkner Award for Excellence in Writing from Prairie Schooner.

Reviews

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good. I normally find food writing kind of earnest and irritating, full of forced meaning, but most of the essays here were funny, information-packed, and oddly page-turning. I learned about squirrel pie! I learned about Iranian cuisine! I learned about absinthe!

I also re-learned why I do not care for Lan Samantha Chang (file under "earnest and irritating, full of forced meaning").

But seriously. Mostly? Extremely good. Like, almost-miss-your-subway-stop good.

[Anne Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lively little anthology of stories on the subject of (as you'd expect) food and booze. Some stories possibly not for the non drinkers. One story I loved was "Ode to a Martini" by Elissa Schappell. Haven't had one of these for decades but it made me want one desperately. Other good ones "My Soul Upon the Grill" by Steve Almond, "Eating Fish Alone" by Lydia Davis, which includes a hilsarious recipe for a Sardine Sandwich, "Becherovka" by Francine Prose, "The Apple of Their Eyes" by Sara Perry, and "Ode to an Egg" by Michelle Wildgen (my favourite). Most stories include recipes (of food or drinks).

[Sundry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly wonderful essay anthology. I haven’t enjoyed this many essays this much…ever.

An amazing diversity of approaches to the subject matter_ yes, it’s food and booze_ , each with a recipe included.

Though I don’t think I’ll ever need to try the elk mincemeat recipe, I liked some of them well enough to order a used copy from Amazon.com.

The book was loaned to me by a writer friend who is encouraging me to remember to have fun with writing, to write what makes me happy and to maybe try something like this.

[Karen Germain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Tin House and was very excited to receive this collection of essays for my birthday. "Food and Booze" takes the best food and drink pieces from Tin House magazine and compiles them into this collection. The collection is solid, with nearly every chapter more entertaining and interesting than the last. It also includes recipes,many with exotic ingredients, but still fun. The only problem with reading these stories is that I craved something different with every chapter!

http://www.alwayspackedforadventure.com

[Chadwick · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a lovely collection of gem-like essays taken from the pages of Tin House magazine. They cover topics from cocktails to eating elk, and each one has that marvelous combination of the sensual and essential human truth that marks the very best in food writing. The recipes are great as well.

[Skyler · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book because of being smitten with the novels of Michelle Wildgen. She has one essay herein (and the introduction). My friends who like cocktails would enjoy some of the "booze" essays. I had never heard of the liquor called Becherovka and would love to try it. The essay called Persian Cuisine by Shusha Guppy reminded me deliciously of the Kabob Cottage in Long Beach (WA).

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was pretty disappointed with this collection. It's a weird mixture of recipes, essays and short stories.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my ever-ending quest for great food-writing, I stumbled across this collection from the literary magazine Tin House. Good writing about good food doesn't get better.

[Floundering About · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit, I read only half of the food essays, and all of the booze essays.

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not count but I think there are more booze essays than food essays. I especially enjoyed "Drinking My Inheritance" by Sara Roahen about the brandy old-fashioned sweets, a WI specialty.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth reading for Matthew Batt's essay on bread making, The Path of Righteousness. Overall, not a book l devoured (guffaw, snort, snort.)

[Roy Kesey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great deal of fun to work through. Every piece was solid but my favorites were Chris Offutt on an awkward literary feast, and Lydia Davis eating a fish.

[Kaitlynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous collection of stories about food and drinks. It's a little bit history, little bit personal narrative, and super enjoyable.