MY FIRST POPSICLE

A collection of essays about our emotional connections to food.

Inspired by the video of a friend’s son enjoying a Popsicle for the first time, actor Mamet sought to create a book about a topic “ripe with associations.” She enlisted the help of contributors from diverse backgrounds in art and culture. Most of the essays capture an isolated moment in time, making the book perfect for reading in short, leisurely spurts. Unsurprisingly, grandmothers are prominent characters in several of the pieces. Katie Holmes reminisces about making peanut butter cookies with her grandmother; Clara Vivier writes about her Gramma Guerrero’s fresh flour tortillas; Naomi Fry recalls her grandmother’s flavorful roast chicken. At the beginning, Mamet states her goal: “to show that our relationship to food is varied and complicated and can span myriad emotions, and sometimes those emotions lead us to dark places.” Some of the essays are certainly serious in tone. Several writers contribute intimate stories of eating disorders, including Mamet herself. Ted Danson shares his first experience with bigotry; Rosie Perez shares the memory of her mother putting her in an orphanage; and Anita Lo offers her thoughts on eating and identity in light of the anti-Asian rhetoric of the Trump administration. Others take a decidedly lighter approach to the material. Jia Tolentino provides a recipe for chicken to be consumed after an acid trip; Andrew Rannells celebrates his mother’s Jell-O cake; Jess Rona discusses her simple morning coffee ritual; and John Leguizamo exalts the power of sancocho, a soup that will transport you “to a magical setting straight out of a Gabriel García Márquez novel.” It’s not all gustatory magic, but the book is an appealing reminder of the power of food. Other contributors include Patti Smith, Stephanie Danler, Gabourey Sidibe, Tony Hale, David Sedaris, and, perhaps inevitably, Ruth Reichl.

A good gift for foodies.