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Blue plate special: an autobiography of my appetites

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From acclaimed novelist Kate Christensen, Blue Plate Special is a mouthwatering literary memoir about an unusual upbringing and the long, winding path to happiness.

“To taste fully is to live fully.” For Kate Christensen, food and eating have always been powerful connectors to self and world—“a subterranean conduit to sensuality, memory, desire.” Her appetites run deep; in her own words, she spent much of her life as “a hungry, lonely, wild animal looking for happiness and stability.” Now, having found them at last, in this passionate feast of a memoir she reflects upon her journey of innocence lost and wisdom gained, mistakes made and lessons learned, and hearts broken and mended.
   In the tradition of M. F. K. Fisher, Laurie Colwin, and Ruth Reichl, Blue Plate Special is a narrative in which food—eating it, cooking it, reflecting on it—becomes the vehicle for unpacking a life. Christensen explores her history of hunger—not just for food but for love and confidence and a sense of belonging—with a profound honesty, starting with her unorthodox childhood in 1960s Berkeley as the daughter of a mercurial legal activist who ruled the house with his fists. After a whirlwind adolescent awakening, Christensen strikes out to chart her own destiny within the literary world and the world of men, both equally alluring and dangerous. Food of all kinds, from Ho Hos to haute cuisine, remains an evocative constant throughout, not just as sustenance but as a realm of experience unto itself, always reflective of what is going on in her life. She unearths memories—sometimes joyful, sometimes painful—of the love between mother and daughter, sister and sister, and husband and wife, and of the times when the bonds of love were broken. Food sustains her as she endures the pain of these ruptures and fuels her determination not to settle for anything less than the love and contentment for which she’s always yearned.
   The physical and emotional sensuality that defines Christensen’s fiction resonates throughout the pages of Blue Plate Special. A vibrant celebration of life in all its truth and complexity, this book is about embracing the world through the transformative power of food: it’s about listening to your appetites, about having faith, and about learning what is worth holding on to and what is not.

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ISBN:
9780385536264
9780804149020
9780385536271

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Grouping Information

Grouped Work IDbfb43de3-bec2-c595-e6da-a8687e3a0b58
Grouping Titleblue plate special an autobiography of my appetites
Grouping Authorkate christensen
Grouping Categorybook
Grouping LanguageEnglish (eng)
Last Grouping Update2024-12-12 02:10:21AM
Last Indexed2024-12-12 02:27:36AM

Solr Fields

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Christensen, Kate
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Belle Cooledge
Central
Elk Grove
detailed_location_catalog
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Belle Cooledge
Central
Elk Grove
display_description

From acclaimed novelist Kate Christensen, Blue Plate Special is a mouthwatering literary memoir about an unusual upbringing and the long, winding path to happiness.

“To taste fully is to live fully.” For Kate Christensen, food and eating have always been powerful connectors to self and world—“a subterranean conduit to sensuality, memory, desire.” Her appetites run deep; in her own words, she spent much of her life as “a hungry, lonely, wild animal looking for happiness and stability.” Now, having found them at last, in this passionate feast of a memoir she reflects upon her journey of innocence lost and wisdom gained, mistakes made and lessons learned, and hearts broken and mended.
   In the tradition of M. F. K. Fisher, Laurie Colwin, and Ruth Reichl, Blue Plate Special is a narrative in which food—eating it, cooking it, reflecting on it—becomes the vehicle for unpacking a life. Christensen explores her history of hunger—not just for food but for love and confidence and a sense of belonging—with a profound honesty, starting with her unorthodox childhood in 1960s Berkeley as the daughter of a mercurial legal activist who ruled the house with his fists. After a whirlwind adolescent awakening, Christensen strikes out to chart her own destiny within the literary world and the world of men, both equally alluring and dangerous. Food of all kinds, from Ho Hos to haute cuisine, remains an evocative constant throughout, not just as sustenance but as a realm of experience unto itself, always reflective of what is going on in her life. She unearths memories—sometimes joyful, sometimes painful—of the love between mother and daughter, sister and sister, and husband and wife, and of the times when the bonds of love were broken. Food sustains her as she endures the pain of these ruptures and fuels her determination not to settle for anything less than the love and contentment for which she’s always yearned.
   The physical and emotional sensuality that defines Christensen’s fiction resonates throughout the pages of Blue Plate Special. A vibrant celebration of life in all its truth and complexity, this book is about embracing the world through the transformative power of food: it’s about listening to your appetites, about having faith, and about learning what is worth holding on to and what is not.

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Audio Books
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id
bfb43de3-bec2-c595-e6da-a8687e3a0b58
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9780385536271
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itype_catalog
Adult Book Non-Fiction
last_indexed
2024-12-12T10:27:36.438Z
lexile_score
-1
literary_form
Non Fiction
literary_form_full
Essays
Non Fiction
local_callnumber_catalog
BIOGRAPHY Christensen, K. 2013
owning_library_catalog
Sacramento Public Library
owning_location_catalog
Arcade
Belle Cooledge
Central
Elk Grove
primary_isbn
9780385536264
publishDate
2013
publisher
Books on Tape
Doubleday
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
recordtype
grouped_work
subject_facet
Appetite -- Psychological aspects
Authors, American -- 21st century -- Biography
Christensen, Kate, -- 1962-
Food -- Psychological aspects
Mothers and daughters -- United States
Women authors, American -- 21st century -- Biography
title_display
Blue plate special : an autobiography of my appetites
title_full
Blue Plate Special An Autobiography of My Appetites
Blue plate special : an autobiography of my appetites / Kate Christensen
title_short
Blue plate special
title_sub
an autobiography of my appetites
topic_facet
Appetite
Authors, American
Biography & Autobiography
Christensen, Kate
Cooking & Food
Essays
Food
Mothers and daughters
Nonfiction
Psychological aspects
Women authors, American

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