The Solace of Food: A Life of James Beard

IN THE BEGINNING there was Beard," said Julia Child, and perhaps no other individual played such a central role in America’s postwar fascination with food and cooking. James Beard took American food seriously at a time when French cuisine was revered above all others, and his ebullient personality, genuine culinary talents, and assiduous self-promotion (he once called himself "the world’s greatest gastronomic whore") transformed the struggling actor from Oregon into a world-renowned authority on cooking and eating. First published as James Beard, a Biography (HarperCollins, 1993), this award-winning book was chosen as a "Notable Book of the Year" by the New York Times Book Review and called one of the best food books of the year by Julia Child on "Good Morning America." The Solace of Food is both the definitive biography of Beard and a fascinating history of food. Clark writes candidly about the "feuds and bitchery, betrayal and revenge" inside the food world and about Beard’s homosexuality in a closeted period. "Clark has given us a vivid portrait of a sometimes bizarre but ultimately fascinating man of our times," said the Times, "but his real achievement is having produced a valuable and thoroughly engrossing work of contemporary cultural history."

In the Beginning there was Beard", said Julia Child, and perhaps no other individual played such a central role in America's postwar fascination with food and cooking. First published as James Beard: A Biography (HarperCollins, 1993), this award-winning book was chosen as a Notable Book of the Year by the New York Times. Robert Clark writes candidly about the "feuds and bitchery, betrayal and revenge" inside the food world and about Beard's homosexuality in a closeted period. "A conscientious researcher as well as a rattling good writer, Clark has given us a vivid portrait of a sometimes bizarre but ultimately fascinating man of our times. But his real achievement is having produced a valuable and thoroughly engrossing work of contemporary cultural history" (New York Times Book Review).

A NYTBR Notable Book of the Year A vivid portrait...a thoroughly engrossing work of contemporary cultural history. --The New York Times Book Review

Includes bibliographical references (p. [335]-341) and index.

ROBERT CLARK is the author of River of the West and numerous articles on food, wine, and agriculture. He is a former editor of the Journal of Gastronomy, the prestigious publication of the American Institute of Wine and Food. He lives in Seattle, Washington.