Between Meals
'Fantastic. The benchmark for great food writing' Anthony Bourdain
'The primary requisite for writing well about food is a good appetite'
Between Meals is the gourmand and journalist A.J. Liebling's delectable account of his time spent eating and drinking in 1920s Paris, under the tutelage of his friend Yves Mirande, 'one of the last of the great around-the-clock gastronomes of France'. With gluttonous joie de vivre, he fondly recalls everything from glorious dining ('A leg of lamb larded with anchovies, artichokes on a pedestal of foie gras, and four or five kinds of cheese') to bad rosé ('a pinkish cross between No-Cal and vinegar'), and an ill-fated sojourn at a Swiss slimming-clinic. Witty, tart and full of gusto, this is a love song to food, wine and Paris.
'Liebling transfers excitement, warmth, wit and information ... as hearty and explicit as good Calvados' The New York Times Book Review
With an introduction by James Salter
A. J. Liebling, born in Manhattan in 1904, joined the staff of the New Yorker in 1935 and contributed innumerable articles to the magazine throughout his lifetime, on subjects ranging from food to boxing and France to horse racing. As a war correspondent during the Second World War, he reported from France, England and Algeria, and participated in the Normandy landings. In later life he married the writer Jean Stafford, his third wife. He died in 1963.
James Salter (Introducer)
James Salter (1925-2015) was the author of the novels Solo Faces, Light Years, A Sport and a Pastime, The Arm of Flesh (revised as Cassada) and The Hunters; the memoirs Gods of Tin and Burning the Days; and the collection, Dusk and Other Stories which won the 1989 PEN/Faulkner Award.