The Gastronomical Me

Just as described. The book was in very good shape, very readable, and arrived quickly. Thank you.

So we’ll written and a great gift for a foodie.

This is a great read for food lovers and francophiles. It isnt really a travel book at all, but Fisher's highly personal and frequently witty account of the experiences that shaped her thinking and made her one of the most noted food writers of the 20th century.Fisher was an American, and her adult life in France began in 1929 when she and her new husband moved to Dijon. One quickly appreciates how difficult her experiences as a newcomer must have been -- no stove, no refrigerator, no heating in winter. Some reviewers didn't like the way the book left gaps in her personal life story. That's true, but it isnt a standard biography, it's a literary sketch book.If you're looking for a travel book, this isn't one. Stylistically, because this book was written 65 or 70 years ago, there is no comparison between it and much later accounts of spending a year in Provence, touring the wine country, or houseboating on the Seine.Finally, one reviewer here thought the last part of the book about her time in Mexico seemed out of place. I agree, so if you get the book and read everything but the bit about the Mexican soujourn, you will have gotten to the heart of what I think she wanted us to know, anyway.

The very first story and the very last will stay with me forever but everything in between is a bit soft.

This is a replacement for a book I lost in moving. I love, adore MFK Fisher! There are 2 essays in the book that I have read and re-read and will read again: one called "Define This Word" from 1936, and another called "I Remember Three Restauants" from about the same time, are stories that get inside your head and snuggle down for a nap, to awaken at unforseen moments.MFK Fisher has largely been forgotten now, I'm afraid, but in my mind is of the same stature of Julia Child, although earlier: b. in1908 and d. in '92, she traveled and cooked and wrote.

Learning about MFK Fisher was a great discovery for me -- she was a very puzzling and interesting character. Wonderfully written memoirs.

M.F.K. Fisher's writing is graceful and vivid in this lovely little book. One can picture, indeed almost taste, the wonderful peach pie she describes having had as a child. A delightful read, highly recommended.

First I should admit I'm not a usual fan of MFK Fisher. I find her rambling and neurotic style a bit unsettling. Even in this book, one minute she's a snob and the next minute ... well I don't want to give it away. Nonethless, I loved it through and through. Much less neurotic or rambling than her other stuff. Marvelous stories. Wonderful points of view coming through. I really loved the story about that cook in her childhood who ... okay, I won't tell. If you like autobiography, this is a good one.

The descriptions of food are marvellous but the narrator comes across as rather arrogant and I ultimately lost interest

Lively absorbing stories about people, places and food in France before WW2

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher has a fulsome name and led as full a life. She ran the gamut of human emotions and experiences and wrote about them graphically, brilliantly. This was one of my first food themed biographies, bought as a young man. Now in the twilight zone, it is, along with a few others (several of them by this amazing woman) that I treasure and re-read. If you love the kitchen and the table, and you haven't read it (where have you been?) I propose you do so, soon!

Love, love, love anything by lovey M. F. K. Fisher! She was the best food writer ever.

This is a wonderful book, so beautifully written that many of the sentences made me gasp with pleasure. I'm not a foodie, or a particular fan of autobiography, but to be in company with MFK Fisher is like being (seriously) at the same table as Hemingway, Fitzgerald and Lillian Hellman. Don't be put off by the title, this is a joy.