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A review by emscji
Eat, Memory: Great Writers at the Table: A Collection of Essays from the New York Times by Amanda Hesser
3.0
2/15/12: This is a collection--"Best of", I'd guess--of short essays written for the "Eat, Memory" column in the New York Times Magazine. Edited by Amanda Hesser (who also edited the column while it ran), it covers a wide range of authors and topics, though all focus on the theme of memories and food.
A quick read, but there are some lovely surprises in here; it is amazing how evocative smell and taste can be, bringing to mind memories of place and time and family. Just as Proust tells us! Also, it's interesting how often a sense of loss pervades these essays: loss of innocence, of loved ones, of appetites, of a taste for ice cream…. So it's particularly helpful to read these essays all together; it's easier to note their similarities, their common tendency to make food into something intensely meaningful. I suppose Duh, that was the whole idea of the assignment--but often an assignment is easier said than done, and these essays about the authors' experiences succeed in their mission. The best ones manage to be both personal and universal--the best kind of personal essay.
A quick read, but there are some lovely surprises in here; it is amazing how evocative smell and taste can be, bringing to mind memories of place and time and family. Just as Proust tells us! Also, it's interesting how often a sense of loss pervades these essays: loss of innocence, of loved ones, of appetites, of a taste for ice cream…. So it's particularly helpful to read these essays all together; it's easier to note their similarities, their common tendency to make food into something intensely meaningful. I suppose Duh, that was the whole idea of the assignment--but often an assignment is easier said than done, and these essays about the authors' experiences succeed in their mission. The best ones manage to be both personal and universal--the best kind of personal essay.