Eating in Two or Three Languages

After months of wartime rationing in England and France, Irvin S. Cobb just wanted a proper meal. This is the funny, wistful account of one American's battle with foreign food, and his aching longing for fried chicken, sweet corn, and the comforts of a home kitchen. Written in the 1910s by the prolific humorist and war correspondent, these essays capture something achingly universal: the way homesickness lives in the stomach. Cobb's wit is sharp but never cruel. He pokes fun at bland English seafood and the peculiarities of French cuisine with the affection of a man who knows he's being unreasonable. What emerges is not just a catalog of culinary disappointments, but a portrait of an American abroad, missing his country terribly, finding humor in deprivation and culture in contradiction. For anyone who's ever craved their mother's cooking in a foreign place, this book is a warm, wise, unexpectedly moving companion.