Book Description

The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook is a collection of personal, food-related stories with recipes from 76 contemporary artists and writers. Inspired by a book from 1961, The (original) Artists' & Writers' Cookbook included recipes from the likes of Marcel Duchamp, Man Ray, Marianne Moore, and Harper Lee. This new, vibrantly illustrated version includes stories and recipes from Anthony Doerr, Leanne Shapton, Joyce Carol Oates, John Currin and Rachel Feinstein, Ed Ruscha, Neil Gaiman, Edwidge Danticat, Aimee Bender, Gregory Crewdson, James Franco, Francesca Lia Block, Swoon, Nelson DeMille, Rick Moody and Laurel Nakadate, Nikki Giovanni, T.C. Boyle, Lev Grossman, Roz Chast, Heidi Julavits, Marina Abramović, Curtis Sittenfeld, Julia Alvarez, and many others. In The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook,Anthony Doerr lures us out into the wild to find huckleberries andhappiness. Neil Gaiman makes a perfectly eerie cheese omelet while Ed Ruschaassociates his cactus omelet with "a time of doom." Yiyun Li eats rations inBeijing while Edwidge Danticat prepares a soup to celebrate freedom. NelsonDeMille reminisces about a meal he ate 40 years ago when serving in Vietnam;Kamrooz Aram recalls childhood "picnics" in his basement in Tehran during airraids. Sanford Biggers updates a soul food classic-"something tasty to lessenthe bitter taste of consistent, systematic oppression." Paul Muldoon and AimeeBender conjure food-related apocalyptic visions. Marina Abramović shares adish best consumed on top of a volcano, Elissa Schappell dreams of playing SergeGainsbourg records to snails, and Padgett Powell tastes a dish that reverses timeand space. Daniel Wallace woos with an eggplant sandwich. Francesca Lia Blocktells us how to fall in love. The essays are at turns comedic and heart-wrenching, personal and apocalyptic, with recipes that are enchanting to read and recreate. One part cookbook and one part intimate self-portrait, The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook is a portal into the kitchens and personal lives of an unmatched collection of contemporary artists and writers.