Title: Food: A Love Story
Author: Jim Gaffigan
Narrator: Jim Gaffigan
ISBN: 9780804192224
Audiobook Length: 7 hours, 17 minutes
Genre: Nonfiction
Origins: Mine. All mine.
Release Date: 21 October 2014
Bottom Line: Absolutely hilarious – I laughed, I cried…tears of joy. I would do it all again in a heartbeat.
“Bacon. McDonalds. Cinnabon. Hot Pockets. Kale. Stand-up comedian and author Jim Gaffigan has made his career rhapsodizing over the most treasured dishes of the American diet (“choking on bacon is like getting murdered by your lover”) and decrying the worst offenders (“kale is the early morning of foods”). Fans flocked to his New York Times bestselling book Dad is Fat to hear him riff on fatherhood but now, in his second book, he will give them what they really crave—hundreds of pages of his thoughts on all things culinary(ish). Insights such as: why he believes coconut water was invented to get people to stop drinking coconut water, why pretzel bread is #3 on his most important inventions of humankind (behind the wheel and the computer), and the answer to the age-old question ‘which animal is more delicious: the pig, the cow, or the bacon cheeseburger?’ “
Thoughts: Jim Gaffigan loves food; anyone who has ever listened to him perform one of his stand-up routines knows that about him. So, it seems only natural that his love of food makes him the perfect candidate to write an entire book about food. Granted, this might seem odd to someone who is not familiar with his comedy. However, pairing Mr. Gaffigan with food is like the first pairing of chocolate and peanut butter. In essence, it is the perfect pairing.
Mr. Gaffigan shares his thoughts on everything from vegetables to dessert. He covers a fine dining experience and the myriad of fast food locales and types of take-out available. He even shares with readers his unique map of the United States. It is the kind of light-hearted trip down memory lane of favorite meals that makes one hungry and rethink every questionable meal choice one has ever made. Then again, Mr. Gaffigan has a way of affirming those poor food choices as perfectly normal and totally acceptable. Okay, well maybe not acceptable, but he totally makes you feel better about them.
Food: A Love Story is one of those books that should come with a warning label. This label should read, “Warning: Do not listen to this audiobook while driving as it may cause accidents. Do not listen while eating because you may choke. Do not listen while at work because your coworkers may wonder if everything is okay.” This homage to all foods, except kale because kale is a hairy weed after all, is an absolute delight and worth every weird look you will get for laughing out loud in public.