Matthew Gavin Frank at Holiday Open House
Michigan author Matthew Gavin Frank joins us for Holiday Open House with his latest book, The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America's Food (the perfect gift for the foodie on your list!). Matthew will join us Friday, December 4th from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for all the festivities and sign copies of his wonderful new work, which chronicles each state and the dish for which they are most famous (example: the focus in Michigan is pasties!). This is a free event in the store and no reservations are necessary, just stop in, get your copy signed and we'll wrap it for you! For more information, please contact us at 231.347.1180 or send us an email.
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A richly illustrated culinary tour of the United States through fifty signature dishes, and a radical exploration of our gastronomic heritage.
Following his critically acclaimed Preparing the Ghost, renowned essayist Matthew Gavin Frank takes on America’s food. In a surprising style reminiscent of Maggie Nelson or Mark Doty, Frank examines a quintessential dish in each state, interweaving the culinary with personal and cultural associations of each region. From key lime pie (Florida) to elk stew (Montana), The Mad Feast commemorates the unexpected origins of the familiar. Brazenly dissecting the myriad intersections between history and food, Frank, in this gorgeously designed volume, considers politics, sexuality, violence, grief, and pleasure: the cool, creamy whoopie pie evokes toughness in the face of New England winters, while the stewlike perloo serves up an exploration of food and race in the South. Tracing an unpredictable map of our collective appetites, The Mad Feast presents a beguiling flavor profile of the American spirit.
“[Frank]’s produced a surprising, entertaining look at what Americans eat and why.” — Kirkus Reviews
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Matthew Gavin Frank was born and raised in Chicago.Bitten by the food, wine, and travel bug, he left home at age seventeen, embracing the vagabond lifestyle that often lent itself to work in the restaurant industry.He ran a tiny breakfast joint in Juneau, Alaska, worked the Barolo wine harvest in Italy’s Piedmont, sautéed hog snapper hung-over in Key West, designed multiple degustation menus for Julia Roberts’s private parties in Taos, New Mexico, served as a sommelier for Chefs Rick Tramonto and Gale Gand in Chicago, and assisted Chef Charlie Trotter with his Green Kitchen cooking demonstration at the Slow Food Nation 2008 event in San Francisco.He returned to academia and received his MFA in Poetry and Creative Nonfiction from Arizona State University.He taught creative writing to undergraduates in Phoenix, Arizona, and poetry to soldiers and their families near Fort Drum in upstate New York on the Canadian border.
Frank is the recipient of an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship, an Artist’s Grant to the Vermont Studio Center, the Sonoran Prize for Poetry, and numerous grants from the Virginia G. Piper Center for the Creative Arts.Presently, he teaches creative writing at Grand Valley State University in Michigan.
His current favorite dessert recipe is Revisionist Caprese Salad: Basil Ice Cream, Mozzarella Syrup, Oven-Dried Sweet Tomato, and Tomato Rock Candy.
Finalist for the Art of Eating Prize
A richly illustrated culinary tour of the United States through fifty signature dishes, and a radical exploration of our gastronomic heritage.
A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice Selection
Named one of the Best Books of the Year by Shelf AwarenessMemory, mythology, and obsession collide in this “slyly charming” (New York Times Book Review) account of the giant squid.