What I'm Reading Now

Fast Food Nation, by Eric Schlosser.



The Food of a Younger Land, by Mark Kurlanksy.



Drood, by Dan Simmons.

I try to never read two books at a time. I have a hard time switching gears, and I usually get bogged down and can't finish either one. So why then, am I now reading THREE books at one time? I really can't say.

First up: Fast Food Nation. Mark has been wanting me to read this one for a while now. It's all about the fast food industry in America, how we influenced it, and how it influences us. Right now, we're learning all about the corporate side of McD's. Interesting stuff.

Next: The Food of a Younger Land. Mark surprised me with this one for my birthday. Apparently, FDR's WPA had a division called the Federal Writer's Project. Out-of-work writers were put to work for the government writing essays for a book called America Eats. They were to write about the food in their hometown (or home region) - what made it unique and different. All essays were due for compilation by Thanksgiving, 1941. Most of them were late, and slowly trickled in during and after the holiday. And then there was this attack on Pearl Harbor and all those out-of-work writers weren't out of work anymore. America Eats died before it ever got started. Until Kurlanksy found out about it, and compiled all of the essays he could find from the America Eats project and turned them into The Food of a Younger Land. I've spot-read a little, and am now starting at the beginning. I've learned about auto mats and drug store soda fountains, how maple syrup is made and what famous dishes got their start in New York City hotels, and I've even learned that President Taft attended a Pee Dee Fish Stew in Florence, SC in 1909. The writing is a little dated, but it's been interesting thus far.

Finally: Drood. The only fiction book in the pile. Or is it? (just kidding - it is.) The narrator is Wilkie Collins (he was a real guy, but it's still fiction), fellow writer and friend to one Charles Dickens. Collins is telling us the story told to him by Dickens about a man (?) named Drood whom Dickens met the night of a terrible accident. Meeting Drood takes Dickens on a dark journey and ultimately leads to the writing of The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Dickens's famous mystery (fiction, or is it?). Good so far, but I haven't had too much time to dive into it (what with the other two books and all).

Wish me luck getting through these. I also got two new food magazines in the mail, so the reading is starting to pile up!