THE MAN WHO CHANGED THE WAY WE EAT

Thomas McNamee makes vividly clear in this book that the story of food in America is incomplete without an appraisal of the remarkable role played by Craig Claiborne, the New York Times food critic extraordinaire who in his column, running from 1957 to 1987, revolutionized how Americans think about, cook, and taste their food.

The first biography of the founding father of the American revolution in cooking -- the New York Times food critic who invented the role of the New York Times food critic; introduced the country to Julia Child, Wolfgang Puck, and Alice Waters; and in thirty years as the reigning arbiter of all things food in the country, introduced Americans to the food of the world, from French haute cuisine to the exotic flavors of the Far East.

Describing fabulous meals, bringing great chefs and great historic restaurants to life, and following Claiborne to Marrakesh, the three-star restaurants of France, and Saigon during the Vietnam War, McNamee offers a lively and alluring account of Craig Claiborne's extraordinary adventure in food. But more than just a standard biography, the book is the story of the birth of the American food craze and the voice that sparked it, capturing the country's transition from enchantment with frozen TV dinners and Jello O salads to a new consciousness about the art and craft of truly good cooking.

Tom McNamee is the author of the New York Times bestseller Alice Waters and Chez Panisse. His essays, poems, and natural history writing have been published in The New Yorker, Life, The New York Times, and The Washington Post. He also wrote the documentary film Alexander Calder, which was broadcast on the PBS 'American Masters' series in June 1998 and received both a George W. Peabody Award and an Emmy. He lives in San Francisco.