Synopses & Reviews
"We read a lot, perhaps too much about X-treme food and macho food adventures these days, but this anthology calls to mind a better side of the subject: by showing us how food affects us in the most improbable and resistant circumstances, it reminds us again and again of why eating is one of the great continuities of life, even in scary places with scary people and scary-seeming plates." Adam Gopnik, author of
The Table Comes FirstCompelling and powerful, these personal accounts by reporters assigned to hot spots from Haiti to Kosovo, from Rwanda to Kandahar, cut to the bone. They expose the hard truth that hunger for survival is as universal as battle, that food itself is a metaphor for war, and that eating is war by other means. This is a brilliant collection of stories that satisfies our hunger for words with the intensity of our hunger to live.” Betty Fussell, author of My Kitchen Wars and Raising Steaks
These are powerful, intimate stories from some of the best war correspondents of our time--the kind of stories they tell each other about everyday life in some of the most difficult places on Earth. By seducing you with simple tales of food, your defenses are down, you get lost in a good tale, and then, suddenly, you realize that you are fascinated by and finally understand a part of the world that had previously just been confusing and overwhelming. With one great read after another, you will remember these scenes, these characters, for a long time.” Adam Davidson, founder and host, NPR's Planet Money
"The way to a nation's soul is through its stomach, and that is precisely the territory that these writers explore in this delightful anthology. Whether breaking bread with Palestinian militants, enduring army rations with US troops in Afghanistan or attempting to cook a turkey in Baghdad, they write with dollops of humanity, heapings of insight, and a dash of humor. Read this book but be forewarned: youll turn the last page hungry for more." Eric Weiner, author of The Geography of Bliss
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“In this riveting collection, correspondents share war stories through the lens of food and drink.”
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“A fascinating read.”
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“An exceptional choice for those who enjoy finding out the hidden culinary lives of the people whom we read about in the daily press. . . . Highly recommended.”
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“A fascinating read.” Amanda Gold
Synopsis
These sometimes harrowing, frequently funny, and always riveting stories about food and eating under extreme conditions feature the diverse voices of journalists who have reported from dangerous conflict zones around the world during the past twenty years. A profile of the former chef to Kim Jong Il of North Korea describes Kims exacting standards for gourmet fare, which he gorges himself on while his country starves. A journalist becomes part of the inner circle of an IRA cell thanks to his drinking buddies. And a young, inexperienced female journalist shares mud crab in a foxhole with an equally young Hamid Karzai. Along with tales of deprivation and repression are stories of generosity and pleasure, sometimes overlapping. This memorable collection, introduced and edited by Matt McAllester, is seasoned by tragedy and violence, spiced with humor and good will, and fortified, in McAllesters words, with a little more humanity than we can usually slip into our newspapers and magazine stories.”
About the Author
Matt McAllester is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and a contributing editor at Details magazine. He is the author of Bittersweet: Lessons from My Mothers Kitchen, Blinded by Sunlight: Surviving Abu Graib and Saddams Iraq, and Beyond the Mountains of the Damned: The War Inside Kosovo. He is also Visiting Professor of Journalism at the City University of New York Graduate School of Journalism, where he teaches international reporting. His website is www.mcallester.com.
Table of Contents
Introduction: The Name of the Third Chicken: Kosovo
Matt McAllester
Part One: Survival Rations
Night Light: El Salvador and Haiti
Lee Hockstader
A Diet for Dictators: North Korea
Barbara Demick
Siege Food: Bosnia
Janine di Giovanni
Miraculous Harvests: China
Isabel Hilton
Part Two: Insistent Hosts
How Harry Lost His Ear: Northern Ireland
Scott Anderson
Weighed down by a Good Meal: Gaza and Israel
Joshua Hammer
The Price of Oranges: Pakistan
Jason Burke
Jeweled Rice: Iran
Farnaz Fassihi
The Oversize Helmsman of an Undersize Country: Israel
Matt Rees
Part Three: Food under Fire
Same-Day Cow: Afghanistan
Tim Hetherington
Eau de Cadavre: Somalia and Rwanda
Sam Kiley
Eating Mud Crabs in Kandahar: Afghanistan
Christina Lamb
Munther Cannot Cook Your Turkey: Iraq
Rajiv Chandrasekaran
Part Four: Breaking Bread
The Best Man I Ever Knew: Georgia
Wendell Steavenson
Dinner with a Jester: Afghanistan
Jon Lee Anderson
Sugarland: Haiti
Amy Wilentz
My Life in Pagans: Ossetia
James Meek
The House of Bread: Bethlehem
Charles M. Sennott
Biographies
Acknowledgments
Index