New Book by Paul Graham
Associate Professor of English Paul Graham has a new book published, In Memory of Bread a Memoir. He made a very successful presentation of the book at a Faculty Cafe in late September, and in July he spoke with North Country Public Radio’s reporter David Sommerstein about the book, which he wrote to:
I also wanted to explore the culinary traditions that a person leaves behind when they forsake grains. What do you fall out of, what do you join. I find it difficult to tell what you would call a straight-shot memoir, I’m always clustering things around it. So I wanted to write a little bit about history, I wanted to also parse and synthesize some of the science that’s out there on what might be causing this and what it all means, and I was able to do that through the book.
Kirkus Reviews wrote of Paul’s book:
…the author stays focused on his experience, whether he’s mourning the loss of the luxury of turning a chef loose to make a meal for him, bemoaning the tastelessness of most of the gluten-free offerings at the supermarket, indulging in “gluten-voyeurism” by watching the Food Channel’s Guy Fieri pig out on diner fare, or realizing how much he hates millet (“dry, gritty, and less flavorful than any other grain I had ever tasted”). Graham’s awareness that, since his health improved radically once he changed his diet, he was left suffering what should probably be considered a “first-world problem” goes a long way toward increasing reader sympathy, and his mouthwatering evocations of homemade tortillas and buckwheat crepes make it clear that he still finds plenty to enjoy in and out of the kitchen. An enjoyable memoir for wheat-free foodies and others limited in their gastronomical choices.
Congratulations Paul on your new memoir!