The Tummy Trilogy

Rating:
Summary: American chow, well done!
Review: Becuase it is a collection of columns, there is a certain amount of redundancy; but, overall, it's a rollicking jaunt through the off-beat dineries of a vanishing America. Any easy, breezy read, one gets the feeling a dinnier with Trillin would be overshadowed by the company. Delicious!

Rating:
Summary: Extremely funny
Review: Even for a non-foodie, this is a hilarious look at Trillin's singular obsession: the American meal. Whether or not you know his other writing, you will love his speculation and roaming the country for the perfect barbecue.

Rating:
Summary: Possibly the best book on eating... ever
Review: If you love food, this book will make you laugh out loud. Trillin's delight in food is infectuous, and he's a damn good writer besides.

Rating:
Summary: Eat your way across America
Review: Okay so I'm late at reading Calvin's books, but what a yummy way to write. I would have read the book in one sitting, but I kept getting so dang hungry, I would have to stop and go eat something! A person could get fat reading this book. Of course all his talk of barbecue, and crawfish festivals, left this East-Texas gal longing for home. He's right in the south 'eat anywhere' is the goal of many. This book was delightful and delicious! A great book for the cook in the family. Margie Toone-author The Country Gourmet

Rating:
Summary: Eat your way across America
Review: Okay so I'm late at reading Calvin's books, but what a yummy way to write. I would have read the book in one sitting, but I kept getting so dang hungry, I would have to stop and go eat something! A person could get fat reading this book. Of course all his talk of barbecue, and crawfish festivals, left this East-Texas gal longing for home. He's right in the south 'eat anywhere' is the goal of many. This book was delightful and delicious! A great book for the cook in the family. Margie Toone-author The Country Gourmet

Rating:
Summary: Warning: Stock the fridge before you read these books
Review: The books in Calvin Trillin's Tummy Trilogy instilled in me forever a love of reading books aloud and an insatiable penchant for "American cuisine." I grew up reading them to my mother, a caterer, as she was busy in the kitchen. Aside from being absolutely hilarious, his descriptions of different dishes - from the humble french fry to more exotic regional dishes - would make our mouths water. Those descriptions and stories have never left me, and I've made a point of trying to visit some of the places he described in his books, including what I'd have to call a pilgrimage to the legendary Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City. Books to be savoured over and over again, preferably with an Italian sausage sandwich in hand.

Rating:
Summary: Warning: Stock the fridge before you read these books
Review: The books in Calvin Trillin's Tummy Trilogy instilled in me forever a love of reading books aloud and an insatiable penchant for "American cuisine." I grew up reading them to my mother, a caterer, as she was busy in the kitchen. Aside from being absolutely hilarious, his descriptions of different dishes - from the humble french fry to more exotic regional dishes - would make our mouths water. Those descriptions and stories have never left me, and I've made a point of trying to visit some of the places he described in his books, including what I'd have to call a pilgrimage to the legendary Arthur Bryant's in Kansas City. Books to be savoured over and over again, preferably with an Italian sausage sandwich in hand.

Rating:
Summary: Made me gain weight
Review: THE TUMMY TRILOGY consists of three collections of essays about traveling and eating: AMERICAN FRIED, ALICE, LET'S EAT and THIRD HELPINGS. And Trillin is a prodigious eater indeed. Whenever he travels, which he does frequently, his primary purpose, it seems, is to eat -- and to discover the best places to eat wherever he happens to be.

Trillin is not satisfied with the pseudo-Continental fare found in those restaurants he calls "La Maison de la Casa House." No, he wants the authentic barbecue that can only be cooked over a hickory fire, even if he is reduced to driving around with his nose out the window to catch a whiff of hickory smoke. He wants the kind of food you have to eat standing up at a local festival or the kind you eat at long tables covered with paper at Baptist wives' dinners or fisherman's suppers.

If you aren't a prodigious eater, you may find Trillin's writing difficult to take in anything other than small helpings. Reading an account of one meal can leave you feeling engorged, as if you had gained five pounds from the text alone. But the writing is light and humorous and pulls you along, the observations are witty and always tinged with truth, and the eaters Trillin meets along the way are worth getting to know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to plan a trip to New Orleans and see if Trillin has left anything worth eating behind.

Rating:
Summary: A gourMAND as well as a gourmet
Review: Trillin talks about food cleverly and with great humor, but not snobbily. I learned all about barbecue in Kansas City, oyster po'boys, Chinese food in NYC, and a ton of other delicious things. Three of the best food books of all time! But also excellent reading for someone who just enjoys well-written and funny stories.

Rating:
Summary: A gourMAND as well as a gourmet
Review: Trillin talks about food cleverly and with great humor, but not snobbily. I learned all about barbecue in Kansas City, oyster po'boys, Chinese food in NYC, and a ton of other delicious things. Three of the best food books of all time! But also excellent reading for someone who just enjoys well-written and funny stories.