The Gastronomical Me
A 1943 food memoir by M. F. K. Fisher.
The Gastronomical Me, published in 1943, is a food memoir by M. F. K. Fisher, the third in a series that began with *Consider the Oyster* and *How to Cook a Wolf*. This collection of essays traces Fisher’s life from childhood through her time in France, the start of World War II, the end of her first marriage, and the suicide of her second husband. The book established Fisher as a major literary voice of her era.
In 1989, the *New York Review of Books* hailed it as her finest work, calling it a vivid, sustained self-portrait told through food, covering 1912 to a disturbing 1941 trip to Mexico. Each memory stands alone as a self-contained story, with food acting as a sensory trigger. Fisher wrote the book while living alone in a boarding house in Altadena, California, after her terminally ill husband shot himself. She was pregnant by an unnamed man, and the war she had foreseen in Europe had reached America, consuming its young men. The book, as one critic noted, makes you shiver with its deep familiarity with death.
The memoir opens with a teenage boarding school classmate making a pass at her, an event that coincides almost too perfectly with her first taste of an oyster. Fisher contrasts her biological family’s stiff attitude toward food with that of a warm, skilled housekeeper who later vanished after being arrested for murdering her mother. Writing about her years in France, she observed that the French knew flavors the way Americans knew baseball batting averages. The book’s central theme is not satisfaction but hunger and desire: Fisher argues that we are all hungry, but we must choose deliberately rather than drift. Our hunger connects us; our choices, in restaurants and in life, define us.
Released for the 1943 Christmas season, the *San Francisco Chronicle*’s book columnist called it a private, thoughtful commentary on living, noting that readers weary of cheerful autobiographies would welcome one where pepsin matters more than pep. *The Gastronomical Me* was reprinted in the 1980s by North Point Press and appears in the five-book collection *The Art of Eating*. It is considered the originator of the modern food memoir, where personal and political history is told through food—examples include *Blood, Bones & Butter*, *Day of Honey*, and *Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking*. Elizabeth Gilbert’s *Eat Pray Love* has been called a bastard descendan
- published
- 1943
- author
- M. F. K. Fisher
- genre
- Food memoir, essay collection
- preceded_by
- Consider the Oyster and How to Cook a Wolf
- known_for
- Progenitor of the contemporary food memoir genre
Lore & Background
The Gastronomical Me opens with an account of a pass made by a fellow student at the girls' boarding school she attended as a teenager, an event that coincided with the first time she tasted an oyster. Fisher contrasted her biological family's uptight approach to food with that of a warm, kindly, culinarily skilled housekeeper hired to help out for a few months; the housekeeper disappeared after she was arrested for murdering her mother. Of her time living in France, she commented that it transformed her because the French 'knew flavors as their American counterparts knew baseball batting averages.'
Reader's Guide
The Gastronomical Me is considered the progenitor of the contemporary food memoir genre, in which personal and sometimes political history is recounted through food. Recent examples include Blood, Bones & Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton, Day of Honey by Annia Ciezadlo, and Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen. Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has been described as a 'bastard descendant.' In 1989, the New York Review of Books called it 'her masterpiece' and the 'most vivid and sustained of her books, a self-portrait through food spanning the years 1912 to a harrowing visit to Mexico in 1941.' The book was released in time for the Christmas gift-buying season in 1943, at which time the book columnist of the San Francisco Chronicle concluded, 'This is her private, well-considered commentary on the business of living. And more than one reader, a touch weary of autobiographies in praise of pep, will welcome, for a change, an approach in which pepsin is a more important factor.' Gastronomical Me was reprinted in the 1980s by North Point Press and is included in the five-book Fisher anthology The Art of Eating.
Did You Know?
- The book opens with an account of a pass made by a fellow student at a girls' boarding school, coinciding with the first time Fisher tasted an oyster.
- Fisher wrote the book while isolated in a boarding house in Altadena, California, after being widowed and heavily pregnant.
- The New York Review of Books in 1989 called it 'her masterpiece' and the 'most vivid and sustained of her books.'
- The book is considered the progenitor of the contemporary food memoir genre.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Gastronomical Me?
It is a 1943 food memoir and essay collection by M. F. K. Fisher that weaves her personal history together with reflections on eating, cooking, and hunger.
What life events does The Gastronomical Me cover?
The essays trace Fisher's journey from childhood through her years in France, the outbreak of World War II, the collapse of her first marriage, and the suicide of her second husband.
Where does The Gastronomical Me sit in Fisher's bibliography?
It is the third volume in her early food-writing sequence, following Consider the Oyster and How to Cook a Wolf.
Why is The Gastronomical Me considered so important?
The book is widely regarded as the progenitor of the modern food memoir genre and cemented Fisher's reputation as a major literary voice of her era. In 1989 the New York Review of Books singled it out as her finest work, praising it as a vivid sustained self-portrait told through food.
What time period does The Gastronomical Me span?
The collection moves roughly from 1912 to 1941, closing with a deeply unsettling trip Fisher took to Mexico.
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