by Frank Bruni
First published 2009
Frank Bruni grew up round in a boisterous Italian family in White Plains, where massive meals defined daily life. Food became both his greatest love and his fiercest opponent through decades of weight battles. In 2004, the Times appointed him restaurant critic, a role that terrified him. He would taste and judge meals for the most demanding food city in America. His background covered politics and papal visits, not cuisine. Now he faced a professional nightmare: eating elaborate dinners night after night while managing the same appetite that had tormented him since childhood. His Italian grandmother always said you cannot change your essential nature. Bruni wondered if his new job would destroy the fragile peace he had made with food. The memoir traces his unlikely journey from political reporter to one of New York's most influential food voices. He reveals the daily reality of weight struggles in a profession built around indulgence. The book explores how someone can embrace their deepest temptation without surrendering to it completely.
Genres: autobiography, memoir, non-fiction, biography-memoir, food, food-writing
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, personal-journey
Setting: Italy, New York, White Plains
Period: 2004
354 pages · Hardcover · Penguin Press
Content warnings: addiction, eating-disorder