The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand
by Jim Harrison
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Jim Harrison is one of this country's most beloved writers, a muscular, brilliantly economic stylist with a salty wisdom. For more than twenty years, he has also been writing some of the best essays on food around, now collected in a volume that caused the Santa Fe New Mexican to exclaim: "To read this book is to come away convinced that Harrison is a flat-out genius -- one who devours life with intensity, living it roughly and full-scale, then distills his experiences into passionate, show more opinionated prose. Food, in this context, is more than food: It is a metaphor for life." From his legendary Smart and Esquire columns, to present-day pieces including a correspondence with French gourmet Gerard Oberle, fabulous pieces on food in France and America for Men's Journal, and a paean to the humble meatball, The Raw and the Cooked is a nine-course meal that will satisfy every appetite. "Our 'poet laureate of appetite' [Harrison] may be, but the collected essays here reflect much more." -- John Gamino, The Dallas Morning News "[A] culinary combo plate of Hunter S. Thompson, Ernest Hemingway, Julian Schnabel, and Sam Peckinpah...." -- Jane and Michael Stern, The New York Times Book Review "Jim Harrison is the Henry Miller of food writing. His passion is infectious." -- Jeffrey Trachtenberg, The Wall Street Journal. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Jim Harrison writes about his early starving artist years, and his wandering professional life and the food and eateries that in addition to his family and friends, writing, hunting, and fishing, were a focus in his life. I am not sure how he lived so long being a glutton, alcoholic, smoker, and cocaine user but he made it to 78. In love with French food and the out doors he managed to combine the two in near streams of consciousness writing. I read this nearly 25 years ago. His was a life well lived.
I had the French translation of this book before I had the original, but I couldn't resist buying this. He writes so beautifully. Part of the charm is no doubt the contrast he projects between his macho lifestyle of huge portions and hunting with a very sensitive mind.
Shameless gluttony, stupendous drinking, long walks with the dog to work it off. Nobody's quite like Jim Harrison, except perhaps Mario Batali.
This book cannot be read in one sitting any more than a James Harrison meal could be consumed in a single sitting, without great pain at least. Wonderful descriptions of his favorite passtime, and one of mine as well, food.
I usually love writing about food, but this attempt at Hemingway meets MFK Fisher left me cold.
Boring, bombastic and blah.
Boring, bombastic and blah.
This is a collection of JH's,food writings and Esquire columns. Great Harrison!
succulent , truculent...une vision épicée et gourmande de l'Amérique...
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Author Information
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James Thomas Harrison was born on December 11, 1937 in Grayling, Michigan. After receiving a B.A. in comparative literature from Michigan State University in 1960 and a M.A. in comparative literature from the same school in 1964, he briefly taught English at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. During his lifetime, he wrote 14 show more collections of poetry, 21 volumes of fiction, two books of essays, a memoir, and a children's book. His collections of poetry included Plain Song, The Theory and Practice of Rivers, Songs of Unreason, and Dead Man's Float. He received a Guggenheim fellowship for his poetry in 1969. His essays on food, much of which first appeared in Esquire, was collected in the 2001 book, The Raw and the Cooked. His memoir, Off to the Side, was published in 2002. His first novel, Wolf, was published in 1971. His other works of fiction included A Good Day to Die, Farmer, The Road Home, Julip, and The Ancient Minstrel. His novel, Legends of the Fall, was adapted into a feature film starring Anthony Hopkins and Brad Pitt. Harrison wrote the screenplay for the movie. His novel, Dalva, was adapted as a made-for-television movie starring Rod Steiger and Farrah Fawcett. He died on March 26, 2016 at the age of 78. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Raw and the Cooked: Adventures of a Roving Gourmand
- Original title
- The Raw and the Cooked - Adventures of a Roving Gourmand
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 352
- Popularity
- 89,587
- Reviews
- 9
- Rating
- (3.90)
- Languages
- English, French
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 8
- ASINs
- 2
