Stirring Up Chick Lit
By Lynn Andriani -- Publishers Weekly, 12/10/2008 11:58:00 AM
Chick lit continues to spawn multiple permutations, from mommy lit to vampire chick lit to chick lit for dog lovers. Next spring brings a number of new food-inspired chick-lit tomes, from cookbooks to novels to memoirs—but our favorites, below, have a bit more substance than your average chick-lit tome, with sharp writing, smart characters and well-developed plots (and recipes). We’re calling it quiche-lit. Bon appétit.
The Pleasure Is All Mine: Selfish Food for a Modern Life by Suzanne Pirret (Morrow, March)
Pirret, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and London, worked as head pastry chef for Jamie Oliver in London, and has put in more than 10 years in New York’s restaurant and catering industries. Her book is a saucy, snarky take on cooking for one, with “simple (yet not stupid) recipes” accompanied by wine and cocktail pairings, and roguish, funny stories from her experiences living in New York, Los Angeles, Paris and London. The cover shows a woman in a snug-fitting dress and killer heels, and the book has snagged a blurb from Bobby Flay.
Entertaining Disasters: A Novel (with Recipes) by Nancy Spiller (Counterpoint, January)
Spiller’s first novel skews slightly highbrow, coming from literary press Counterpoint and carrying a blurb from Janet Fitch. The Los Angeles writer and artist dishes up a story about a trendy food writer (“FW”), who hasn’t entertained in years. When she has to impress an editor with a fabulous dinner party, disaster ensues. Sample recipes include Pan-Roasted Sea Bass with Fig Anchoyade, Zero Population Coleslaw, Carciofi alla Romana, and Extreme Unction Raspberry-Glazed Cheesecake.
I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti: A Memoir by Giulia Melucci (Grand Central, April)
Melucci, a former VP of PR for Harper’s magazine, recounts her New York romances, along with situation-specific recipes. To impress an older gentleman, Melucci makes grilled marinated flank steak; when she’s alone, she throws together a quick spaghetti with arugula and pine nuts. As Mario Batali puts it, Melucci’s memoir is “a foodie’s dream version of Sex and the City.” Melucci’s also garnered praise from Adriana Trigiani, A.J. Jacobs and Lucinda Rosenfeld—and her media connections (she was also a publicist at Atlantic Monthly, Dutton, Viking and Scribner) should help get the book some attention.
