The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat, Thomas McNamee
The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat, Thomas McNamee
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The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat
Craig Claiborne and the American Food Renaissance

Author: Thomas McNamee

Narrator: Dick Hill

Unabridged: 12 hr 57 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 05/28/2012


Synopsis

In the 1950s, America was a land of overdone roast beef and canned green beans—a gastronomic wasteland. Most restaurants relied on frozen, second-rate ingredients and served bogus "Continental" cuisine. Authentic French, Italian, and Chinese foods were virtually unknown. There was no such thing as food criticism at the time, and no such thing as a restaurant critic. Cooking at home wasn't thought of as a source of pleasure. Guests didn't chat around the kitchen. Professional equipment and cookware were used only in restaurants. One man changed all that.

From the bestselling author of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse comes the first biography of the passionate gastronome and troubled genius who became the most powerful force in the history of American food—the founding father of the American food revolution. From his first day in 1957 as the food editor of the New York Times, Craig Claiborne was going to take his readers where they had never been before. Claiborne extolled the pleasures of exotic cuisines from all around the world, and with his inspiration, restaurants of every ethnicity blossomed. So many things we take for granted now were introduced to us by Claiborne—crème fraîche, arugula, balsamic vinegar, the Cuisinart, chef's knives, even the salad spinner.

He would give Julia Child her first major book review. He brought Paul Bocuse, the Troisgros brothers, Paul Prudhomme, and Jacques Pépin to national acclaim. His $4,000 dinner for two in Paris was a front-page story in the Times and scandalized the world. And while he defended the true French nouvelle cuisine against bastardization, he also reveled in a well-made stew or a good hot dog. He made home cooks into stars—Marcella Hazan, Madhur Jaffrey, Diana Kennedy, and many others. And Claiborne made dinner an event—whether dining out, delighting your friends, or simply cooking for your family. His own dinner parties were legendary.

Claiborne was the perfect Mississippi gentleman, but his inner life was one of conflict and self-doubt. Constrained by his position to mask his sexuality, he was imprisoned in solitude, never able to find a stable and lasting love. Through Thomas McNamee's painstaking research and eloquent storytelling, The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat unfolds a history that is largely unknown and also tells the full, deep story of a great man who until now has never been truly known at all.

About Thomas McNamee

Thomas McNamee studied writing at Yale under the tutelage of Robert Penn Warren. He is the author of Alice Waters and Chez Panisse, The Return of the Wolf to Yellowstone, A Story of Deep Delight, Nature First, and The Grizzly Bear. Thomas's essays, poems, and natural history writing have been published in Audubon, the New Yorker, Life, Natural History, High Country News, the New York Times, the Washington Post, Saveur, and a number of literary journals. He wrote the documentary film Alexander Calder, which received both a George W. Peabody Award and an Emmy. Thomas lives in San Francisco.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Lisa on July 20, 2012

I was excited when I found I had won this book on first reads, but honestly, if I had just picked it up at the library, I wouldn't have finished it. To be fair, there were portions of the book that I found interesting, and by the end, I did agree with the author that it appears that Claiborne did ha......more

Goodreads review by Lauren on June 25, 2013

I really wanted to love this book. Craig Claiborne is such a fascinating figure in America's food culture and his story is a unique one, but the terrible writing in this book ruins the entire thing. The author will occasionally chime in with colloquial phrases or cliche phrases (a particularly terri......more

Goodreads review by Louise on June 25, 2012

(2.5 stars) The subject-matter was interesting, but the uneven writing was a hurdle. At its best, the writing was readable. At its worst, it was full of name-dropping, long lists, and inconsistent tone. The book followed the general timeline of Claiborne's life, but went off on abrupt tangents. Most......more

Goodreads review by Beth on November 06, 2013

Lively writing, marred slightly by the breeziness currently characteristic of non-fiction; mostly charming, but the charm is occasionally shallow. Routinely calling the subject of a biography by his first name is acceptable only when the writer knew the subject personally. Still, a thorough book, es......more

Goodreads review by Ellen on October 11, 2014

Interesting insight on the evolution of the food scene (commercial and at home)in the 2nd 1/2 of the 20th Century and how this NYTimes writer was instrumental in this process. If you're a foodie, you'll appreciate the history lesson.......more