The Raw and the Cooked

This collection of essays is nominally about food and eating, but is actually about understanding life and what matters in it. It has a strongly male viewpoint, which I normally find off-putting. But in this case, every time I thought I would just put it down and go find something else to read, there would be some thought-provoking insight or interesting turn of phrase, and I'd be drawn back in. In the end, I enjoyed the collection rather a lot, but I found it worked best for me in small doses. If you love fine food and wine, or have ever wondered what motivates someone who does, this is the book of essays for you. Neither of those things describes me, but I still enjoyed it. I don't think I could read it in large chunks, but the essay format made it easy to divide it up such that I enjoyed the book despite being fairly convinced I wasn't the target audience at all.