or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
 
Express Checkout with PayPhrase
What's this? | Create PayPhrase
Sorry!
More Buying Choices
82 used & new from $1.52

Have one to sell? Sell yours here
 
   
The Gastronomical Me
 
 
Tell the Publisher!
I’d like to read this book on Kindle

Don’t have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here.
 
  

The Gastronomical Me (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The first thing I remember tasting and then wanting to taste again is the grayish-pink fuzz my grandmother skimmed from a spitting kettle of strawberry..." (more)
Key Phrases: old waiter, Monsieur Paul, The Measure of My Powers, Miss Huntingdon (more...)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

List Price: $15.00
Price: $10.20 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details
You Save: $4.80 (32%)
o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.com. Gift-wrap available.

Want it delivered Tuesday, November 10? Choose One-Day Shipping at checkout. Details
37 new from $4.94 45 used from $1.52

Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
  Hardcover -- -- $21.00
  Paperback $10.20 $4.94 $1.52

Frequently Bought Together

The Gastronomical Me + How to Cook a Wolf + The Art of Eating
Price For All Three: $36.87

Show availability and shipping details

  • This item: The Gastronomical Me by M. F. K. Fisher

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • How to Cook a Wolf by M. F. K. Fisher

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

  • The Art of Eating by M. F. K. Fisher

    In Stock.
    Ships from and sold by Amazon.com.
    Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details


Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

The Art of Eating

The Art of Eating

by M. F. K. Fisher
4.8 out of 5 stars (27)  $16.47
Consider the Oyster

Consider the Oyster

by M. F. K. Fisher
4.7 out of 5 stars (7)  $8.80
Serve It Forth (Art of Eating)

Serve It Forth (Art of Eating)

by M. F. K. Fisher
3.0 out of 5 stars (2)  $11.05
Two Towns in Provence

Two Towns in Provence

by M.F.K. Fisher
4.0 out of 5 stars (5)  $11.53
Long Ago In France: The Years In Dijon (Destinations)

Long Ago In France: The Years In Dijon (Destinations)

by M.F.K. Fisher
4.7 out of 5 stars (7)  $11.92
Explore similar items

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

M. F. K. Fisher sees life stomach first. The New York Times said "She spit Puritan restraint out like a dull wine and made a life of savoring the slow, sensual pleasures of the table." And between meals, she savored the pleasures of men and travel, too. She recalls California in 1912, life in France in the 1930s, and traveling solo to Mexico in 1941. Her first oyster is a beautiful story, about adolescence and the glory of the briny mollusk, and her humor is as forthright as her taste at table.


Review

"Because The Gastronomical Me is autobiographical, following Mrs. Fisher from childhood to widowhood in different countries, we are able to see its food not only as a matter of personal taste, but as a perpetual emotional and social force within a life. Here are meals as seductions, educations, diplomacies, communions. Unique among the classics of gastronomic writing, with its glamorous but not glamorized settings, its wartime drama and its powerful love story, The Gastronomical Me is a book about adult loss, survival, and love." -- Patricia Storace, The New York Review of Books

"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

"Because The Gastronomical Me is autobiographical, following Mrs. Fisher from childhood to widowhood in different countries, we are able to see its food not only as a matter of personal taste, but as a perpetual emotional and social force within a life. Here are meals as seductions, educations, diplomacies, communions. Unique among the classics of gastronomic writing, with its glamorous but not glamorized settings, its wartime drama and its powerful love story, The Gastronomical Me is a book about adult loss, survival, and love."--Patricia Storace, The New York Review of Books

"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

"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

Product Details

  • Paperback: 272 pages
  • Publisher: North Point Press (October 10, 1989)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0865473927
  • ISBN-13: 978-0865473928
  • Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 0.8 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #45,355 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category: (What's this?)

    #64 in  Books > Cooking, Food & Wine > Gastronomy > Essays

More About the Author

M. F. K. Fisher
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Visit Amazon's M. F. K. Fisher Page

Inside This Book (learn more)


Books on Related Topics (learn more)
 
 

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

The Gastronomical Me
71% buy the item featured on this page:
The Gastronomical Me 4.0 out of 5 stars (11)
$10.20
The Art of Eating
17% buy
The Art of Eating 4.8 out of 5 stars (27)
$16.47
How to Cook a Wolf
6% buy
How to Cook a Wolf 4.7 out of 5 stars (6)
$10.20
Long Ago In France: The Years In Dijon (Destinations)
4% buy
Long Ago In France: The Years In Dijon (Destinations) 4.7 out of 5 stars (7)
$11.92

Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 
(1)

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store

If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store. Learn more

 

Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
5 star:
 (5)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (3)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.0 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A great book for readers of all backgrounds!, March 8, 2000
By "annclpoet" (Gainesville, FL USA) - See all my reviews
Do the former critics not read Tolstoy because he was a Count? I was born into a working class neighborhood in New York, and this is one of my favorite books. Being a gourmand is an enlightened point of view, a matter of personal taste. In my opinion this is Ms. Fisher's very best book. The writing, and the personality, are exquisite. Especially in the chapter about her Father and a childhood journey, and the discovery of her crush on a fellow boarding school student (female) and her love of oysters, at the same time! Am I the only one who feels that I've shared all of those wonderful meals with her when I put down this book? Great to pack along when you are traveling, even if you've read it before!
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Personal Story, September 1, 2002
By "cloudia" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
Fisher recounts her life through her intimate association with food, growing up, travelling alone to meet her formidable uncle (knowing when to order consomé,) eating blue point oysters at a sorority banquet, falling in love with her first husband, living with him in 1930s Dijon at a boarding house where the landlady made ananas au kirsch, divorcing him, nursing another sick husband, being wooed while still married, travelling on cruise liners, watching the rise of the Nazis in Europe, and finally travelling to Mexico in her widowhood. Fisher reveals food as a civilizing force, revelling in its sensual pleasure while remaining starkly aware of a world going wrong. She writes real characters; it's journalism in a short story style, using that technique of fiction. With remarkably serene prose, delicate and sensuous, Fisher shows herself to be a singular woman who understands all too well the foibles of humanity and gracefully counteracts them with an almost pious devotion to the riches and possibilities of elegant cuisine.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)



 
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved it in spite of myself, September 29, 2000
By jumpy1 (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   
First I should admit I'm not a usual fan of MFK Fisher. I find her rambling and neurotic style a bit unsettling. Even in this book, one minute she's a snob and the next minute ... well I don't want to give it away. Nonethless, I loved it through and through. Much less neurotic or rambling than her other stuff. Marvelous stories. Wonderful points of view coming through. I really loved the story about that cook in her childhood who ... okay, I won't tell. If you like autobiography, this is a good one.
Comment Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)


Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Maddening at Times Upon Revisiting
Having read this years ago -- and many other of M.F.K. Fisher's works over the years -- I found The Gastronomical Me to be a bit of a mixed bag, and a bit of a disappointment upon... Read more
Published 1 month ago by R. Ruiz

4.0 out of 5 stars Way ahead of her time!
This is a terrific piece of history with lovely insights into food and love. She was naive, but eventually wise and always wonderful. A great read.
Published 2 months ago by Judith

5.0 out of 5 stars who else?
no one could have turned the culinary world into literature. she shames these narrow consumer-oriented marketeers like martha stewart. Read more
Published on July 23, 2001

3.0 out of 5 stars liked it but had mixed feelings
like many of the other reviewers, i found that ms. fisher's account of some events exquisite while others were confusing. Read more
Published on February 15, 2001 by Yukari K. Matsuyama

3.0 out of 5 stars A Bit Muddled
Despite moments of extreme beauty in this account of M.F.K. Fisher's life, the privelege of her life keeps a casual (re:poor) reader out. Read more
Published on January 4, 2000

2.0 out of 5 stars For those with an appetite for snobbery
I could not finish the book because I felt as if I could not relate to her snobbery. Her life of privilege. Read more
Published on November 23, 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars "Food Takes You Places"
For anyone who lives tactitilly, and for those who enjoy the taste and aroma of white truffles, as well as the ferrous flavor of blood after a good fist fight, MFK Fisher is a... Read more
Published on March 27, 1998

5.0 out of 5 stars But If It Weren't For Food, Who Would We Be?
M.F.K. Fisher writes with elegant economy about food, and her style, which tends toward the vignette, is savory and inspriring as her subject. Read more
Published on March 24, 1998

Only search this product's reviews



Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   




Product Information from the Amapedia Community

Beta (What's this?)


Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject

 

Feedback

If you need help or have a question for Customer Service, contact us.
 Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
Is there any other feedback you would like to provide?

Your comments can help make our site better for everyone.


Your Recent History

 (What's this?)

After viewing product detail pages or search results, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages you are interested in.