RaveNew York Review of BooksJigsaw puzzle of a family history ... She channels grand speeches and on-the-ground reporting, she favors outrageous voices, and she resists hierarchy ... The beauty of the method is that authority remains plural and the tensions and alliances among the voices are visible at every step along the way. There is an ethics to Cockerell’s decision to withhold her own opinion ... Evocative power ... The result is a book that sings with narrative energy ... Disarming.
Justin Spring
RaveBookforum...[a] riveting biography ... Spring understands that every cookbook and wine encyclopedia has a fascinating backstory, which he uncovers by exploring the character and situation of each of his writers ... Among the most original aspects of The Gourmands’ Way is Spring’s revelatory use of publishers’ archives and contract negotiations, which helps us understand the books these writers created ... I read The Gourmands’ Way with constant interest, and I read it slowly for its many delicious details and astonishing backstories. Spring clearly expresses his understanding of food and wine without any pretense. The knowledge he has at his fingertips might easily have overwhelmed this book. Instead, he uses footnotes for the kind of information that is too intricate for the text but still relevant.
