Between Meals: An Appetite for Paris

Read it again. It’s beyond genius. Beyond. The tone, harmonies, erudition and love.All in single sentences. Wow.

I have to say first of all that I'm a sucker for all of the "Paris in the early part of the twentieth century" literature. I love Celine and Miller, but my favorite was Hemingway's A Moveable Feast. Well, Between Meals is no A Moveable Feast but it certainly is a high quality read that I can unquestionably recommend to you.Liebling, make no mistake, is a top notch writer and his sentence structure, use of metaphor, and style have much to offer aspiring wordsmiths. He has an eye for the essential and this is particularly true if you're at all like me as far as food is concerned. Liebling is a true gourmand and, even though I am completely unlearned and unappreciative in regards to fine dining, I still enjoyed his narration and memories of that splendid age.The best of these essays is "Passable" where he recalls his old girlfriend from his student years. Liebling informs us that he does a poor job in reconstructing her but his description of their romance is quite compelling. I loved that essay just as I did the one on Mirande. This is a world long gone but we're fortunate that books like this are still in print. Reading it will give you a snapshot of beauty that will hang like a Renoir in the corridors of your mind.

This is one of those books that, as you very reluctantly finish and shelve it you think to yourself "Damn! Where has THIS author been all my life?" Needless to say perhaps (but then we always go on to say it!) my next order is already in and awaited. Brilliant, witty, readable prose from a professional who earnt his keep as a columnist on the great magazine - as it once was - The New Yorker. Born to a well-off family, in the summer 1926, Liebling sailed to Europe where he studied French medieval literature at the Sorbonne in Paris. Supposedly.Having blackmailed his father into funding a year in Europe - and having spent his first year's allowance before he even left! - Liebling actually spent his second adequate monthly released funding studying "feeding".Despite a reputation based on his New Yorker columns on life, boxing and mankind's foibles it is his writing on food and `feeding' for which he is mostly acclaimed. His editor decried his claims to be a gourmet, and as was explained by my own `feeding' French mentor many years after his 1916 ventures, he was assured he was actually a gourmand. Jointly our shapes at our stages of maturity confirm this more apt definition!Wonderfully witty but actually very astute writing on restaurants, food and wine demonstrate this author's ability to ensnare the reader in his works. Almost weeping for my `long lost' Paris at the end - sated and stuffed - I put aside this greedy `foodies' pornography with reluctant glee.Great reading! Bon Apppetit!

My naive vision of 20th century Paris before the war mainly consisted of literature by the lost generation, a few extravagant paintings and musical productions, and the defiant attitude towards the conventional exhibited by a handful of demented visionaries. Liebling presents another vision through the eyes of a hungry man with enormous appetite and appreciation for good food. The aromas of a pungent potage, a traditional roast or some other species of cuisine francaise pulse obsessively behind every word, even in between meals, driving this grand odyssey through the great masterpieces of the senses. This hunger is tightly enmeshed with the cultural experience presented, and the narrative arc is akin to a classical sonata. First, the tonic key is introduced within the motif of extravagant eating - and then the story moves on through a series of modulating encounters, some incredibly hard to believe, like his burgundy adventures, eventually finding itself unable to return to its home key - unable to find again the same kind of cuisine - until a chance, and final encounter during the wartime (I won't reveal the details).I urge readers who enjoy hearty food and serious literature to consider this book.

One of my all-time favorite books by my favorite writer, AJ Liebling. He took the money his father had given him to study at the Sorbonne in the 1920s and instead spent it all on the most amazing dinners. His descriptions of food and wine are nonparei. Though I’ve been to Paris a number of times myself, it’s Liebling’s long-lost Paris that in many ways I most cherish.If you liked Hemingway’s “A Moveable Feast”, you’ll love this. And Liebling’s superb command of style, vocabulary and tone will perhaps inspire you, as it did me, to read many of his other wonderful books such as “The Sweet Science”, “The Earl of Louisiana”, “The Honest Rainmaker” and his writings during and after WW2.

Liebling entertains as he feeds his enormous appetite for life in the epicenter of culinary art during the 1920's.I must say I was rather disgusted with Liebling's greed and gluttony. In many descriptions he appears quite like a drug addict, wringing his hands and waiting for his next check so he can embark on another binge.While such an unhealthy relationship with food is certainly not commmendable, Liebling's collection of tales are fascinating and rewarding. I can't help but be grateful for the delectable insights he provides into Paris during the 1920's, 30's and 40's. The progression of time and development of perspective over the course of the collection provides a nice arc to his story and leaves the reader with a sense of loss and longing as he laments the bygone golden era of Paris's legendary food scene.

An interesting read. We discussed it at a book club. Our leader had lived in Paris for a time and could add much to the book. Afterwards I readREMEMBRANCE OF THINGS PARIS by Ruth Riechl and Gourmet Magazine Editors. The two books went well together.

Brilliant writing. A gustatory memoir to Paris of the mid-1920's. A.J.Liebling wrote for The New Yorker and this book, which is more like a series of long essays, embodies some of that trademark wit and air of a bon vivant. Hedonistic and entirely endearing.

Last chapter is a tour de force. The insight into the way men view women at that age is breathtaking. The other stuff about food and wine was also hugely entertaining and fairly historically enlightening.

A glorious celebration of dining in Paris in the first half of last century. Liebling writes wonderfully well. This has been compared to Hemingway's book, I find it better.

A brilliant book for all times even though Paris has changed over the decades, read it every now & ten alongwith Hemingway's Moveable Feast