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9781324130741

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A soup-to-nuts-to-brunch-to-all-night-diner portrait of the inextricable link between queerness and food that's as much cultural criticism as delicious celebration.-- ""New York Times Book Review"" Coupl[es] meticulous research and gorgeous prose to illuminate lives that, in ways indirect and overt, shaped who we are as a culinary nation....Birdsall does not abide counterfeit joy. He narrates lives shaped by society's denials, prejudices and punishments, and he lays their suffering bare....Where delight comes easy is in Birdsall's prose.--Bill Addison ""Los Angeles Times"" Readers who love to cook, bake or entertain, collect cookbooks, or use a fork will want this book. Its stories are nicely served, they're addicting, and they may send you in search of cookbooks you didn't know existed.--Terri Schlichenmeyer ""OutSFL"" In Birdsall's lyrical account, food has become one of the languages that can express queer identity.--Joe Yonan ""Washington Post"" Combining a novelistic imagination with razor-sharp analysis, Birdsall fills in historical gaps to highlight the resiliency of queer people and the cast the culture of food and dining as an unlikely but powerful symbol of resistance. Readers will be eager to dig in.-- ""Publishers Weekly (starred review)"" Delectable, delightful, delovely! Birdsall's genius has given us a queer chronicle, full of both famous names and untold stories, revealing the subversive secret life of food in America. And done with all the charm and wit of M. F. K. Fisher--a seemingly effortless feast of the senses.--Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less and Less Is Lost John Birdsall masterfully unveils the hidden stories of influential figures who have shaped American cuisine--individuals whose queer identities often remain unrecognized. With compassion and insight, he brings their journeys to life, celebrating their strengths while thoughtfully examining their complexities and humanity.--Nik Sharma, author of The Flavor Equation and Veg-Table Poetically tracing the fascinating, elusive history of queer people and food, John Birdsall, author and former chef, serves us a scrumptious buffet of queer bakers, chefs, cookbook writers, eaters, foods, food parties, food writers, restaurant owners, and reviewers, and the waitpeople who carry it to us--in a nutshell, everything and everyone from soup to nuts. A feast to remember!--Jonathan Ned Katz, author of The Daring Life and Dangerous Times of Eve Adams A book that is truly the first of its kind, one that snaps genres and take risks....In an unmistakably beautiful, literary voice, one underscored by the intersection of history, emotion, and experience, What is Queer Food? also asks readers to look at the term 'queer' through a sharper lens; to give it more dimension and nuance.--Kristin L. Wolfe ""Forbes"" If 'queer' itself may resist easy definition, food can help clarify its central conviction: that we deserve pleasure. What Is Queer Food? puts the sensual and the sensory at the fore, and it pulsates with hunger for what's possible when queer life and expression is examined through food.--Lukas Volger ""New York Times Book Review"" A staggering, sweeping work full of wit and bite. What Is Queer Food defies category: It's a history and a philosophical argument, a chain of interconnected stories told in Birdsall's unmistakable voice, sexy and joyous and angry and thrumming with life. It casts a bright light on an essential, under-recognized dimension of American gastronomic history.--Helen Rosner An important decree of queer visibility in food history, excavating and restoring a narrative long buried and obstructed. What Is Queer Food? is also wildly entertaining. John Birdsall continues to establish himself as one of my most anticipated writers.--Lisa Donovan, author of Our Lady of Perpetual Hunger What Is Queer Food weaves the constellations of possibility underlying our cuisines in Birdsall's gorgeous, ebullient prose. Warm and generous, precise and exacting, this book is one of a kind, tied together by Birdsall's knowingness and generosity. An absolutely gorgeous work.--Bryan Washington, author of Family Meal

""In this ambitious work of social history, Birdsall unspools the story of how queer culture has informed what we eat. …as much cultural criticism as delicious celebration."" -- The New York Times Book Review ""Queerness requires context. And in Birdsall’s lyrical account, food has become one of the languages that can express queer identity... the books present a one-two punch of historical lessons that food—whether eaten at home or in a restaurant—has been critical to the queer experience."" -- The Washington Post

Author Information

John Birdsall is the author of The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard and is the recipient of two James Beard Awards for food and culture writing. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

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