Rating: 
Summary: Light touch and obsession with detail work well
Review: Steingarten's book was a delightful and obsessive encounter with food. The persona he adopts--self mocking, witty, and driven--charmed me throughout the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Not as good as the reviews sounded.
Review: I was pretty disappointed in Steingarten's book. It's certainly not as riveting or entertaining as I expected from other reviews. What I found really annoying was the way he goes into intense, excruciating detail about some aspect of food, e.g. the taste of water. Then suddenly, as if he stopped, counted words, and realized he had made the required limit for his column, he cuts the article off with a unfullfilling, anti-climatic "That's the way it is!" (Not an exact quote of course!)
Rating:
Summary: A very enjoyable good read!
Review: I enjoyed every word of this book, but know that I am a 'foodie'. Jeffrey Steingarten presents his journey through food fads, nutrition and gourmet restaurants. His research is in depth (he reads all those scientific journals that I wouldn't - and distills what he has read into an enjoyable read.) Results are often surprising and fun. This is an easy read and I found myself laughing and reading parts aloud whenever there was anyone nearby.
Rating: 
Summary: Very Funny in Parts, but a little too long
Review: The author is quite funny in places, but ultimately one can read only so many descriptions of food. The best parts of the book are the more general essays on bread, ketchup, etc... At the end though I was exhausted. Its a good book, light,just tiring. I had to struggle to finish it. However, the next book I read "Down These Mean Streets" by Piri Thomas was an interesting an quick read. Check it out.
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Summary: I don't know exactly why I bought this book...
Review: I can't piece together exactly what made me buy The Man Who Ate Everything. I really don't have an interest in cooking or reading about food. I never read recipe books and am certainly not enthralled when it comes to reading about restaurants and wine. I ask myself why I bought it, and I can't answer the question. My hypothesis was that I bought it because the cover was intriguing- the cover being a suited man with a bread roll for a head. Plus, on the back, the word ESSAY cropped up, as well as an inordinate amount of accolades by various newspapers. But what did I expect apart from essays about food? I don't know. What I would of liked was recounts of humourous anecdotes relating to his tribulations with food, but that's exactly what I get, and I'm not compelled to read on! Perhaps I should see a psychologist. Jeffery Steingarten, a man I'd never heard of till I bought it, is apparantly one of the world's most respected food critics. The Man Who Ate Everything is a compendium of his many essays about food and drink, but it fails to capture the reader's attention. It is not daring enough: not outgoing or bold. Whereas many essay writers go out on a limb with theories and distinctive styles of writing, Mr. Steingarten simply meanders along like an old man reciting a story to his grandson. There were some memorable passages though. The best parts are at the start of the book, where he describes to the reader his exploits with making "PAIN D'LEVAIN," a bread that requires painstaking effort and precision to be made properly. The story of making it just right is quite amusing: his struggles in the kitchen; his interviews with famous bakers; staying up well into the early hours of the morning, testing, baking and kneading. All of it is quite amusing. But from there, Steingarten slowly descends into things like 'fun facts' and 'how about this for a bit of neat information'. Plus, he never lets up on food! All we hear about is food, food, food, food (did I mention food?) and more food. It's enough to make you salivate. He has a propensity to use a lot of French. One thinks that he made all these French meals just to sound intelligent. Saying "a'la rounge de jous par vais" certainly beats "baked beans on toast" (I don't know French and what I said was made up, but hey, it's an example). So you just have to accept that Mr. Steingarten knows about French cuisine and you don't. The book is quite long, and reading about his exploits only endures the patience for so long. It eventually got the best of me and I moved on to the sequel to Catch-22, called "Closing Time," which so far ISN'T matching up to the all time greatest novel. It's so hard to find a decent book these days.
Rating:
Summary: Delightful read
Review: From food science to travelogue, this book has it all. Just a delightful read about food, cooking, cuisine without the snobby attitude. In fact, it's quite funny, witty, and candid. And it's broken into essays so you can pick it up and put it down when you need to, although I guarantee you won't put it down often! Super!
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!!
Review: This is the most enjoyable book I've read in ages. I've laughed so much people around me had to come and take a look at what I was reading. Absolutely recommended!
Rating:
Summary: Witty, great writing, *and* a skeptical look at food faddism
Review: The book describes Steingarten as an "investigative" food reviewer, which is a fairly unique description. Some of his best chapters have just enough food chemistry or physiology to be challenging, and it is so wonderful to find someone who doesn't automatically buy into our food and diet subculture of superstition, but actually bases his opinions on science.
Rating:
Summary: A food obsession-of-the month diary
Review: A fun read for any foodie, especially one who likes to understand, eat - and cook - quality food, though not necessarily expensive food. Not a cookbook, but has a few recipes, with good stories to make you want to try 'em.
Rating:
Summary: Thought for food in a different angle
Review: This book is a book about food, but not a cook book 'how-to'. I bought it last weekend out of my curiosity. It is hard to put it down since it provokes my senses. It also provide many valuable information about potatoes and avocados, and so on...Do you want to know what happens to the potato if you cook it at 165F ? Here is a book that talk about cooking french fried with horse fat or beef fat. What interesting about the book is that the it challenges traditional belief (salt consumption, etc...) and it provides the wisdom gourmet eating: "You don't ask for cooking advices from a thin person" Buy this book if you want to know more about food or ingredients that you eat every day and never think a bit about it. Buy this book if you want to stay healthy. The info in this book worths every penny; and laughes are free. 5* without doubt
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