Notes on a Banana, David Leite
Notes on a Banana, David Leite
1 Rating(s)
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Notes on a Banana
A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression

Author: David Leite

Narrator: David Leite

Unabridged: 11 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 04/11/2017


Synopsis

The stunning and long-awaited memoir from the beloved founder of the James Beard Award-winning website Leite’s Culinaria—a candid, courageous, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story of family, food, mental illness, and sexual identity.Born into a family of Azorean immigrants, David Leite grew up in the 1960s in a devoutly Catholic, blue-collar, food-crazed Portuguese home in Fall River, Massachusetts. A clever and determined dreamer with a vivid imagination and a flair for the dramatic, ""Banana"" as his mother endearingly called him, obsessed over proper hair care, yearned to live in a middle-class house with a swinging kitchen door like the ones on television, and fell in love with everything French, thanks to his Portuguese and French-Canadian godmother. But David also struggled with the emotional devastation of bipolar disorder. Until he was diagnosed in his mid-thirties, David found relief from his wild mood swings in cooking, Julia Child, and a Viking stove he named ""Thor.""Notes on a Banana is his heartfelt, unflinchingly honest, yet tender memoir of growing up, accepting himself, and turning his love of food into an award-winning career. Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life: from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to ""turn straight"" through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his twenty-three-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David’s readers as ""The One,"" which began with (what else?) food. Woven throughout these stories are the dishes David loves—the tastes that led him to happiness, health, and success.A blend of Kay Redfield Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind, the food memoirs of Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton, and the character-rich storytelling of Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Jenny Lawson, Notes on a Banana is a feast that dazzles, delights, and, ultimately, heals.

About David Leite

David Leite is a food writer, cookbook author, and web publisher. He founded Leite’s Culinaria (leitesculinaria.com) in 1999. In 2006, he had the distinction of being the first winner of a James Beard Award for a website, a feat he repeated in 2007. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, Pastry, Men’s Health, the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Sun-Times, and the Washington Post, among other publications. His first book, The New Portuguese Table, explored the food of his heritage and won the IACP’s 2010 First Book: Julia Child Award. David is also a frequent correspondent and guest host on public radio’s The Splendid Table. He has been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered and has appeared on United Stuff of America, Beat Bobby Flay, and the Today show. When no one is looking, he still dances in his underwear in the kitchen.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sara on July 09, 2018

I read this book for a new book group I am going to join soon. They read books about food, not necessarily cookbooks. This is their selection for July. So my first critique here may not be about the book at all, or even fair as regards the book. This book has very little to do with cooking. This book......more

Goodreads review by Alice on February 03, 2017

In a beautifully written memoir of self-discovery, David Leite takes us on a journey of finding the true balance in his heritage, his sexual orientation, his bi-polar disorder and his deep and abiding love of food. With the anchor of strong family and culture, the author mines the depths of mental i......more

Goodreads review by Glenn on April 11, 2017

I laughed, I cried, I smiled and I felt the emotional roller coaster of Davids life, love and mental health challenges.. David shares his love of those that provide a foundation to his development both in balance and relationships. From Barry to Paul, from Bridget to Ronnie, from Becca to Alan... Da......more

Goodreads review by Sarah on August 11, 2020

I laughed! I cried! I just really loved this memoir. Leite is such a charming, humorous, original, and piquant writer, even when writing about the ups and downs of living with undiagnosed bipolar II disorder. He so exceptionally depicted the physicality of a panic attack and the descent of anxiety a......more

Goodreads review by Meg on January 18, 2021

Absolutely beautifully written. Made me sob and laugh, which is the best kind of book in my opinion. Leite’s vivid and raw descriptions pull you directly into his emotional and mental state throughout the memoir. Peppered throughout are these luscious and striking food vignettes that instantly remin......more