Synopses & Reviews
Simon Majumdar is probably not your typical idea of an immigrant. As he says, Im well rested, not particularly poor, and the only time I ever encounter huddled masses is in line at Costco.” But immigrate he did, and thanks to a Homeland Security agent who asked if he planned to make it official, the journey chronicled in Fed, White, and Blue was born. In it, Simon sets off on a trek across the United States to find out what it really means to become an American, using what he knows best: food. Simon stops in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to learn about what the pilgrims ate (and that playing Wampanoag football with large men is to be avoided); a Shabbat dinner in Kansas; Wisconsin to make cheese (and get sprayed with hot whey); and LA to cook at a Filipino restaurant in the hope of making his in-laws proud. Simon attacks with gusto the food cultures that make up Americabrewing beer, farming, working at a food bank, and even finding himself at a tailgate. Full of heart, humor, history, and of course, food, Fed, White, and Blue is a warm, funny, and inspiring portrait of becoming American.
Review
Praise for Simon Majumdar
“The dangerously obsessive, staggeringly knowledgeable, provocative and opinionated Simon Majumdar knows his shit. No question about it….Plus—the bastard can write.”—Anthony Bourdain, author of Kitchen Confidential and Medium Raw
“I have crisscrossed this country a dozen times by car, by motorcycle, by train and light aircraft. I've eaten a thousand meals from the glaciers of Alaska to the bars of Key West. And if Simon Majumdar asked me to join him on a journey across that same edible landscape tomorrow, I'd go without hesitation, because, every mile (and meal) would be new again.”—Alton Brown, host of Iron Chef and Cutthroat Kitchen
“Simon Majumdars opinions often drive me nuts, but I usually let him get away with it. In part, its because he really knows about food, but even more so, its because he is so entertaining. I loved what he had to say about the rest of the world and I cant wait to hear what he has to say about America.”—Michael Symon, Iron Chef and co-host of The Chew
“The Indiana Jones for the foodie set.”—Andrew Friedman, co-editor of Don't Try This at Home
Review
"It was a great surprise when, in 2004,
The New York Times transferred Frank Bruni from his job as the paper's Rome bureau chief to the paper's restaurant critic. The journalist had made a name for himself covering the 2000 campaign and, later, foreign affairs. But what did he know about food? As it turned out, more than most. As Bruni would later write, "My life-defining relationship, after all, wasn't with a parent, a sibling, a teacher, a mate. It was with my stomach." . . . .[Born Round ] reads entirely differently from anything we've seen lately. The book does not contain paeans to the glories of locavorism. It's not a tale of bawdy kitchen exploits, or of finding your true self over a bowl of pasta in Rome . . . His memoir tells a story of food addiction, eating disorders, and a lifelong struggle with his voracious appetite . . . Born Round makes for a breezy read. Even at its darkest, it goes down easy . . . After reading Bruni for years, it feels odd to suddenly know his secrets, which put his reviews in a new context. His pieces were always well written, but hinted little of the big, funny personality that shines in the book."
--Village Voice
"It reads like a novel, resonates like true life, and resounds with a wise life perspective."
-Barbara Jacobs, Booklist, starred review
"Amongst all the 'foodie' books which have been published lately-praising food, relishing food, exploring food, celebrating food-Frank Bruni's memoir stands utterly alone. This book is an intricate, honest and sometimes painful examination of one man's extremely complex lifelong relationship with eating, and with over-eating. What happens when a professional dieter-one who has struggled since childhood with binging, fasting, shame and other extreme forms of caloric anxiety-is invited, ironically enough, to become a professional food critic? There is much pathos in this story, and humor, and ultimately wisdom. I have always admired Frank Bruni in the past; I only admire him more now, for this brave piece of culinary truth-telling."
- Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love
"Frits, false mustaches, and sleep broiling? In warmth, breadth, and beautiful writing, Born Round is-to borrow a phrase-Flintsonian."
- David Sedaris, author of Me Talk Pretty One Day and When You Are Engulfed in Flames
"A book about rambunctious hunger and appetite-for life as much as food-that is underscored with a profound yearning. Born Round is, quite simply, beautifully written and makes for greedy reading. It sounds like the most terrible clichT to say 'I devoured it,' but I did!"
- Nigella Lawson, author of How to Be a Domestic Goddess and Nigella Bites
"Frank Bruni has written a food memoir for our time, plumbing the depths of our personal and collective eating disorders. By turns shocking and hilarious, Born Round is as addictive as Chinese sesame noodles and as satisfying as Grandma Bruni's lasagne."- Michael Pollan, author The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food
"Born Round is delizioso! If this book were a restaurant, people would be lined up around the block to get in. This is a moving, joyous and poignant memoir filled with unforgettable characters and a story to savor. Frank Bruni, the full-time eater, has a full-time fan."
- Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Lucia, Lucia andVery Valentine
"Born Round is a lovely and very funny memoir of one man's lifelong struggles with food and weight. I laughed out loud a number of times, and groaned with recognition of both my own madness and healing. I love Mr. Bruni's stories about his family, his secret life, his friends, his path through the swamps and morass of overeating, and most of all, his quietly brilliant writing."
- Anne Lamott, author of Grace (Eventually) and Traveling Mercies
"Anyone who has ever eaten a huge and delicious meal, gone on a diet, or--best of all-eaten a huge and delicious meal while on a diet will relish this charming memoir. Frank Bruni's wit and candor as he recounts his lifelong love-hate relationship with food will make you laugh, wince, and covet the chance to be his dinner companion."
- Curtis Sittenfeld, author of Prep and American Wife
Publisher's Weekly Pick of the Week, 7/6/2009:
Man of Mangia
Outgoing New York Times restaurant critic Bruni admits he was even a baby bulimic in his extraordinary memoir about a lifelong battle with weight problems. To his Southern Italian paternal grandmother, food equaled love. Cooking and parenting from Old World traditions, she passed these maternal and culinary principles on to her WASP daughter-in-law, whose own weight struggles her son eventually inherited. Through adolescence, puberty and into college, Bruni oscillated from gluttonous binges to adult bulimia, including laxative abuse. Vocationally, journalism called, first through the college paper, then a progression of internships and staff positions in Detroit and New York, including his stints as a Bush campaign reporter in 2000 and as the Times Rome correspondent. In tandem, Bruni's powerlessness over his appetite developed from cafeteria meals to Chinese delivery binges to sleep eating. While Bruni includes such entertaining bits as the campaign trail seen through Weight Watcher lens and ample meals from his years as the Times restaurant critic, in the end, his is a powerful, honest book about desire, shame, identity and self-image. (Sept.)
About the Author
SIMON MAJUMDAR