Seeking Manna

When William Alexander first tasted a really good loaf of bread, he describes the experience as an eye-opener,

…the first bite into the crust, which managed to be both crispy and chewy at the same time and had a natural sweetness from the sugars that had developed during baking. And the crumb, which is the word that bakeries use to describe the interior of the bread, the crumb had some bite back when you bit into it.

Most of us would just make a note to return to the restaurant that served such heavenly bread. But the author of The $64 Tomato, subtitled, “How One Man Nearly Lost His Sanity, Spent a Fortune, and Endured an Existential Crisis in the Quest for the Perfect Garden,” decided he had to learn to reproduce that achievement at home.

He documents his quest in the book 52 Loaves. Today’s Boston Globe says, “Alexander’s breathless, witty memoir is a joy to read.” The author appeared on NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday earlier this month (listen here).

Several libraries are showing more than ten holds per copy, on light ordering.

52 Loaves: One Man’s Relentless Pursuit of Truth, Meaning, and a Perfect Crust
William Alexander
Retail Price: $23.95
Hardcover: 352 pages
Publisher: Algonquin Books – (2010-05-04)
ISBN / EAN: 1565125835 / 9781565125834

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