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More copies of this ISBNThis title in other editionsPoet of the Appetites: The Lives and Loves of M.F.K. Fisherby Joan Reardon
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:In more than thirty books, M.F.K. Fisher forever changed the way Americans understood not only the art of eating but the art of living. Whether considering the oyster or describing how to cook a wolf, she addressed the universal needs "for protection, food, love." Readers were instantly drawn into her circle of husbands and lovers, artists and artisans; they felt they knew Fisher herself, whether they encountered her as a child with a fried-egg sandwich in her pocket, a young bride awakening to the glories of French food, or a seductress proffering the first peas of the season. Oldest child, wife, mother, mistress, self-made career woman, trail-blazing writer — Fisher served up each role with panache. But like many master stylists, she was also a master mythologizer. Her portraits and scenarios were often unrecognizable to those on whom they were based, and her own emotions and experiences remained cloaked in ambiguity. To retell her story as it really happened is an important enterprise, and Joan Reardon has made the most of her access to Fisher, her family and friends, and her private papers. This multifaceted portrayal of the woman John Updike christened the "poet of the appetites" is no less memorable than the personae Fisher crafted for herself. Review:"Writer M.F.K. Fisher, born in 1908 to an upper-middle-class American family, dabbled in various schools and made her society debut before marrying and heading to France to set up housekeeping. That she eventually abandoned her husband for her friend's husband, began writing about the art of eating and went on to become a distinctive literary and gastronomic stylist has created her image as a sensualist, but culinary historian Reardon finds that Fisher was actually 'self-absorbed,' and 'at times a destructive woman.' As if to demystify Fisher's sensualist image, Reardon details her life in workmanlike, almost sterile prose. Who stopped by for tea and who picked up the newspapers is followed by a sentence recording the suicide of Fisher's brother or a lover's death. On rare occasions when Reardon's opinion surfaces, it's usually negative: she disapproves of Fisher's child-rearing skills, of Fisher's affair with an older woman, of Fisher's open-door availability in the years before she died in 1992. Scholars may find this volume useful, but devotees of Fisher's writing will find that one big question still remains: how did a woman with such straightlaced roots become one of the world's most delightfully irreverent bon vivantes? Photos. (Oct.) Forecast: An excerpt in the September issue of Gourmet should boost sales among culinary-minded readers." Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:"Reardon's approach to her complex subject is wonderfully clearheaded — she's appreciative without being worshipful — and her prose is so graceful, sensitive and dignified that it would have satisfied even a stylist like Fisher." Laura Shapiro, The New York Times Book Review Review:"Reardon's account of Fisher's life makes for a rewarding but dense read." Kirkus Reviews Synopsis:Christened by John Updike as the "poet of the appetites," M.F.K. Fisher changed the way Americans understood the art of living. But like many master stylists, she was also a master mythologizer. This multifaceted portrayal is no less memorable than the personae Fisher crafted for herself.
About the AuthorJoan Reardon is the author of four previous books, including M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, and Alice Waters, which was nominated for a Julia Child Award. She lives in Lake Forest, Illinois.
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