Renowned essayist Matthew Gavin Frank takes readers on a richly illustrated culinary tour of the United States through fifty signature dishes, and a radical exploration of our gastronomic heritage, in The Mad Feast: An Ecstatic Tour Through America’s Food (W.W. Norton). From key lime pie (Florida) to elk stew (Montana), The Mad Feast commemorates the unexpected origins of the familiar. Brazenly dissecting the myriad intersections between history and food, Frank, in this gorgeously designed volume, considers politics, sexuality, violence, grief, and pleasure: the cool, creamy whoopie pie evokes toughness in the face of New England winters, while the stewlike perloo serves up an exploration of food and race in the South.
