The Books of Laurie Colwin

veryone I know and everyone who reviews Laurie Colwin's food books says the same two things. The first is that her books live on our bedside tables. The second is that we read her over and over, especially when depressed. What does this say about Laurie Colwin? That she is one of the best friends I have ever met in a book. She makes life feel appealing, warm, intimate, real, and brave. And that is just her food writing, not even her novels.

She is the friend who at a party hears that there is good food description in Anna Karenina. She borrows it from the host of the party, gets in a cab, leaves the party and goes home to read it. How could you not want this woman on your nightstand. She is so human. I would want her number programmed into my phone.
I have always thought that question "If you could invite three literary figures to dinner..." was silly. I really wish I could invite Laurie Colwin to dinner. I miss her. I think about her. She takes up a big space in the part of my brain that stores examples of how to live.

Laurie Colwin died in 1992. She had a husband and daughter who were often featured in her essays. She was only 48. She had published four novels, three books of short stories, and two books of food writing. It is difficult to talk about her books without feeling the sharp realization that there will be no more and there should have been many more. John Thorne, another great food writer, wrote a piece about her in his newsletter, Simple Cooking.

Home Cooking and More Home Cooking, Colwin's food books, are filled with brilliant gems. Essays on the perfect chocolate cake, cooking for friends with food phobias, having to give up salt, feeding toddlers, making bread the easy way. Each essay is a story taking you into some aspect of Laurie Colwin's life. Her thanksgiving dinners, her Halloween parties, her childhood, her husband's mother's Latvian bread baking.
The essay on potato salad in my book is so covered in oil it is translucent. I must make that potato salad 10 times a year. One essay is on English food. After reading it I began to want to read British cookbooks. I did just as Laurie Colwin did, I read them as novels before bed. I collected so many they took over a bookshelf.

I actually have a list stuck in "More Home Cooking" that has on it all the books Colwin ever mentions. I intend to read them all. It is a way of getting to read more of her.
Colwin's writing is beyond good food writing. It certainly has great recipes. I have never found one that is not terrific. It is about food--all kinds of food for every kind of person.

That is not why I have read both these books countless times. Deeper under the surface it is really about how to be a person, with joy and generosity. As Colwin says in "More Home Cooking":

Cookbooks hit you where you live. You want comfort; you want security; you want food; and you want to not be hungry; and not only do you want these basic things fixed, you want it done in a really nice, gentle way that makes you feel loved. That's the big desire, and cookbooks say to the person reading them, 'if you read me, you will be able to do this for yourself and for others. You will make everybody feel better.'

Knowing in advance that there are only these two remarkable books should not prevent you from reading them. Yes, you too will become a groupie. Yes, you will go on to read the novels too. You will be better for it. You will have found a friend who will be there for you through everything. Colwin will not only lead you to great gingerbread. She will work her way into your heart. What luck for you.

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Michelle Auerbach Brode was a professional chef. Now she is much happier cooking at home for her family and talking about food incessantly. If you need to talk to her about food or anything else she can be reached at Michelle.Brode@pobox.com.