Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom [Hardcover]

Dayna Macy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2011

What should I eat? How much should I eat? What does it mean to be nourished? How can I, a food lover and lifelong overeater, learn to be satisfied?

 

These are the questions Dayna Macy asks in her debut memoir, Ravenous. Like many of us, Macy has had a complicated relationship with food. In order to transform this relationship, Macy embarks on a year-long journey to uncover the origins of her food obsessions. From her childhood home in upstate New York, and back up the California coast, Macy travels across the country, meeting with farmers, food artisans, butchers, a Zen chef, a forager, a chocolatier, and others—to understand where her meals come from, why she craves certain foods, and what food means to her. She looks at how nostalgia is deeply embedded in food, and how the powerful forces of family and tradition shape our food choices.

 

Rather than head straight for the diet manuals, she chooses to change her relationship with food from the inside out. She delves deeper into the spiritual underpinnings of eating, examines what it means to be satisfied, and ultimately forges her own path to balance and freedom.

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Food as protection, comfort, pleasure, and love, a defense against deprivation, a buffer against pain—so many of us will recognize our insatiable hungers in Dayna Macy’s quest to understand her own. But the real appeal of Ravenous is Macy’s voice: her candor and humility, her curious mind and storyteller’s clarity, and the open, generous heart she brings to her tale of learning to find peace with her appetite and her body.”

— Kate Moses, author of Cakewalk

 

“Ravenous is among the most engaging, fun, and insightful books about appetite you’ll ever read. A wonderful mélange of memoir (what a family!), recipes (you can taste them), the exploration of food production (slow, local, artisanal, organic) topped off by uncommonly delicious writing.”

— Sue Halpern, author of Can’t Remember What I Forgot

 

“This rich, compelling book follows a woman’s search for balance, and ultimately, freedom, in her relationship to food. Macy’s writing is strong and beautiful, every page filled with risk and integrity. I truly loved Ravenous. It’s a real accomplishment.”

— Kim Chernin, author of In My Mother’s House

 

“Ravenous is the journey of a courageous, smart, beautiful woman who learned that there is no final answer—but that the inquiry itself, the work of being and growing and accepting, is the salve that heals the heart. Macy’s writing is the perfect blend of humor, irony, and wit. Her warmth and earnestness is so lovable that I found myself rooting for her all along. I couldn’t put it down!”

— Stephanie Snyder, yoga instructor and creator of Yoga for Strength and Toning

 

About the Author

Dayna Macy’s essays have appeared in Self, Salon, Yoga Journal, and other publications, and in several anthologies. For the last decade she has worked at Yoga Journal as Communications Director, and now also as the Managing Editor for International Editions. She lives in Berkeley, California with her husband, the writer Scott Rosenberg, and their two sons.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Hay House (February 1, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1401926916
• ISBN-13: 978-1401926915
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (101 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #483,807 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom tells the story of how I made peace with my appetite and my body. That journey, and the one I traveled to become a writer, both took a while.

I was born in Rockland County, New York. I went to college at Drew University, and then to graduate school at Brown University, where I got my degree in philosophy. I thought I wanted to teach but realized what I really wanted to do was write. I wasn't quite ready to hang out my writer's shingle, though -- so instead, I decided to get a step closer to writing by getting into book publishing.

Most people don't leave New York to start a publishing career, but that's what I did. I made my way to Berkeley in 1986 and landed my first publishing job at Ten Speed Press. The company's subversive nature appealed to my own. A job in publicity opened, and I sprinted out of that receptionist's chair as fast as I could. The first book I worked on was White Trash Cooking, a gorgeously written ode to poor Southern food that spent many weeks on the New York Times bestseller list.

After Ten Speed, I directed public relations for various Bay Area media companies, including Collins Publishers San Francisco, Nolo Press, and Salon.com. These jobs gave me great and weirdly diverse experiences, from working on former Black Panther Bobby Seale's cookbook, to publicizing basketball great Michael Jordan's photographic autobiography, to taking a new-media website public.

Along the way, I began studying yoga, which changed my life. In 2001, I joined the staff of Yoga Journal as communications director, and in December 2008, I also became managing editor of Yoga Journal's international editions.

I was a publicist by day, and a writer by night. I began writing articles for Self, Yoga Journal, Salon.com, and other publications, and then my essays started getting published in anthologies. I've been lucky: I have great fun bringing national exposure to wonderful companies. And I love the short form of essay writing.

But I could not forget about that book I've wanted to write since I was twelve. "Write what you know" is common advice. That makes a lot of sense, but I never followed it. Instead, I write so I can figure out what I think.

Today, I live in Northern California with my husband Scott Rosenberg, also a writer, and our two sons

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Touching, fascinating book, March 14, 2011

By 

ParrisHouse - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom (Hardcover)

Dayna Macy is ravenous, and has been for most of her life. Like many of us, she'd like to understand why, but unlike most of us, she actually goes on a spiritual and literal journey in search of an answer. In her book, "Ravenous - A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom," Macy takes the reader on a culinary odyssey, visiting the farmers and artisans who are responsible for bringing the tastiest morsels to our tables. But more importantly, Macy honestly and poignantly takes us along on her personal quest to understand her complicated relationship with food and its psychological and spiritual meaning in her life, and by extension, in ours.

One of the most striking and engaging aspects of Dayna Macy's writing is how unflinchingly personal it is. Her story includes vignettes from her past. Her difficult relationship with her father and its unfolding, from her childhood through his illness and death, is interwoven with memories of particular foods, traditions, and recipes. She describes time she spent with a lover in Europe, shortly after her father's death when she was still sorting out her grief and conflicted feelings. Macy openly confesses her attraction toward a meditation teacher and chef she visited during her journey in writing this book, even though she is happily married to writer Scott Rosenberg. Her visit to a humane cattle ranch and her witnessing of the slaughter leaves her deeply affected; she describes retching at the sights and smells, yet does not make a decision for vegetarianism. And, over and over again, she opens up about her inability to reconcile with the lack of control she has over food in her life. There's a lot of heavy, thought provoking material here, punctuated at the end of each chapter with wonderful, healthful recipes meant to nourish the spirit as well as the body.

This book however, is not all unfathomable depth or darkness. There are many light and even funny moments. Macy has a gift for bringing her readers in to her wonderful family with its Jewish traditions and making us feel at home there. There are warm scenes of her cooking for and with her husband and sons, and of a joyful Passover seder with her extended family. Her matzo ball soup recipe appears on page 107, the recipe that finally satisfied her mother's palate. Throughout the book, Dayna Macy urges readers to experience food with joy, and she also demonstrates her commitment to sustainable agriculture and food production practices. The book is never preachy, yet she does question the impact of big corporate interests on not only the quality of our food, but on how we view it and relate to it in our culture.

"Ravenous" is an extremely readable and touching book, and one that certainly many readers will relate to. Its short chapters are each a story in themselves, each taking us to a different farm or artisan's shop, or to a new aspect of the meaning of food. Each chapter ends with a delicious recipe that is not overly challenging to prepare. The only negative here is that some of the foods and experiences which Macy describes are probably not accessible to the average American. Macy and her family live in the Berkeley area of California and have the access to and means to purchase some very high end artisanal foods. Additionally, Macy is able to consult with yoga instructors, chefs, and other culinary professionals that most of us do not have access to. Nonetheless, this is all the more reason to read the book. It brings readers in to a culinary world that perhaps could be at least partially explored given the resources that might be available to us in our own home towns.

So does Dayna Macy truly find her way "from obsession to freedom" by the end of "Ravenous?" Well, like any conundrum in life, the answer is really not that simple. I was left feeling as though Macy, like myself, is still on that journey but feeling more and more comfortable with her relationship with food and its meaning every day. I highly recommend reading this beautiful book if you would like to judge for yourself.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Right up there with Eat, Pray Love & No Impact Man, March 8, 2011

By 

Miss Ash - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom (Hardcover)

So I picked it up, and finished it in only three days. It was that good!

Dayna is an admitted food lover. In this book, she goes through the process of identifying a few of her favorite foods, and then goes deeper into learning how the food is made. She visits a sausage factory, a cheese factory, and an olive grower. She visits farms and even a slaughter house. Within the stories of her visits, she explores her memories and the impact these foods have on her.

This book is an amazing reflection of some of the messages she received from food and explores some of the psychological motives for the foods she craves and what she gets from consuming them. It is going to fit nicely right next to my copy of Eat, Pray, Love because it is written in a very similar style, and has a strikingly similar voice. What it comes down to is the life lessons we can extract from our experience and the drive we have towards food obsession.

Another book that I think is somewhat similar, albeit it in a different way, is No Impact Man, because that too explores the messages we have stacked up within our soul, and how we can work around them. I'm pleased to have discovered all three of these books because I, too, am working towards the core of my experience, trying to become more grounded and thoughtful about my consumption (and in turn, waste). With similar veins of books growing in popularity, I feel like maybe I'm not alone in my quest for cognizance in this life.

I really want my partner to read this book. He is a certified chef, and a lot of his values around high quality foods are also reflected within these pages.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A MUST READ...Outstanding Memoir, February 9, 2011

By 

Karen Margolin (Boca Raton, Florida United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ravenous: A Food Lover's Journey from Obsession to Freedom (Hardcover)

This book is so honest, pure, insightful and helpful. I thoroughly enjoyed Dayna's process and journey. I learned that I am not alone in this struggle. Emotional overeating does not have to be a battle.The balanced approach to finding ways to practice mindful eating were so welcoming and healing.What a beautiful memoir and especially love the recipes at the end of each chapter! It took me back nostalgically to my own childhood. Highly recommend. Truly inspiring for anyone with food issues! Loved this book entirely, did not want it to end. Absolute pleasure. Waiting for Ravenous..Part Two!!
K. Margolin