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Food: A Love Story
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Food: A Love Story
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Food: A Love Story
Audiobook7 hours

Food: A Love Story

Written by Jim Gaffigan

Narrated by Jim Gaffigan

Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

3.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

What are my qualifications to write this book? None really. So why should you read it? Here's why: I'm a little fat. If a thin guy were to write about a love of food and eating I'd highly recommend that you do not read his book.

Bacon. McDonalds. Cinnabon. Hot Pockets. Kale. Stand-up comedian and author Jim Gaffigan has made his career rhapsodizing over the most treasured dishes of the American diet ("choking on bacon is like getting murdered by your lover") and decrying the worst offenders ("kale is the early morning of foods"). Fans flocked to his New York Times bestselling book Dad Is Fat to hear him riff on fatherhood but now, in his second book, he will give them what they really crave-hundreds of pages of his thoughts on all things culinary(ish). Insights such as: why he believes coconut water was invented to get people to stop drinking coconut water, why pretzel bread is #3 on his most important inventions of humankind (behind the wheel and the computer), and the answer to the age-old question "which animal is more delicious: the pig, the cow, or the bacon cheeseburger?"

LanguageEnglish
Release dateOct 21, 2014
ISBN9780804192224
Unavailable
Food: A Love Story

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Reviews for Food

Rating: 3.7290075801526714 out of 5 stars
3.5/5

262 ratings28 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very funny take on food from different cultures to food chains and types of foods. Some of his observations confirmed why I don't eat fast food anymore. If you like food and like to eat, this will entertainment. If you enjoy humor, you will enjoy this too.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I liked Dad is Fat, but this book blows that one out of the water, and not just because you get hungry while reading it. Gaffigan is on his game; I cracked up several times in this book and am already recommending to everyone I know who likes to laugh. AKA everyone.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    efinitely his voice throughout each chapter - had to skim some of it because I didn't have as much time to hang onto it (library eBook) but a wonderful de-stresser to dip into occasionally & have a good laugh. Well written, but of course I wanted to see him deliver much of this live; his voice and mannerisms make it that much funnier! Lots of sly satire & commentary about Americans and our horrible eating habits/growing obesity problem, but always delivered within Gaffigan's wide-eyed serio-comic tone. Ex: he extols the virtues of regional cuisine, expresses mock outrage at food companies' feeble attempts at healthier choices, insists that no one really likes fruit or vegetables, & explains why Super Bowl Sunday food is an American institution worthy of reverence.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5

    I reviewed the audiobook version of Mr. Gaffigan’s Dad is Fat for Cannonball Read 5. He’s back with a new book, which I only discovered because of its prominent display at the bookstore, and the cover. The cover is clever – a cake topper version of Mr. Gaffigan next to a cake topper version of a hot dog, on top of a fancy wedding cake.

    The book behind the cover is a nice, light, entertaining read. It’s a bit of a mishmash, with everything connected to Mr. Gaffigan’s love of food. But not in a ‘foodie’ way. Nope, this is about his love of all food, not just artisanal cheese from locally sourced cows. Sure, he devotes a fair amount of space to fancy steak, but a lot of it is about things like McDonalds, hot dogs, and pizza. It’s a hodgepodge that seems even more disconnected than your average collection of essays, and yet it still works. It’s something I appreciate, especially as I am someone who loves food as well.

    In the beginning he talks through his view of the food that each region of the U.S. is known for, from coffee in the Pacific Northwest to crab in Maryland. As an aside, he is not a fan of the seafood the east coast loves – he refers to lobster and crab as sea bugs. I can relate. As a comedian who travels for a living, he is in the somewhat rare position of being able to share a pretty well-informed opinion about the different food available in cities across the U.S., large and small. Not many of us can say we’ve eaten in dozens of towns across the fifty states.

    The book took a while to get going for me, but once it did, I found myself giggling and cackling, annoying my husband as I insisted on reading passage after passage out loud to him. The book is fun, and a nice read for when everything else has been just a little too much. October was a mostly shitty month in many ways, and an exhausting one at work, so this was what I needed. It isn’t perfect – the beginning does wander dangerously close to fat shaming – but for the most part it’s a nice palate cleanser between the heavier stuff.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    An irreverent look at food, particularly American food, by a stand up comedian. Some funny stuff that must be read in small doses. Library book from the "Blind Date with a Book" display, which means it came in a plain brown wrapper. Last time I did this I also got a good book
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Well-known comic Jim Gaffigan's follow-up to Dad is Fat is about food, restaurants, and eating around the country. Gaffigan is not what you'd call a culinary expert, so this is along the lines of cheeseburgers, chili, and cheeses and not some of the fancier fare one might have from time to time. Vegetarians need not apply, Gaffigan doesn't really like veggies all that much.Like his comic routine (he'll remind you several times that his big schtick is a "Hot Pockets" screed), it is mostly amusing anecdotes with occasional laugh out loud moments. But mostly just amusing. If you already like this comic, you'll probably enjoy this book. If you're not sure, watch one of his TV specials before investing too much into it.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Eh, alright. More relatable for me than his first book, at least for me, since it isn't about kids; it seems less heartfelt, though. It's a lot more similar to his stand-up (especially his "hot pocket" bit). A little repetitive, but funny.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Yup, it's a whole book about Jim's opinions of food. Nothing deep, nothing he didn't advertise. Basically, it's his stand up without his voice.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Before this book, my knowledge of Jim Gaffigan extended no further than the Hot Pockets routine that made him famous and maybe a couple of car commercials. But it is very funny, and very quotable. Gaffigan is a nice change from a lot of other modern comics because he doesn't need to be edgy or offensive or vulgar. It's pretty much all about food and parenthood, and that's okay. I laughed aloud quite a bit throughout this book, and while some might complain it's pretty one-note, the title should be adequate warning of what kinds of jokes to expect here.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I love food. I love food so much that my vacations often revolve around food. I thought for sure that I would relate more to this book and find it hilarious, but I just didn't. To be honest some of what he was saying kind of grossed me out a little. I'm also surprised to admit that I found myself zoning out a few times throughout the book. I'm not quite sure who I would recommend this book to. (Maybe someone with really terrible eating habits?) I really enjoyed his other book, but not this one.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    If you love to laugh, you will like this book!! So funny.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    The first-line audience for this book is Jim Gaffigan fans, and for that audience this is a glaring disappointment. This book is nothing more than a nigh-on verbatim transcription of all of his previously available CD's and DVDs with a few transitions thrown in for organization. If you know Jim and his material already this is a complete and utter waste of time and money.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book will make you laugh and hungry! Loved it!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Entertaining.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book should come with a warning: you will want to eat while reading. I laughed out loud several times. His descriptions of food and restaurants are universal, and I thoroughly enjoyed every page.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Some pretty funny stuff, quite a bit of it I've heard before in his stand-up, mixed in with some more serious stuff about food he loves and food he hates. If you're familiar with his live specials, you'll likely hear his voice in parts of this book. Some great pictures too, amazed he looks like himself even as a kid. One question--he mentions that his wife wrote the book with him, so why doesn't appear on it anywhere?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Hilarious! This was a family listen for the summer and we could all appreciate Gaffigan's observations about food and eating. The author read it himself which made it feel a little like our minivan was a mini stand-up comedy stage -- we supplied the laughter. Gaffigan clearly loves food, though he is not an esoteric gourmand. Instead he loves cheeseburgers, hot dogs, and all manner of unhealthy fare. His main schtick is a tour of the US by food region: Midwest is Super Bowl Sunday Foodland, the Southwest is Mexican Foodland, the Southeast is Barbecueland etc. Funny stuff. Gaffigan also riffs on airplane/airport food, family dinner, fast food chains, all peppered with lots of self-deprecating humor. A few swear words and some sexual innuendo that missed its mark, but mostly clean and entertaining for my 11 and 13 year old kids.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My Review
    I have never been to a Jim Gaffigan stand-up comedy show or read his first book, Dad is Fat, which was a big success and made it onto the New York Times Best Seller’s list for 17 weeks. All I knew before reading this book was he is a famous stand-up comedian that made fun of “Hot Pockets”. When I received this book from the UPS deliveryman I needed a break from writing something boring, so I was really excited to open the box and found this book in it. Hey, this guy is a comedian right? his book should be funny then and it would be a nice break from what I was doing earlier. As expected, this book is funny maybe hilarious would be a better description. After picking up this book, I still have not gone back to my original writing task (cause I could not put this book down, and yes I read kind of slow)!

    Sometimes I feel like this book is written by a ten years old boy. He does not care about calories or how unhealthy the food he is consuming, all he cares about is his happiness or his tummy’s happiness. All the food he likes you can probably find them on the kid’s menu: Hamburger, Hot Dog, Pizza, Cheese, Fries…. you get the idea. Anything that screams “healthy” he would automatically dislike it, like the bean soup story he told. He was happy one of the parents bought a bean soup to the meeting. After a sip or bowl he was still pleased but once he learned there was kale in it, ohhhhh the story changes fast. What’s wrong with a little kale? You could not even taste it.

    Don’t get me wrong, I eat unhealthy time to time like fast food restaurants, but I try to avoid it as much as possible. No one has that much time to cook or eat a normal dine-in restaurant, both of them cost minimum of 90 minutes. Cooking: grocery shopping>cleaning the raw food> cutting/chopping> the actual cooking> eat> then cleaning the dishes and POTS. Eating out isn’t much faster: wait for a table (sometimes you might have to wait for a hostess/host)>wait for server>get the drink>wait for server again>order>wait for food>eat>wait for server to come back with a dessert menu or check. So fast foods might be a better choice sometimes because of the convenience but not because that’s what I crave for or desire.

    Remember he is a stand-up comedian, so when he writes about the food he dislikes, it might come off as offensive to some people. According to him, I like to eat insects from the ocean and am a weirdo because I don’t mind eating salads/veggies without any dressings or cheese. However I get this is just his style of writing and what makes this book entertaining, I do find it odd that someone would say they like sushi but only order Californian rolls and eat them with ketchup or eating a piece of “well-done” steak (that’s a waste of steak!!)

    This book is written for anyone who likes to eat and cannot afford to lose an arm or leg to eat at those high-end restaurants. I like how he only writes a paragraph at most 2 pages about each food, so if you don’t like that topic you are not stuck on it for a quarter of the book like most of the other books written about foods. I also like how he adds pictures into book to show some of the foods and his family (his beautiful wife and five adorable children). Although our tastes might be very different, I still really enjoyed the book.

    4.5 out of 5

    I received a copy of this book from Blogging for Books for this honest review.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Very funny book by a favorite comedian. The book does include some bits from one or more of his standup specials, practically verbatim. You can almost hear them coming from his mouth. They're still terrific, and there's often even more material that didn't make it into the standup.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Loved this book. I laughed out loud many times. I saw the comedian/author on a talk show. He was so funny that I went to the library the next day to take out his book. Jim Gaffigan jokes about food, family & growing up. He loves meat, fatty foods and generally anything fried, so if you are an uptight vegetarian/vegan, you may be offended by his jokes. He also calls seafood "seabugs" Hah! He calls himself " an eatie, not a foodie".
    I love all foods so his jokes did not offend me, Short chapters, lots of photos, a quick, hysterical read.
    4.5 stars!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Food: A Love Story by Jim GaffiganAudio narrated by the authorJim Gaffigan is famous for his stand-up comedy riff about Hot Pockets. (I know. You are singing the jingle right now, aren't you? I always do.) I always love his self-deprecating humor and quick wit. He's one of those people who has to be a laugh-and-a-half if you knew him as a friend and would be fun just to shoot the breeze with. He's truly funny.This is his second book. He earlier wrote Dad is Fat, which I've also read. Although there are definite moments (in both of his books) that made me literally laugh out loud, the idea of a whole book was kind of stretching it. Writing over 300 pages detailing different fast food restaurants, famous local food stops, popular junk food, and the world's--well, okay, his--obsession with all of them, had to have been really difficult. It would be hard not to make the same jokes about McDonald's as you would Burger King. It would be hard to find differences between IHOP and The Waffle House. It would be hard to make a conversation about kale funny. He does it, though. It is funny, although it is not uproariously funny. I do recommend getting the audio version. Part of what makes him funny is his delivery. He's got a real talent.This wasn't great reading but it was enjoyable. It's like listening to late night TV in the background or settling for a frozen yogurt instead of real ice cream. It is the comfort food of books. It filled a need but wasn't totally satisfying.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I loved Gaffigan's premier title, Dad is Fat, and his latest book did not disappoint. Hilarious!!! We actually have a few things in common. I am blonde and very pale. I do not eat shellfish, and I so agree with him that they are merely bugs of the sea. I have four children, and my spouse is amazing. :) I adore his stand-up routines, and would love to see him in person.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's funny how books influence you. One minute I'm hyper attentive to everything I'm eating for health's sake. The next moment (after finishing Dad is Fat) I'm hyper attentive to everything I'm eating because I LOVE FOOD.

    And I'm okay with that.

    Jim Gaffigan is the guy who rocketed to fame on the strength of his "Hot Pockets" routine. I doubt he expected it to be so popular, or to have total strangers singing renditions of the jingle to him in random places. But he owns it, he's grateful for it, and with Dad is Fat, he expands on it, as well as a lot of other favorite (and not so favorite) foods. We listened to an audio version of Gaffigan reading his book to us on a family road trip to the northwest and back, and all I wanted to do is pull over and find a good steak. Or a bagel. Or fries. Or cake. Or...well, or whatever he was lavishly describing at the moment.

    Did I say lavishly? I mean hilariously, because the book is a hoot and a holler. Gaffigan knows how to make me laugh and I will gladly listen to or read anything he writes (though I'd rather listen, because it's far funnier to hear it in his own voice).



  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I read Dad is Fat when it came out, and really loved it. I like Gaffigan's voice, and looked forward to reading this. There were parts that were vastly amusing, but on the whole, for me, it didn't match his first book. The old "it would have made a great article" syndrome applies. The things that appealed to me were the personal experiences and the bits about his family. The dissertation on types of foods and restaurants, not so much. It wore thin, though I did find myself craving an all-beef hotdog while reading.On the whole, though, I think Gaffigan is a talented artist, and seems to be a dad involved with his kids, and a man able to avoid many of the pitfalls of fame. Thank you to Blogging for Books, and to the publisher for sending this copy my way. Tags: blogging-for-books, foodie, i-got-bored, i-liked-the-pictures, mixed-feelings, ok-but-not-great, read-for-review, thought-i-was-gonna-like
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is a shorter read and would make a great choice for your summer reading list. It’s a light, fun book that got me out of a reading slump.There are a lot of chapters in this book, but they are all short. I love shorter chapters because it makes it easier to put the book down when you need to do something else like cook etc. You don’t have to stop in the middle of the chapter. You can just take another minute and finish it.Here’s a list of some of the chapter titles:An Eatie, Not A FoodieNot Slim JimBacon: The Candy Of MeatI Need A HeroBreakfast: A Reason To Get Out Of BedHouse Of CarbsNot only does Jim share his thoughts on food, we also get a glimspe of him and his family through photos. Because he does standup and travels, we get a look at his favorite foods and restaurants from different cities, and his thoughts on fast food places.I love steak, so I thought that section was really funny. “Steak is truly extraordinary. Steak has it’s own knives. There aren’t steak restaurants. There are steakhouses. Steak gets a house. There’s no tunahouse”.This book is definitely funny, but I didn’t think it was as funny as Dad Is Fat. Maybe that was because I was more familiar with much of the stuff he talked about from his stand up comedy routines. Still, I did laugh out loud many times throughout the book.He really loves bacon, but then, who doesn’t? But he loves it so much he even has a bacon scarf! I love bacon too, but don’t know about wearing a bacon scarf!If you’re a fan of Gaffigan and haven’t read his books, I highly recommend both his books. If you’re not familiar with him, check out his books and his stand up routines. I seriously doubt you’ll be sorry you did! We can all use a bit more laughter in our lives.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I listened to the audiobook version and I couldn't have been more pleased. Since it was narrated by Jim Gaffigan himself, it was like listening to 7 hours of his stand up. It was great. Jim talks about what he knows best, food. He incorporates some of his jokes from his stand up into this books and expands them into hilariousness. He talks about chain restaurnts, regional food, ethnic food, vegetarians, frozen food, etc. If it's somehow food related, it's in here. One of my favorite quotes that really speaks to me this season is:“During December we are all ingesting, imbibing, and spending with a reckless abandon like a bachelor party on a guilt-free boondoggle. Everyone has the unspoken agreement that what happens in December stays in December.”Spoken like a true food lover. This is a must read for all Jim Gaffigan fans and fans of eating. Hilarious.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Genuine(ly funny)In an overfed country, it might be difficult to get enough distance and perspective to make fun of our food obsession. For Jim Gaffigan it is as easy as rolling out of bed at the crack of noon. He has divided the country into food clichés, coffee in the northwest, cheese in the Midwest, seafood in the northeast, and attacked with gusto and green chiles. And cheese. Always cheese. Cheese is the highest form of edible in Creation. The rest of the book is devoted to comfort foods and purveyors of them. The worse the better. The research for this book alone would have killed me.Gaffigan has packed this book with wonderful takeaways I don’t want to forget. My faves:-I try to stick to three meals a day and then another three at night. -I like to think coffee comes from beans; therefore it’s a vegetable.-You know what would be good on this hamburger? A ham sandwich.-Doctor (to patient who drinks KFC gravy straight): I have your cholesterol levels here … Okay, you’re aware your blood is not moving?-Going to the gym for an hour is the American way of fasting.-Based on the appearance of the hippo, it is surprising it is not indigenous to the Midwest.-Maybe Canadian explorers made it to Alaska and saw the Eskimos eating blubber and thought: “Oh, the Americans already got here.”-I don’t know much about grammar, but I think kale salad is what they call a double negative. (Compare to cheesecake, a double positive.)Food – A Love Story is peppered, if that is the right word, with photos of the Gaffigans, eating, everything, everywhere. There is just one recipe, an excruciatingly detailed and tortured procedure for preparing a hot dog.There has been a rash of collections like these, many of them crossovers from internet blogs to print. At 341 pages, this is twice the size as most of them, and an order of magnitude above them all, in its conception, its construction, and the genuine laughs it engenders. It is clear Jim Gaffigan did not get tired of writing this book. It goes from peak to peak. The pacing is relentless.When anthropologists look back to determine how America declined and fell, Food – A Love Story will be a key reference work.David Wineberg
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jim Gaffigan is a well known stand-up comedian and actor whose biggest claim to fame is his "Hot Pockets" routine about the frozen food item eaten mostly by drunk college students and/or lazy people with a microwave.He has written two books, Dad Is Fat, about living with his wife and five young children in a one-bedroom New York City fifth-floor walkup, and his second is Food: A Love Story, about his love affair with food.As a stand-up comic who has traveled all over the world, Gaffigan has eaten in many restaurants. When he travels on tour, he tweets to his fans, asking them where and what he should eat. This section of the book is terrific, and in addition to being very funny, it includes wonderful tips for traveling "foodies" (a term Gaffigan disdains).Gaffigan divides the United States into five major food areas-Seabugland (Northeast Coast)Eating BBQland (Southeast/Parts of Midwest)Super Bowl Sunday Foodland (Midwest/Parts of East)Steakland (Texas to Upper West)Mexican Foodland (Southwest to Texas)He is not a big fan of seafood, especially shellfish, saving particular distaste for oysters. His discussion of barbeque, which is used as "a verb, noun, and adjective and even a potato chip" is funny and informative.Gaffigan recounts how each city is proud of its own unique recipe for barbeque, and that in every Southern city he meets the same guy who says the same thing "Obama ate there, and you can get it shipped anywhere you want." He also mentions places that you can get great BBQ not in the South, with Syracuse, NY (Dinosaur BBQ) on that short list.He tells a funny story about dragging his family to a gas station in Kansas City, MO to eat at Oklahoma's Joe's, where Gaffigan joined a very long line at 11am. The line was filled with "predominantly, pudgy, balding, exhausted men in their thirties and forties," all happy to be there, though if these same men were confronted with such a long line at a grocery store to get milk or diapers, they would leave the store rather than wait for such unimportant items for their family.Another hilarious story had him following a man in Kmart, who was drinking gravy from a styrofoam cup he got in the KFC located in Kmart. His description of the ambience of Kmart as a store that always looks like "it was just attacked by a flash mob" brought a chuckle of recognition.Food: A Love Story, had me laughing all the way through it, and as I was reading in on the treadmill (Gaffigan would disapprove of this- exercise, I mean), my fellow exercisers would look at me as if I was a little crazy. (Note: laughing while reading on a treadmill can be dangerous. If you get doubled up with laughter, you can potentially fall. Not that that almost happened to me.)Serious foodies may take offense, but Gaffigan is a comedian who has found his niche in poking fun of his eating habits, and most of us can find something to relate to in this humorous book. He also loves his family (I adored his section about taking each child individually to his favorite deli, Katz's), and I got some great ideas on where to eat. (And anyone who believes that Shake Shack has the best burgers in world is my kinda guy.)If you need a good laugh, and like to eat, (which is, like, everybody) Food: A Love Story, is for you.