In this piquant platter of a book, von Bremzen tackles questions of culture, history, and the meaning of a good meal.
An award-winning food journalist searches for the connection between a nation’s people and what they eat.
Is it food that defines the culture or the culture that defines the food? Von Bremzen—a three-time James Beard Award winner and author of the memoir, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking, as well as multiple cookbooks—wonders if there can still be national dishes in the age of globalization and convenience foods. In her travels around the world, she has found plenty of evidence of distinctiveness, and she demonstrates how the idea of the national dish is often opposed by aggressive regionalism. She strolls through the back streets of Naples looking for the origins of pizza and pasta, and she discusses the connection between religion and tapas in Seville. Her vivid narrative is packed with intriguing characters, and in some countries, conversations about the food can be as important as the dish itself. The author finds much to admire about Oaxacan cuisine, and although Mexican dishes are often seen as bold and spicy, she is particularly impressed by the subtlety of atole (“a pre-Hispanic maize drink”) and the mysterious rituals attached to it. She finds street food more authentic than Michelin-star fanciness, a point that is made clear with her explorations of rice and ramen in Japan. Paris proves to be a disappointment, apparently stuck in a cul-de-sac of nostalgia and factionalism. There is still plenty of good food in the City of Lights, but it seems to have lost its luster. Von Bremzen obviously enjoys these cross-cultural discussions and disputes, although she does not really find answers to the questions she initially asked. Eventually, her travels bring her back to the U.S. and, ironically, to the Slavic dishes she grew up with.
In this piquant platter of a book, von Bremzen tackles questions of culture, history, and the meaning of a good meal.Pub Date: June 20, 2023
ISBN: 9780735223165
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Penguin Press
Review Posted Online: March 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.
A former New York City dancer reflects on her zesty heyday in the 1970s.
Discovered on a Manhattan street in 2020 and introduced on Stanton’s Humans of New York Instagram page, Johnson, then 76, shares her dynamic history as a “fiercely independent” Black burlesque dancer who used the stage name Tanqueray and became a celebrated fixture in midtown adult theaters. “I was the only black girl making white girl money,” she boasts, telling a vibrant story about sex and struggle in a bygone era. Frank and unapologetic, Johnson vividly captures aspects of her former life as a stage seductress shimmying to blues tracks during 18-minute sets or sewing lingerie for plus-sized dancers. Though her work was far from the Broadway shows she dreamed about, it eventually became all about the nightly hustle to simply survive. Her anecdotes are humorous, heartfelt, and supremely captivating, recounted with the passion of a true survivor and the acerbic wit of a weathered, street-wise New Yorker. She shares stories of growing up in an abusive household in Albany in the 1940s, a teenage pregnancy, and prison time for robbery as nonchalantly as she recalls selling rhinestone G-strings to prostitutes to make them sparkle in the headlights of passing cars. Complemented by an array of revealing personal photographs, the narrative alternates between heartfelt nostalgia about the seedier side of Manhattan’s go-go scene and funny quips about her unconventional stage performances. Encounters with a variety of hardworking dancers, drag queens, and pimps, plus an account of the complexities of a first love with a drug-addled hustler, fill out the memoir with personality and candor. With a narrative assist from Stanton, the result is a consistently titillating and often moving story of human struggle as well as an insider glimpse into the days when Times Square was considered the Big Apple’s gloriously unpolished underbelly. The book also includes Yee’s lush watercolor illustrations.
A blissfully vicarious, heartfelt glimpse into the life of a Manhattan burlesque dancer.Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-27827-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2022
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.
Documenting perilous times.
In his most recent behind-the-scenes account of political power and how it is wielded, Woodward synthesizes several narrative strands, from the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection and Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel to the 2024 presidential campaign. Woodward’s clear, gripping storytelling benefits from his legendary access to prominent figures and a structure of propulsive chapters. The run-up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is tense (if occasionally repetitive), as a cast of geopolitical insiders try to divine Vladimir Putin’s intent: “Doubt among allies, the public and among Ukrainians meant valuable time and space for Putin to maneuver.” Against this backdrop, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham implores Donald Trump to run again, notwithstanding the former president’s denial of his 2020 defeat. This provides unwelcome distraction for President Biden, portrayed as a thoughtful, compassionate lifetime politico who could not outrace time, as demonstrated in the June 2024 debate. Throughout, Trump’s prevarications and his supporters’ cynicism provide an unsettling counterpoint to warnings provided by everyone from former Joint Chief of Staff Mark Milley to Vice President Kamala Harris, who calls a second Trump term a likely “death knell for American democracy.” The author’s ambitious scope shows him at the top of his capabilities. He concludes with these unsettling words: “Based on my reporting, Trump’s language and conduct has at times presented risks to national security—both during his presidency and afterward.”
An engrossing and ominous chronicle, told by a master of the form.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2024
ISBN: 9781668052273
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
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