Dine with beloved writers in this 'utterly charming' (Nina Stibbe) new anthology of their very own favourite recipes, introduced by Bee Wilson. Agatha Christie's hot bean salad. Jack Kerouac's green pea soup. Joan Didion's Mexican chicken. Allen Ginsberg's cold summer borscht. Daphne du Maurier's sloe gin. Christopher Isherwood's brownies. George Orwell's plum cake. Have you ever wondered what your favourite classic authors cooked - whether as an intimate snack for one or as their showstopping dinner party special? Here's your chance to wine and dine with the world's most famous writers in a gorgeous new collection of their most-loved recipes, curated from their archives, letters and diaries. Whet your appetite: there are culinary treats and eccentricities in store ...
Since her death in 1963, Sylvia Plath has become an endless source of fascination for a wide audience, ranging from readers of The Bell Jar, her semiautobiographical novel, to her groundbreaking poetry as exemplified by Ariel. Beyond her writing, however, interest in Plath was also fueled in part by the nature of her death—a suicide while she was estranged from her husband, Ted Hughes, who was himself a noteworthy British poet. As a result, a steady stream of biographies of Plath, projecting an array of points of view about their subject, has appeared over the last fifty-five years. Now biographer Carl Rollyson, the author of two previous biographical studies of Plath, has surveyed the vast amount of material on Plath, including her biographies, her autobiographical writings, and previously unpublished material, and distilled that data into the two volumes of Sylvia Plath Day by Day. As the follow-up to volume 1, volume 2 commences on February 14, 1955, the day Plath wrote to her mother declaring her intention to study in England, a decision that marked a major turning point in her life. With brief signposts provided by the author, this volume follows Plath through the entirety of her marriage to Hughes, the challenges of simultaneously raising a family and nourishing her own creativity, and the major depressive episodes that ultimately led to her suicide in 1963. By providing new angles and perspectives on the life of one of the twentieth century’s most celebrated poets, Sylvia Plath Day by Day offers a comprehensive image of its enigmatic subject.
'You could cook from it over a whole lifetime, and still be learning' Nigella Lawson 'A rigorous, nuts-and-bolts bible of a book' Jay Rayner, Observer 'Lateral Cooking...uncovers the very syntax of cookery' Yotam Ottolenghi 'Astonishing and totally addictive' Brian Eno The groundbreaking book that reveals the principles underpinning all recipe creation, from the author of the bestselling The Flavour Thesaurus Do you feel you that you follow recipes slavishly without understanding how they actually work? Would you like to feel freer to adapt, to experiment, to play with flavours? Niki Segnit, author of the landmark book The Flavour Thesaurus, gives you the tools to do just that. Lateral Cooking is organised into 77 'starting-point' recipes, including plenty of tips for substituting ingredients and reducing the phenomenal variety of world cuisine down to its bare essentials – and then building it back up again. So, under 'Bread', we learn that flatbreads, oatcakes, buckwheat noodles, chapattis and tortillas are all variations on one theme. A few simple tweaks and you can make soda bread, scones or cobbler. And so on, through breads and batters, broths, stews and dals, one dish leading to another. Lateral Cooking is as inspirational and entertaining a read as it is a practical guide. Once you have the hang of each starting point, a wealth of new flavour combinations awaits, each related in Niki's signature combination of culinary science, history, chefs' wisdom and personal anecdote. You will realise that recipes that you had thought were outside of your experience are reassuringly similar to things you've made a dozen times before. It will give you the confidence to experiment with flavour, and the variations that follow are a springboard of inspiration to the contents of your fridge and kitchen cupboards. You will, in short, learn to cook 'by heart'– and that's where the fun really begins.
This beautiful volume offers a range of research possibilities for practitioners. Bringing together the work of a community of scholars whose work blurs the edges between the arts and social sciences in the name of practice-based inquiry, Creative Practitioner Inquiry in the Helping Professions offers engaging and accessible exemplars alongside clear explanations of the theoretical understandings and backgrounds to the approaches offered. The book’s contributors are teachers, doctors, social workers, counsellors, psychotherapists, health and community workers and organisational consultants; together they passionately engage in arts-based research as an effective and accessible instrument of inquiry, knowledge dissemination and social change.
Chart your progress, organize your library, and get inspired with this journal for avid readers from Mental Floss! Having trouble keeping track of the books in your life? Ever buy a book you’ve already read—or recommend one book when you meant another? The Curious Reader Journal for Book Lovers helps organize bulging bookshelves, provides space to record and rate titles, and helps you reflect on past favorites. The Mental Floss team also entertains and inspires bibliophiles with prize-winning book lists, quotes about writing and reading, and the tomes famous authors admire, along with guided entries such as: “My Favorite Books This Year,” “Titles Ideal for a Book Club,” “Literary Places I’d Like to Visit,” “Books I Loved as a Child,” “Who I’d Invite to a Literary Dinner Party,” “Books I Hate That Everyone Loves,” and “The Most Romantic Book I’ve Read.” The Curious Reader Journal for Book Lovers is a perfect gift for Goodreads addicts, book club members, librarians and teachers, and all lovers of literature.
NB by J. C., a collection of James Campbell’s best columns from the TLS, is a guide to the literary pleasures and absurdities of the past two decades. For over twenty years, James Campbell wrote the popular NB column on the back page of The Times Literary Supplement, signing it “J. C.” The initials were not intended as a disguise, but to provide freedom to the persona. “J. C.” was irreverent, whimsical, occasionally severe. The column had a low tolerance for the literary sins of pomposity, hypocrisy, and cant. It took aim at contemporary absurdities resulting from identity politics or from academic jargon. Readers of NB by J. C. will find not only an off-beat guide to our cultural times, but entries from The TLS Reviewer’s Handbook, which offered regular advice on the cultivation of a good writing style. “Above all, aspire to the Three E’s: elegance, eloquence, and entertainment.” The Introduction offers a history of the TLS from its beginnings through its precarious stages of adaptation and survival. “The secret of J. C.’s weekly column is its unique mix of anonymity with intimacy: this ‘stranger’, whom we meet over our morning coffee, is the most discreet and delightful of guides to what’s happening―good or mostly bad―in the literary world, with all its pretensions, follies, and occasional triumphs. I especially relished J. C.’s prizes―for the worst prose or the silliest blurb. Then again, leave it to J. C. to find the rare edition, the forgotten book of poems that deserves another look. True wit, coupled with wisdom: it’s the rarest of writerly feats.”―Marjorie Perloff, author of The Vienna Paradox: A Memoir “I receive immense pleasure from J. C.’s columns. Something more than pleasure: warmth, laughter, gratitude (especially when he is nailing academic unreadability).”—Vivian Gornick, author of Unfinished Business: Notes of a Chronic Re-Reader "For many years, Campbell appeared each week in the Times Literary Supplement, where his back-page essay—ironic, bookish and irresistibly entertaining—was every subscriber’s favorite feature."—Michael Dirda, Washington Post, on James Campbell's NB column
Organized like a cookbook, Books that Cook: The Making of a Literary Meal is a collection of American literature written on the theme of food: from an invocation to a final toast, from starters to desserts. All food literatures are indebted to the form and purpose of cookbooks, and each section begins with an excerpt from an influential American cookbook, progressing chronologically from the late 1700s through the present day, including such favorites as American Cookery, the Joy of Cooking, and Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The literary works within each section are an extension of these cookbooks, while the cookbook excerpts in turn become pieces of literature--forms of storytelling and memory-making all their own. Each section offers a delectable assortment of poetry, prose, and essays, and the selections all include at least one tempting recipe to entice readers to cook this book. Including writing from such notables as Maya Angelou, James Beard, Alice B. Toklas, Sherman Alexie, Nora Ephron, M.F.K. Fisher, and Alice Waters, among many others, Books that Cook reveals the range of ways authors incorporate recipes--whether the recipe flavors the story or the story serves to add spice to the recipe. Books that Cook is a collection to serve students and teachers of food studies as well as any epicure who enjoys a good meal alongside a good book.
"With sumptuous, visually stimulating spreads, this book delivers on its promise– to unearth strange stories, bizarre facts, or unexpected details about the books on our shelves. Good for curious readers, whether they want to delve into authors and books they love, feel competent faking knowledge about books everyone else seems to have read, or just dip into and out of literary worlds" – Library Journal Readers rejoice! From Mental Floss, an online destination for more than a billion curious minds since its founding in 2001, comes the ultimate book for lovers of literature. From Americanah to War and Peace, from Chinua Achebe and Jane Austen to Jesmyn Ward and George R.R. Martin, learn surprising facts about the world’s most famous novels and novelists. The Curious Reader will delight bookworms everywhere. This literary compendium from Mental Floss reveals fascinating facts about the world’s most famous authors and their literary works. Readers will learn about George Orwell’s near-death experience during the writing of 1984; meet the real man who may have inspired Pride and Prejudice’s Mr. Darcy; discover which famous author kept her husband’s heart after he passed away; and learn about the influence of psychedelics on Dune. The Curious Reader also contains the most-loved book-related articles from 20 years of Mental Floss, including “Cat-Loving Writers,” “Famous Authors’ Unfinished Manuscripts,” “Literary Characters Based on Real People,” and “Books You Didn’t Know Were Self-Published.” This literary miscellany is certain to inspire book lovers, aspiring writers, students, and teachers alike to discover a diverse selection of curated literary works—leading to an expansion of their library!
A FINANCIAL TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 2017 'This is the first physical manifestation of a much-loved online magazine that is a monument to Fox's obsessions. One for the bedside table.' - FINANCIAL TIMES 'This book is the product of a ludicrously obsessive and greedy mind - it is therefore an utter joy.' - JAY RAYNER 'Your consummate culinary guide' - THE GUARDIAN 'A vital work from a keen mind full to brimming with wonderful thoughts and ideas.' - JEREMY LEE 'The most original, entertaining and downright fascinating book.' - DAVE BROOM 'Exercise caution before you buy this book. In fact, be careful about even flipping it open. You think Instagram is addictive? Ha. This book is as essential and educational as it is delightful and weird, and I need someone to come rescue me immediately because I cannot seem to put the damn thing down.' - JEFF GORDINIER, FOOD & DRINKS EDITOR, ESQUIRE MAGAZINE 'Going beyond the usual food fixations, the book is presented in a fresh, visually inventive style that will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in food.' - DARINA ALLEN, IRISH EXAMINER gannet noun 1. a large seabird with mainly white plumage, which catches fish by plunging into the water. 2. British informal, a greedy person. The Gannet's Gastronomic Miscellany goes beyond the usual food fixations. Presented in a fresh, visually inventive style, it will appeal to anyone with a passing interest in food - which, in this gastronomy-obsessed age, is pretty much all of us. In this compendious hotpot of a book you'll find a guide to creating a hit food profile on Instagram, a cross-section of a tiffin box, an explainer on craft beer, the origin story of Chicken Marengo, a list of millennia-old products that are still edible today (should you be brave enough to try Irish bog butter or Ancient Egyptian honey) and many more delightful nuggets of information.
