A Welcoming Life: The M.F.K. Fisher Scrapbook

by M.F.K. Fisher, Dominique Gioia (Compiler)

A Welcoming Life captures in photographs and text the remarkable life of M. F. K. Fisher. Gathering more than 240 family snapshots with extended selections from her writings, this photographic biography shines with Fishers spirit. Her distinctive voiceher wry humor and razor witis present on every page.A book as celebration, A Welcoming Life is meant to be read, shared with friends, and--like a good meal or a glass of fine wine--savored. Her distinctive voice--her wry humor and razor wit--is present on every page.The physical and emotional landscapes of Fishers life are here in image and her childhood in a Quaker town in southern California just after the turn of the century; her sensual and intellectual awakening as a young woman in France in the 1930s; the uneven terrain of her adult life as a writer, wife, daughter, parent; and finally the refuge of northern Californias wine country, where Fisher spent her last years. In celebration of a life well lived, A Welcoming Life i

Genres: Food

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher was a prolific and well-respected writer, writing more than 20 books during her lifetime and also publishing two volumes of journals and correspondence shortly before her death in 1992. Her first book, Serve it Forth, was published in 1937. Her books deal primarily with food, considering it from many aspects: preparation, natural history, culture, and philosophy. Fisher believed that eating well was just one of the "arts of life" and explored the art of living as a secondary theme in her writing. Her style and pacing are noted elements of her short stories and essays.

Reviews

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mary Francis Kennedy Fisher is an author famous for her elegant musings on food as an art of life. Some credit her as the beginning of the modern food writing movement. Anyone who is interested in the culture of food, female writers, or just good prose should read her works.

In compiling this book, Dominique Gioia did a remarkable job of letting Fisher herself speak through quotes from her published works and unpublished journals and letters.

My criticisms lie in the book's pat editorial feel- there was little effort to explore controversies within her life (though this could be due less to a flaw in the book and more to my own modern voyeuristic tendencies). I found myself wanting to learn more about the sensational aspects of her life- having a child out of wedlock in the 1940s, being quietly dismissed after teaching for only 6 months at an all-black school during the 60s, an aborted (failed?) attempt to have one of those students live with her in California and study nursing.

Despite the lack of sensationalism, this book is a great beginner's introduction to M.F.K. Fisher, her life, and how it influenced her writings.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and helpful.

[Laura Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

my great fascination with this writer made this an instant sell to me, a collection of photographs from her life, along with some biographical sketches, quotes, etc. I was greatly surprised (particularly as an avid journal-keeper myself) to learn that at one point in her life, Mary Frances burned many of her earlier journals and letters, in an attempt to move past painful times and start fresh -- but of course later regretted it, as we can't ever completely recreate ourselves, but can only try to bring new freshness into the existing story. She is so inspirational -- makes me want to take a cooking class and try writing more seriously myself. One of these days, perhaps! (1/01)

[Tanner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just want to crawl inside her brain and her life and live there.