Synopses & Reviews
In
An Extravagant Hunger, time slows and is relished, and the turning points and casual strolls of M.F.K. Fishers life are unwrapped and savored. From the
Berengaria that washed her across the sea to France in 1929, to Le Paquis, the Swiss estate that later provided a backdrop for some of the most idyllic and fleeting moments of her life, the stories of Fishers love for food and her love for family and men are meticulously researched and exquisitely captured in this book. Exploring Fishers lonely and formative time in Europe with her first husband; her subsequent divorce and re-marriage to her creative sparkplug, Dillwyn Parrish, and his tragic suicide; and the child she carried from an unnamed father, the story of M.F.K. Fishers life becomes as vibrant and passionate as her prolific words on wine and cuisine.
Letters and journal entries piece together a dramatic life, but An Extravagant Hunger steps further, bridging the gaps between personal notes and her public persona, filling in the silences by offering an engaging and unprecedented depth of intuitive commentary. With a passion of her own, Anne Zimmerman is the careful witness, lingering beside M.F.K. Fisher through her most dramatic and productive years.
Review
Praise for An Extravagant Hunger
"Zimmerman has captured the passionate apprenticeship and wandering years, with all their turmoil and pleasure interwoven with pain, which created such a marvelous writer and such an enduringly luminous woman." The Washington Post
"In her sympathetic yet critical biography of the life behind Fisher's celebrated writings, Zimmerman finds a passionate woman defined by 'lifelong hungers' . . . Focused, smart, and engaging." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
A "focused, smart, and engaging" look at the turbulent private life of the pioneering food writer who taught America the art of eating well (Publishers Weekly).
In An Extravagant Hunger, the turning points and casual strolls of M.F.K. Fisher's life are unwrapped and savored. From the RMS Berengaria that ferried her across the sea to France in 1929, to Le Paquis, the Swiss estate that later provided a backdrop for some of the most idyllic moments of her life, the stories of Fisher's love for food, family, and men are meticulously researched and exquisitely captured in this book. Exploring Fisher's formative time in Europe with her first husband; her subsequent divorce and remarriage to her creative spark plug, Dillwyn Parrish, and his tragic suicide; and the child she carried from an unnamed father, the story of M.F.K. Fisher's life becomes as vibrant and passionate as her prolific words on wine and cuisine.
Letters and journal entries piece together a dramatic life, but An Extravagant Hunger goes further, bridging the gaps between personal notes and her public persona, offering an engaging and unprecedented depth of intuitive commentary. With a passion of her own, Anne Zimmerman is the careful witness, lingering beside Fisher through her most dramatic and productive years.