2005 book 109

calvin trillin's the tummy trilogy
trillin, of course, is a well-known essayist, novelist, and food enthusiast, and the tummy trilogy is a collection of three of his first collections of food writing from the new yorker (american fried, alice, let's eat, and third helpings, all written in the late 70s/early 80s). i'd count this as three books, since technically it is, but it also works well as one book, and it's in one volume, so whatever, i'll give it a pass. trillin is probably the funniest and most enthusiastic food writer out there whether he's at a crawfish-eating contest in louisiana, exploring bars in berks county, pa, expounding on the amazing arthur bryant's in kansas city, or trying to find good food in england. his chapter on tokyo had me drooling, b/c gosh do i love sushi. this book is also a sweet look at family life--his depictions of his wife and two daughters are heartwarming and hilarious. having all three books in one makes for slowish reading--i can only take so much of trillin's favorite foods at one go--but they really do form a whole picture of a man's love of food and his family.