Bite by Bite: Nourishments and Jamborees by Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Hardcover)

Nonfiction - Literary Collection - Essay Collection - Nature - Cooking 

RELEASE DATE: 4/30/2024  (WILL SHIP DIRECTLY FROM OUR SUPPLIER'S WAREHOUSE)

From the New York Times bestselling author of World of Wonders, a lyrical book of short essays about food, offering a banquet of tastes, smells, memories, associations, and marvelous curiosities from nature

In Bite by Bite, poet and essayist Aimee Nezhukumatathil explores the way food and drink evoke our associations and remembrances—a subtext or layering, a flavor tinged with joy, shame, exuberance, grief, desire, or nostalgia.

Nezhukmatathil restores our astonishment and wonder about food through her encounters with a range of foods and food traditions. From shave ice to lumpia, mangoes to pecans, rambutan to vanilla, she investigates how food marks our experiences and identities and explores the boundaries between heritage and memory.

Bite by Bite offers a rich and textured kaleidoscope of vignettes and visions into the world of food and nature, drawn together by intimate and humorous personal reflections, with Fumi Nakamura’s gorgeous imagery and illustration.

AUTHOR BIO: 

Aimee Nezhukumatathil is the author of the New York Times bestselling illustrated collection of nature essays World of Wonders, chosen as Barnes & Noble's Book of the Year and as a finalist for the Kirkus Prize. She has published four award-winning poetry collections and is the poetry editor for Sierra magazine, the storytelling branch of the Sierra Club. She lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with her family and is a professor of English and creative writing in the University of Mississippi's MFA program.

"A collection of flavorful memories. . . . A graceful memoir. . . . not unlike halo-halo, a mixture of unexpected ingredients that make for a delectable dessert. . . . Savory food writing." -- Kirkus

"Aimee Nezhukumatathil's Bite by Bite is an intimate invitation to come sit at her table; each essay is studded with richly rendered traditions and unexpected anecdotes that range from tender to hilarious to downright devastating. A feast of a collection." -- Elizabeth Acevedo, author of Family Lore and The Poet X

"Over the years, Aimee Nezhukumatathil's writing has fed me in ways I didn't even know were possible. So it is appropriate, then, that she has now turned her attention to the world of food, which she writes about with such remarkable dexterity. Bite by Bite is a book about memory, pleasure, regret, and celebration. It uses food to talk about what it means to be human--to love, to learn, to laugh, to lose. Nezhukumatathil's writing has changed the way I look at food, and made me infinitely more grateful for those whom I share it with. I love this book." -- Clint Smith, author of How the Word Is Passed and Above Ground

"Nezhukumatathil's background as a poet is obvious throughout. Her writing is lyrical (some essays include poems), and her brevity shows her skill in word choice and description. Bite by Bite will be an especially good option for anyone trying to get out of a reading slump." -- Eater