A National Bestseller
Winner of an International Association of Culinary Professionals Award for Literary Food Writing
"An absorbing portrait of an unexpected friendship." -- "Entertainment Weekly"
"Julia's inimitable voice shines through . . . These letters offer a] glimpse of how the truly great can merge heart and soul in the pursuit of excellence." -- "Wall Street Journal"
Julia is known around the world by her first name alone. But how much do we really know of the inner Julia Child? Through this riveting correspondence between Julia and Avis DeVoto, her "pen pal" and literary mentor, we hear Julia's deepest thoughts and feelings and witness the blossoming of a unique and lifelong friendship. We see, too, the turbulent creation of one of the most influential cookbooks ever written. Frank, bawdy, funny, exuberant, these astonishing letters show an America on the verge of political, social, and gastronomic transformation and two women deeply engaged in the making of that new world.
" Child] comes booming back to life in these dishy missives . . . A delicious read." -- "People "(31/2 of 4 stars)
"Blazingly alive and entirely irresistible." -- "Boston Globe"

Described as a national treasure and the finest prose writer in America, and christened as a "Poet of the Appetites," M.F.K. Fisher has long been considered the finest food writer of the 20th century. But Fisher would have rejected the term "food writer" as an inaccurate and limiting description of her oeuvre for good reason. Though best know for her gastronomic writings, M.F.K. Fisher was also a novelist, travel writer, memoirist, critic, and essayist of the highest order. In an astoundingly prolific career, Fisher wrote over two dozen books, hundreds of magazine articles, dozens of book reviews, and many volumes of journals. Her output, which influenced generations of writers, has been translated into ten languages and has appeared in nearly one hundred anthologies. M.F.K. Fisher: An Annotated Bibliography is an essential tool for accessing and understanding Fisher's life and work. Comprehensive in scope, it is the definitive resource for Fisher fans, scholars, researchers, and booksellers. The bibliography identifies everything ever published by Fisher and provides concise summaries of each work, as well as citations to hundreds of publications about Fisher's life and work. The Fourth Revised Edition also contains much new information including descriptions to assist with physical identification of the many editions of Fisher's books, an appendix listing nearly one hundred examples of Fisher's inclusions in anthologies, and identification of World Wide Web accessible material by and about Fisher.

Like the savory, simple dishes she favored, M. F. K. Fisher's writing was often "short, stylish, concentrated in flavor, and varied in form," writes Joan Reardon in her introduction to this eclectic, lively collection. Magazine writing launched and helped to sustain Fisher's long, illustrious career and in these fifty-seven pieces we experience again the inimitable voice of the woman widely known to have elevated food writing to a literary art.
"A Stew or a Story" covers five decades of Fisher's writing for such notable and diverse publications as "Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Ladies Home Journal, Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times, The New Yorker," and "Vogue." But collected here also are articles nearly impossible to find from lesser-known, more ephemeral magazines. Essays on people, places, and of course food, mix here with delightful fiction to become a delectable feast.

In more than thirty books, M.F.K. Fisher forever changed the way Americans understood not only the art of eating but the art of living. Whether considering the oyster or describing how to cook a wolf, she addressed the universal needs "for food and security and love." Readers were instantly drawn into her circle of husbands and lovers, artists and artisans; they felt they knew Fisher herself, whether they encountered her as a child with a fried-egg sandwich in her pocket, a young bride awakening to the glories of French food, or a seductress proffering the first peas of the season.
Oldest child, wife, mother, mistress, self-made career woman, trailblazing writer-Fisher served up each role with panache. But like many other master stylists, she was also a master mythologizer. To retell her story as it really happened, Joan Reardon has made the most of her access to Fisher, her family and friends, and her private papers. This multifaceted portrayal of the woman John Updike christened our "poet of the appetites" is no less memorable than the personae Fisher crafted for herself.