‘The Dressmaker’s War’ Is a Tangled Mess of Threads
Mary Chamberlain's skilled seamstress finds herself in an impossibly snarled plot.
Diane Leach
Diane Leach has a Master's Degree in English Literature from Humboldt State University. She writes for PopMatters.com and blogs at Theinsufficientkitchen.com. She can be reached at dianesleach@gmail.com.
Nigella Softens Her Bite
Domestic Goddess Nigella Lawson's Simply Nigella is a paean to the pleasures of good eating, Paleo style.
‘My Kitchen Year’ Will Remind Many, With a Pang, What They Loved About ‘Gourmet’ Magazine
When Gourmet magazine abruptly folded, Ruth Reichl found succor at the stove.
The Essays in ‘I’ll Tell You Mine’ Speak Precisely Individual Truths
We are a species that longs for stories. We are also a species that longs for the truth. Both are found, here.
‘A Change of Appetite’ Is a Cookbook Game-Changer
When her physician asked her to lose weight, Diana Henry searched for delicious food that was "accidentally healthy". The wonderful A Change of Appetite is the result.
Time Keeps on Slipping Into the Future: Jane Smiley’s ‘Golden Age’
Completing Smiley's final installment of The Last Hundred Years Trilogy, we feel the peculiar sadness of missing people who don’t actually exist, and must resist the impulse to wave goodbye.
What’s It Really Like When Women Face the (Professional) Stove?
Reading Women Chefs of New York at a local diner with a Chinese shrine above the cooktop, I wondered what those chefs would have to say about women’s roles in professional kitchens.
There’s Much to Love About ‘100 Years of the Best American Short Stories’
Once I stopped being upset over the lack of Amy Hempl stories, I enjoyed 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories immensely.
Hachisu’s Relentless Curiosity About Japanese Food Is Our Gain
When Nancy Hachisu wrote, "I could write a whole book about Japanese pickles", she wasn't kidding. Here it is with her second cookbook, Preserving the Japanese Way.
What Can a Book Really Tell You About Whiskey?
If you're old enough to drink whiskey, you're too old for scratch n' sniff.
In ‘A House of My Own’ Sandra Cisneros Argues That a Woman Writer Needs a Roof of Her Own
The finest articles in this collection are the most personal.