InthefirstportraitofJamesBeardintwenty-fiveyears,JohnBirdsallaccomplisheswhatnopriortellingofBeard’slifeandworkhasdone:Helooksbeyondthepublicimageofthe“DeanofAmericanCookery“togivevoicetothegourmet’scomplex,queerlifeand,intheprocess,illuminatesthehistoryofAmericanfoodinthetwentiethcentury.AtatimewhenstuffyFrenchrestaurantsandsoullessContinentalcuisineprevailed,Beardinventedsomethingstrangeandnew:thenotionofanAmericancuisine.Informedbypreviouslyoverlookedcorrespondence,yearsofarchivalresearch,andaclosereadingofeverythingBeardwrote,thismajesticbiographytracestheemergenceofpersonalityinAmericanfoodwhilereckoningwiththeoutwardlygregariousBeard’sownneedforloveandconnection,arguingthatBeardturnedanunapologeticpursuitofpleasureintoanewmodelforfoodauthorsandexperts.BorninPortland,Oregon,in1903,BeardwouldjourneyfromthepristinePacificCoasttoNewYork’sGreenwichVillagebywayofgayundergroundsinLondonandParisofthe1920s.Thefailedactor-turned-Manhattancanap矇hawker-turned-authorandcookingteacherwasthejovialbachelorunclepresidingoverAmerica’skitchensfornearlyfourdecades.Inthe1940shehostedoneofthefirsttelevisioncookingshows,andbyfloutingtherulesofpublishingwouldendupcraftingsomeofthemostexpressivecookbooksofthetwentiethcentury,withrecipesandstoriesthatlaidthegroundworkforhowwecookandeattoday.Instirring,novelisticdetail,TheManWhoAteTooMuchbringstolifeatoweringfigure,amanwhostillrepresentsthebestineatingandyethasneverbeenfullyunderstood--untilnow.Thisisbiographyofthehighestorder,abookabouttheriseofAmerica’sfoodwrittenbythecelebratedwriterwhofillsinBeard’slifewiththecolorandmeaningearliergenerationswereafraidtoexamine.
