Synopses & Reviews
“A big juicy dish bubbling with scandals and rivalries, thickened with oft-told secrets, chock full of random bits as if a boxful of mementos had been upended into the stew. Dig in, and it is likely to persuade you that this Clark Kent of a food editor really did exert superpowers on the cultural life of twentieth-century America” (The Washington Post).From his first day on the job as the New York Times food critic, Craig Claiborne excited readers by introducing them to food worlds unknown, initiating them in the standards of the finest French cuisine as well as the tantalizing joys of foods from India, China, Mexico, and Spain. He extolled the pleasures of “exotic” ingredients like arugula and praised “newfangled” tools like the Cuisinart, which once he’d given his stamp of approval, became wildly popular. His good review of a restaurant guaranteed a full house for weeks, while a bad one might close a kitchen down.
But Claiborne’s life “was not all crÈme fraÎche,” (USA TODAY)—the passionate gastronome who gave Julia Child her first major book review and brought Jacques PÉpin into the national spotlight also led a deeply turbulent personal life, imprisoned in solitude and forced to mask his sexuality.
Thomas McNamee offers a lively and vivid account of Claiborne’s extraordinary adventure in food. More than an engrossing biography, this is the story of the country’s transition from enchantment with frozen TV dinners to a new consciousness of truly good cooking.
Review
"Craig Claiborne was the greatest influence of my professional life in America.
Review
“Thomas McNamee's intensive research, his determined digging in the archives and memories of the major players, brings back the joy, the triumphs, the Hamptons bacchanals of Craig Claiborne—the man who invented professional restaurant criticism.”
—Gael Greene, author of Insatiable: Tales from a Life of Delicious Excess
Review
“
The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat assures that a poignant life whose meaning so impacted the restaurant world will not be permitted to fade from our collective memories. Bravo Thomas McNamee for illuminating the erudite gentleman who paved the way for today’s legion of professional restaurant reviewers, as well as for an entire generation of amateur critics who now daily express their judgments on every platform the Internet provides. This must-read book profiles Claiborne’s turbulent, brilliant, and unscripted life - which had such a profound and enduring impacton a huge swath of American culture
.” —Danny Meyer, author of Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
Review
“Craig Claiborne was the greatest influence of my professional life in America. Knowledgeable, dedicated, and driven, he was determined to better American eating habits. As Thomas McNamee nicely portrays in
The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat, Claiborne's impact on the culinary revolution of the last forty years cannot be ignored or overstated.”
—Jacques Pépin
Synopsis
In 1957, America was a gastronomic wasteland. One man changed all that.
From his perch at the New York Times, Craig Claiborne led America’s food revolution. He took readers where they had never been before, and brought Julia Child and Jacques Pépin to national acclaim. He introduced us to the foods and tools we take for granted today, from crème fraîche and balsamic vinegar to arugula and the salad spinner. And he turned dinner into an event—dining out, delighting your friends, or simply cooking for your family.
But the passionate gastronome led a conflicted personal life. Forced to mask his sexuality, he was imprisoned in solitude and searched for stable and lasting love. In The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat, acclaimed biographer Thomas McNamee unfolds a new history of American gastronomy and reveals in full a great man who until now has never been truly known.
About the Author
Thomas McNamee is the author of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. His writing has been published in The New Yorker, Life, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He lives in San Francisco.