Ask the Author: Jonathan Kauffman
Answered Questions (3)
Jonathan Kauffman
Beside the obvious -- write and write and write some more -- when you write something, let it age for a while and then pick it up again. As I write, it can take so much effort to surmount the obstacle of my brain to put words on a page that I get exhausted by the process and am just ready for it to be done.
But the most important stage of writing, for me, is rewriting. I set the file it aside for a while, then open it back up to read it as a stranger might. I get to delete cringe-worthy phrases, gaps in logic, and weird wording that way, before anyone has to see them, but I also find passages I'm proud of and want to expand. Being patient about the process of rewriting, sometimes several times, always makes the piece so much better.
But the most important stage of writing, for me, is rewriting. I set the file it aside for a while, then open it back up to read it as a stranger might. I get to delete cringe-worthy phrases, gaps in logic, and weird wording that way, before anyone has to see them, but I also find passages I'm proud of and want to expand. Being patient about the process of rewriting, sometimes several times, always makes the piece so much better.
Jonathan Kauffman
Indulging my curiosity every day. When I get curious about something, whether it's a dish or a cook I see working behind the stove, I have an excuse to ask a bunch of questions. I most love telling the stories of people who make good food -- often, exceptional food -- but would never get the celebrity-chef treatment.
Jonathan Kauffman
The idea for Hippie Food emerged out of a restaurant review I conducted a decade ago: a visit to Seattle's longest-running vegetarian cafe. There, I was struck by the fact that so few of the restaurants that served this food -- nut loaves, steamed vegetables with tahini sauce -- were still around, and that if they all disappeared, so would a chunk of my childhood memories about food. I began wondering how people in small Midwestern towns like the one I grew up in started eating brown rice, whole-wheat bread, and alfalfa sprouts in the 1970s, far from San Francisco and New York. It took another five years before I could set aside the time to find out.
About Goodreads Q&A
Ask and answer questions about books!
You can pose questions to the Goodreads community with Reader Q&A, or ask your favorite author a question with Ask the Author.
See Featured Authors Answering Questions
Learn more