The snacks on my shelf

Notes on the books that shape my understanding of food and culture

Hello, Snackers. What are you reading? And what makes a good travel or food story?

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I have too many books, or maybe not enough. It’s hard to say. An inordinate amount of them (probably 85 percent) are narrative nonfiction, and the bulk of this falls into the broad realms of travel and food. There's one entire IKEA bookshelf filled only with these genres, and more of these books are scattered about the house in various places (my nightstand, my daughters’ bookshelves, hidden corners where they're being used as a stage for a stuffed unicorn).

I'm teaching a travel writing workshop next week, so I’ve been thinking a lot about all those books and which ones resonate with me the most and why they resonate. What work captures both a sense of place and a true depth of place in a way that I find engrossing?

I have a specific reading list for that class, but while I'm in a reflective mood, I thought I'd do a post on the books that shape my thoughts as I research and write Snack Stack. I’d love to hear any additions or suggestions, if you have them! What food or travel books have helped you see the world in a new way?

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These books are in no particular order and this list is far from comprehensive. Also, I suppose I should put in affiliate links for everything but I’d rather you support your local independent bookstores.

The Tummy Trilogy by Calvin Trillin. I grew up reading Trillin and savoring his writing on summers in France and barbecue in Kansas City. When I was starting as a writer, I went back to Trillin to study his work and understand the joy of reading and writing about everyday, non-fancy foods. One of my first published stories, which ran in a Lonely Planet anthology of food writing, was about a road trip I took with my dad to follow in Trillin’s footsteps around Kansas City, culminating in a trip to Arthur Bryant’s, the landmark and national treasure.

Planet Taco: A Global History of Mexican Food by Jeffrey M. Pilcher and Taco USA by Gustavo Arellano (not pictured because I’m not sure where my copy went). These two books, which came out around the same time a few years ago, take slightly different approaches to answering the same question: How did Mexican food get so popular outside Mexico? They’re both rich in history and cultural context and will make you crave a burrito but also see that burrito differently, including the meaning and origins of the specific kind of burrito you’re eating.

Drive-Thru Dreams by Adam Chandler. A fascinating look at the histories of chains like McDonald’s, KFC, and Dairy Queen and their role in American and global culture over the last several decades. The section on Dairy Queens as social centers in small towns is a personal favorite, but there's endless intrigue throughout the book. (And if you want to get into the darker side of the industry, try Fast Food Nation by Eric Schlosser.)

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles by Jennifer 8. Lee. Do you know the origins of General Tso’s chicken? How about the kosher duck scandal of 1989? Lee’s book is essentially a linked series of examinations of different dishes common in Chinese restaurants in the USA, but it’s also a portrait of the immigrant experience and issues like immigration policy and indentured servitude. Lee also made a documentary, The Search for General Tso, which covers much of the same ground and makes an excellent companion to the book.

Diners, Dudes & Diets by Emily Contois. Gender is a frequent part of food advertising, packaging, and media in general, but it wasn’t until I read this book that I understood just how common it is—and how absurd it gets. Contois goes deep on subjects like the cultural role of Guy Fieri (the iconic food dude of our time) and the ways some foods explicitly build gender stereotypes into their branding, like Powerful Yogurt. I’ve cited this book in several Snack Stack posts (like this one on Easy Cheese and “dude food”) and it’s one of my favorite works of food writing in recent years.

Where Am I Eating? by Kelsey Timmerman. Full disclosure: Kelsey’s a friend, as are a few other writers on this list, but I promise they’re all immensely talented writers whose work I’d admire even if I didn’t know them personally. Kelsey specializes in deeply reported, profoundly empathetic (and, sometimes, endearingly goofy) books that trace the long lines of globalization in the modern world. He’s also covered clothing and charitable giving, but this one’s about food and the people and processes at the origin stage, as Kelsey meets the people catching lobsters in Nicaragua and picking apples in China, coffee beans in Colombia, bananas in Costa Rica, and, in a heartbreaking section that has stuck with me for years, cacao in West Africa. It’s travel writing and food writing at their best, telling the personal stories behind the things on our plates, and this book deserves so much more attention and acclaim. Read it.

Julie & Julia by Julie Powell. You know this one: Julie Powell starts a blog to document her attempt to cook every recipe in Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Funny stories and kitchen catastrophes and low-key epiphanies ensue, as do minor fame and a movie staring Meryl Streep. This is apparently a controversial opinion, but I preferred the Julie parts of the movie, which feel far more relatable and interesting, with their backdrops of a struggling writer in a tiny apartment in a city recovering from unspeakable trauma (also, Julia Child is so famous that any portrayal of her, even by Meryl Streep, makes me think, “That’s obviously not Julia”). Anyway, I’d argue that Julie Powell’s blog and book helped form the modern food-writing voice as we know it, and her stunt was a major inspiration for my own first book (about touring Europe with a 1960s guidebook), so you can draw a direct line from her career to mine.

I’m a Stranger Here Myself by Bill Bryson. It’s hard for me to pick a favorite Bryson book (probably A Walk in the Woods, but my answer might change tomorrow), but this essay collection feels most pertinent to Snack Stack. After living in England for many years, Bryson moved back to the USA in the 1990s, and wrote a column for a British newspaper about his process of readjusting to his homeland; this book collects those musings into one place. There’s plenty of reverse culture shock here—always an intriguing subject—but my favorite essay is about the rise of themed diners (like Johnny Rocket’s or Ruby’s) as the old-school ones fade away. The ideas Bryson introduces in the piece served as the foundation of my American Studies senior thesis in college, and have been foundational in how I think about American culture and its evolution in the last fifty-plus years.

The Geography of Madness by Frank Bures. Another book by a smart friend, this one focusing on the darker side of culture and the way that our beliefs can literally make us feel sick. The centerpiece of this book is magical penis theft (you read that correctly) but there’s also much discussion of things like voodoo death and maladies that only exist in specific cultures (yes, that includes some found only in the USA and other “Western” countries; Frank is a keen reporter and thinker, ever mindful of avoiding exoticism and turning the lens on his own expectations). Like Kelsey’s book, this one features much on-the-ground reporting and human stories told with great empathy, zooming in on the complicated knots that bind our lives.

All Over the Place by Geraldine DeRuiter. Geraldine (another friend!) is one of the funniest writers working today (if you haven’t read her viral review of an astonishingly bad Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy, do so immediately). This travel memoir is largely about her journeys with her husband, Rand, with much charming weirdness and chaos and some amazing cameos from her mother, as in this memorable line: “The TSA agent held in his hand a ten-inch-long stainless steel pickax, found in the bowels of my mother’s purse.” When I’m trying to write something humorous, I’ll sometimes think, “How would Geraldine phrase this?” (In all cases, I’m certain, she’d do it better.)

The Joys of Travel by Thomas Swick. Tom was the travel editor at the South Florida Sun-Sentinel for many years, legendary for writing and publishing stories that broke the mold of travel writing (he’s also a friend and published my first feature). I’m not certain, but he may have the record for most appearances in The Best American Travel Writing. This book features short essays on what Tom identifies as the seven joys of travel—anticipation, movement, break from routine, novelty, discovery, emotional connection, and heightened appreciation of home—followed by seven stories from specific places, including a portrait of a single hotel in Bangkok and an interview with an anti-mafia activist in Sicily. Tom’s voice is thoughtful and often wry, and his description of his approach for one story feels like a broader encapsulation of how he writes: “I focused on small, surprising details—the oddities, the incongruities, the malfunctions of the place on opening day.” This is how I try to work, too, and it’s part of the motivation behind Snack Stack: What’s the story hidden in these seemingly mundane or offbeat parts of life?

As I said, this is a partial list, and I’m certain I’d pick a slightly different list if I looked at my shelf again. I really do have too many books … but I’d love to hear your thoughts on what else I should read or just what food or travel books have been formative for your own thinking.