How to Cook a Wolf (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In spite of all the talk and study about our next years, and all the silent ponderings about what lies within them for our sons..." (more)
Key Phrases: pigeon cry, teaspoon soda, Carve the Wolf, Distribute Your Virtue, San Francisco (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I do not know of any one in the United States who writes better prose." -- W.H. Auden

"I do not know of any one in the United States who writes better prose."--W.H. Auden

"Poet of the appetites."--John Updike

"She writes about fleeting tastes and feasts vividly, excitingly, sensuously, exquisitely. There is almost a wicked thrill in following her uninhibited track through the glories of the good life."--James Beard

"She writes about food as others do about love, but rather better."--Clifton Fadiman

"M.F.K. Fisher ... brings onstage a peach or a brace of quail and shows us history, cities, fantasies, memories, emotions."--Patricia Storace, The New York Review of Books

"M.F.K. Fisher is our greatest food writer because she puts food in the mount, the mind and the imagination all at the same time. Beyond the gastronomical bravura, she is a passionate woman; food is her metaphor."--Shana Alexander
-- Review

"M.F.K. Fisher ... brings onstage a peach or a brace of quail and shows us history, cities, fantasies, memories, emotions." -- Patricia Storace, The New York Review of Books

"M.F.K. Fisher is our greatest food writer because she puts food in the mount, the mind and the imagination all at the same time. Beyond the gastronomical bravura, she is a passionate woman; food is her metaphor." -- Shana Alexander

"Poet of the appetites." -- John Updike

"She writes about fleeting tastes and feasts vividly, excitingly, sensuously, exquisitely. There is almost a wicked thrill in following her uninhibited track through the glories of the good life." -- James Beard

"She writes about food as others do about love, but rather better." -- Clifton Fadiman

Review

"I do not know of any one in the United States who writes better prose."--W.H. Auden

"Poet of the appetites."--John Updike

"She writes about fleeting tastes and feasts vividly, excitingly, sensuously, exquisitely. There is almost a wicked thrill in following her uninhibited track through the glories of the good life."--James Beard

"She writes about food as others do about love, but rather better."--Clifton Fadiman

"M.F.K. Fisher ... brings onstage a peach or a brace of quail and shows us history, cities, fantasies, memories, emotions."--Patricia Storace, The New York Review of Books

"M.F.K. Fisher is our greatest food writer because she puts food in the mount, the mind and the imagination all at the same time. Beyond the gastronomical bravura, she is a passionate woman; food is her metaphor."--Shana Alexander

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 216 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press (October 1, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865473366
• ISBN-13: 978-0865473362
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,836 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unusual writing for unusual times, May 1, 2001

By	Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)

M.F.K. Fisher was a superb writer. And she lived in "interesting times" in Europe and California. How to Cook a Wolf pitted her inate love of food and cuisine against some severe times when money might be short or food was rationed. Her strange sense of humor and practical outlook are interesting; for example, she gives a recipe for a sludge to keep body (if not soul) alive. The instructions begin with borrowing 50 cents to buy the ingredients; hamburger, wilted vegetables. The resulting mush can be used as a nutritious dog food, or a staple to survive on. She even claims it can be quite acceptable fried as scrapple, but then you'd have to have some cooking fat (and even that could be hard to come by.)

In these times of plenty, it's hard to relate to this book except to read Fisher's ideas and fantastic prose; the section on "Sue" (really California artist and etcher Nel Coover) who survived and entertained her guests with wild ice plants, seaweed and stolen eggs and potatoes is captivating.

If you have never read any M.F.K. Fisher, start with "The Measure of My Powers", but if you have read her, and if you have developed a taste for her marvelous writing, this is one of her famous works that is unique and interesting.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, December 6, 1996

By A Customer

Not only could she write with style, wit and warmth, she could also "serve it forth" -- the recipes really work! Especially the prune roast (it sounds dopey, but it sure is great!!). I'm hooked.

26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Overrated as a food writer?! Underrated as a writer!, April 20, 1998

By	[e-mail] (Bellevue, Washington) - See all my reviews

I can't vouch for her recipes but I can speak for her prose. I picked up this book for pure entertainment and found it. Fisher's conversation is elegant, entertaining, and educational, and her advice is at times amusing, at times timeless.