A Literary Feast

By Lilly Golden

A Literary Feast is a sumptuous gathering of stories, essays, and excerpts that expound upon the art of eating, penned by some of the finest writers of our century. These twenty-seven pieces were chosen first for their literary quality and second for the gustatory pleasures they explore. They should prove excellent sustenance for those who are as passionate about reading as they are about eating. Our culinary appreciation - which has elevated food from a basic element required for survival to one of our foremost loves - has overflowed into the literary world. Gastronomy as a worthy subject has become a literary tradition. Well-laden tables that have long inspired the imaginations of readers are featured in A Literary Feast, in works like James Joyce's The Dead, Isak Dinesen's Babette's Feast, Virginia Woolf's wonderful dinner in To the Lighthouse, and Hunger Was Good Discipline from Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Also included are such writers as M. F. K. Fisher, A. J. Liebling, and Ludwig Bemelmans, who have delighted our appetites for literary food writing for decades. You'll find contemporary surprises as well, such as Thomas Pynchon's banana breakfast from Gravity's Rainbow and short stories by Tobias Wolff, John Hersey, Hortense Calisher, and V. S. Pritchett, who have now taken their places among the great fiction writers of our day. Whether fact or fiction, whether playful or serious, the tales herein offer delectable accounts of repasts great and small, extravagant and simple. Best of all, they are a joy to read. Sit down to A Literary Feast and share in its bounty.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0871135965
• ISBN13: 9780871135964
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.07 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 7.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Delicious

I purchased this book when it first came out in 1995, but as with most anthologies I have bought in the past it went straight into my bookcase. I only recently took it off the bookshelf and then I could not put it down. I relished it just like the authors relish good food and enjoy their dinner companions. I so much liked the story on the Provence I now purchased A Year in Provence and can hardly wait to start on that one.