The Joy of Eating: The Virago Book of Food

by Jill Foulston (Editor)

Beatrix Potter wove one of her most malicious tales around the roly-poly pudding. Colette counted the nuts she would pick before falling asleep in the French countryside. Dorothy Wordsworth noted her pie-making sessions in her diary and Anne Frank observed the eating habits of her companions in hiding. Food is a constant in our lives, and it has always been a basic ingredient of women's writing—in household books, cookbooks, diaries, letters, and fiction. In this anthology concentrating on international food writing by women, indulge your appetite with such diverse writers as Edwidge Danticat, Barbara Pym, and J. K. Rowling. Try making Elisabeth Luard's Afghan Betrothal Custard, Martha Washington's marzipan birds, or Nigella Lawson's favorite comfort food. And why not sneak into the literary kitchens of Banana Yoshimoto, Emily Brontë, and Angela Carter?

Genres: Food, Nonfiction, Anthologies, Short Stories

416 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2008

Reviews

[Quirkyreader]

I had a very enjoyable time reading this book. Most of the time it made me hungry. My full review is located on my book blog: http://quirkyreader.livejournal.com/4...

[Becca Housden]

This anthology was interesting to gain an understanding of how food was written about and engaged with throughout the previous centuries. But it was hard to get into and enjoy because it was so bitty. With some extracts just being sentences long it was difficult to get stuck into.

[Deevena Jemima]

I got this book as a prize in College. Loved every bit of it.

[Carmen]

With this book I enjoyed two of my great pleasures? Reading and learning about the history of food. Incredible research has gone into this book.

[Judy]

Lots of fun

[Stuart]

'On the menu, however, where other things too: history, tradition, community, connection, anger, humor, and just about anything else worth conveying'

'This kitchen has witnessed our joys, griefs, births, deaths, nuptials, and fornication's for hundreds of years. Even now the ghosts of our forebears gather in the kitchen...passing judgement on the activities of the living'