Recommended Reading: The Man Who Ate Too Much by John Birdsall

This wonderful biography is a feast for the senses, enveloping the reader in sights, sounds, and especially the smells of food. In the process, we learn so much about the Oregon-born James Beard—his talents, eccentricities, and foibles. His expulsion from college in the 1920s because of homosexuality was traumatic, and it took a long time for Beard to establish himself as a caterer, cookbook author, and cooking teacher in the New York food world. Along the way, he met, among others, Alice B. Toklas, Carson McCullers, Julia Child, and Gypsy Rose Lee. Biographer John Birdsall keeps us aware of Beard’s loneliness, his always falling short of where he’d hoped to be, and his often contentious relationships with publishers and his usually uncredited collaborators. This portrait of the twentieth-century gourmand is a real page-turner.

The Man Who Ate Too Much: The Life of James Beard, by John Birdsall. Published by W. W. Norton. The editor is Melanie Tortoroli; the agents are Steve Troha and Dado Derviskadic of Folio Literary Management. The Man Who Ate Too Much is a finalist for the Publishing Triangle’s Randy Shilts Award for Gay Nonfiction; the winner will be announced on May 12.