Hunger Like a Thirst, Besha Rodell
Hunger Like a Thirst, Besha Rodell
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Hunger Like a Thirst
From Food Stamps to Fine Dining, a Restaurant Critic Finds Her Place at the Table

Author: Besha Rodell

Narrator: Besha Rodell

Unabridged: 7 hr 33 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/13/2025


Synopsis

Written and read by food writer and New York Times contributor Besha Rodell—(formerly) one of the world’s last anonymous restaurant critics—comes this this witty and lively memoir.

When Besha Rodell moved from Australia to the United States with her mother at fourteen, she was a foreigner in a new land, missing her friends, her father, and the food she grew up eating. In the years that followed, Rodell began waitressing and discovered the buzz of the restaurant world, immersing herself in the lifestyle and community while struggling with the industry’s shortcomings. As she built a family, Rodell realized her dream, though only a handful of women before her had done it: to make a career as a restaurant critic.

From the streets of Brooklyn to lush Atlanta to sunny Los Angeles to traveling and eating around the world, and, finally, home to Australia, Rodell takes us on a delicious, raw, and fascinating journey through her life and career and explores the history of criticism and dining and the cultural shifts that have turned us all into food obsessives. Hunger Like a Thirst shares stories of the joys and hardships of Rodell’s coming-of-age, the amazing (and sometimes terrible) meals she ate along the way, and the dear friends she made in each restaurant, workplace, and home.

A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

About Besha Rodell

Besha Rodell is a James Beard Award–winning food writer, editor, and restaurant critic who has been obsessed with eating out since she was a child. Born in Australia in a bungalow on a farm her father dubbed Narnia, she moved to the United States as a teenager. She has been writing professionally for more than two decades, and her work has appeared in numerous publications, including The New York Times, Food & Wine, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Travel + Leisure, PUNCH, Eater, Gravy, and many others. She was the restaurant critic at LA Weekly and was a critic and columnist for The New York Times, where she is still a regular contributor. In 2019 Besha was tapped by Food & Wine to be their global critic, traveling the world solo to pick the best restaurants for an annual list. She is currently the chief restaurant critic at The Age, the daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia. Besha moved back to Australia in 2017, and lives in Melbourne with her husband, Ryan; her parrot, Chobi; and a rotating menagerie of foster cats.


Reviews

Goodreads review by *TUDOR^QUEEN* on May 07, 2025

I do enjoy reading about the food industry- specifically restaurants and all its behind-the-scenes prep work, inner machinations, hookups, the challenging long hours of a chef, wait staff, reservationist, hostess...etc. This memoir takes us on a different tangent with a woman who becomes a food crit......more

Goodreads review by Moira on April 24, 2025

Thank you @Celadonbooks for the ARC book. I truly enjoyed getting a look into a food reviewer's life, mind, and day to day activity. My husband &I like to enjoy a great meal as a treat - so enjoyed Besha’s stories. We get a look into her life - starting as a child in Australia, then moving a lot of t......more

Goodreads review by The Bookish Elf on May 18, 2025

In the increasingly homogenized world of food writing, where Instagram aesthetics often trump substance, Besha Rodell's memoir "Hunger Like a Thirst" arrives like an unexpectedly perfect meal at an unassuming roadside diner. It's honest, unpretentious, and leaves you feeling both nourished and conte......more

Goodreads review by Kitchen on March 27, 2025

Perhaps you’ve gone to a restaurant where the tables were so close together that you felt like you were on an awkward couples blind date. Or perhaps you’ve dined out and $200 later walked away hungry, agitated, and with buyers remorse. You might take to social media to complain, or maybe you’ll post......more

Goodreads review by Kathryn on March 23, 2025

I really enjoyed this book! I loved reading about Besha's life and the food reviews and articles were fascinating. I loved that she didn't want to just review the high end restaurants, it made it more relatable. It also made me understand how hard it can be to be a food critic. It was definitely an......more


Quotes

"This hearty, heartfelt missive will appeal to anyone who likes to wax poetic about a memorable meal."
—Publishers Weekly