Glazed America - A History of the Doughnut (Hardcover)

Everybody loves a good doughnut. The magic combination of soft dough, hot oil, and sugar coating - with or without sprinkles - inspires a wide range of surprisingly powerful memories and cravings. Yet we are embarrassed by our desire; the favorite food of Homer Simpson, caricatured as the dietary cornerstone of cops, a symbol of our collective descent into obesity, doughnuts are, in the words of one California consumer, a 'food of shame.'Paul Mullins turns his attention to the simple doughnut in order to learn more about North American culture and society. Both a breakfast staple and a snack to eat any time of day or night, doughnuts cross lines of gender, class, and race like no other food item. Favorite doughnut shops that were once neighborhood institutions remain unchanged - even as their surrounding neighborhoods have morphed into strip clubs, empty lots, and abandoned housing.Blending solid scholarship with humorous insights, Mullins offers a look into doughnut production, marketing, and consumption. He confronts head-on the question of why we often paint doughnuts in moral terms, and shows how the seemingly simple food reveals deep and complex social conflicts over body image and class structure. In Mullins's skillful hands, this simple pastry provides surprisingly compelling insights into our eating habits, our identity, and modern consumer culture. This is a trip through the doughnut hole to learn what a humble circle of fried dough tells us about ourselves.

General

Imprint:	University Press of Florida
Country of origin:	United States
Release date:	September 2008
First published:	September 2008
Authors:	Paul R Mullins
Dimensions:	229 x 152 x 19mm (L x W x T)
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	224
ISBN-13:	978-0-8130-3238-2
Categories:	Books > Reference & Interdisciplinary > Interdisciplinary studies > Cultural studies > General Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history Books > History > History of specific subjects > Social & cultural history
LSN:	0-8130-3238-5
Barcode:	9780813032382

Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate? Let us know about it.

Does this product have an incorrect or missing image? Send us a new image.

Is this product missing categories? Add more categories.

Review This Product

No reviews yet - be the first to create one!