The Book of Eating

A wildly hilarious and irreverent memoir of a globe-trotting life lived meal-to-meal by one of our most influential and respected food critics. As the son of a diplomat growing up in places like Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Japan, Adam Platt didn't have the chance to become a picky eater. Living, traveling, and eating in some of the most far-flung locations around the world, he developed an eclectic palate and a nuanced understanding of cultures and cuisines that led to some revelations which would prove important in his future career as a food critic.

In Tokyo, for instance--"a kind of paradise for nose-to-tail cooking"--he learned that "if you're interested in telling a story, a hair-raisingly bad meal is much better than a good one.