Praise for Eat Joy
"Delightful . . . Garrett has selected the best kind of culinary writing—unfussy recipes and heartfelt stories that use food as an avenue for reflection. Foodies and fiction readers alike will devour this excellent collection." —Publishers Weekly
"A collection of recipes and thoughtful essays . . . This book is a feast for avid lit lovers and foodies alike." —Library Journal (starred review)
"Relatable, gorgeous." —Dana Staves, Book Riot
"The stories show how food can connect us to others and provide comfort, even after death or separation, years or distance. It took me a long time to read this one because I simply didn’t want it to end." —Jaime Herndon, Book Riot
"Natalie Eve Garrett's Eat Joy does this magical thing where it makes you remember the tastes of the heaviest times in your life, while reminding you that everyone on earth has experienced the taste of love and loss, though none of our tastes are the same. This is the first collection that ever made me want to sensually eat, cook, write, and thank all the wonderful makers of the most memorable memories in my life." —Kiese Laymon, author of Heavy
"Food is a key to unlocking memories. The nourishing stories in Eat Joy show us that thinking about what we've eaten is the easiest way to remember the bitter, the beautiful, and everything in between." —Julia Turshen, author of Small Victories and host of Keep Calm and Cook On
"Food is personal and political; it's essential but can be luxurious. Food is art; it's family—it's how we care for each other and know who we are. In this spellbinding book, some of our most crucial writers bring us much-needed sustenance, intellectual and physical. This book is a gift." —Michelle Tea, author of How to Grow Up
"Food binds this book together, and each beautifully told story circles life’s truths in ways that are surprising, often revelatory, and always moving. It’s impossible not to love Eat Joy, and equally impossible not to want to bake and eat these dishes while reading. It's an extraordinary collection." —Dorie Greenspan, James Beard Award–winning author of Everyday Dorie
"Sensory memories can transport us through time and space, and the outstanding essays in Eat Joy harness that power. By the time you finish reading these distinctly personal stories, you'll feel as if you've been right there alongside this glorious assemblage of contributing writers—licking the brownie mix, handling the raw meat, savoring the pickles, and processing what it means to be alive. You might also be hungry." —Mary Laura Philpott, author of I Miss You When I Blink
Praise for The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook (2016)
"[The] book tells a collective story about more than just how to prepare food. It tells the story of what it sometimes means to be human: hungry, heartbroken and hopeful." —Los Angeles Times
"The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook is far from anything traditional and that’s exactly what makes it so inspiring. There are proper ingredients and measurement listings, yes, but more important are the imaginative, artful narratives conjured up around everyday foods." —Vogue
"The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook, Natalie Eve Garrett’s imaginative and beautiful new compilation, is a goldmine . . . It's one of the most exciting, poignant, and eclectic 'cookbooks' I've come across in a long time—maybe ever." —Martha Stewart
"[The] recipes . . . are insightful and surprising—with stories that mix art-making, writing, and cooking. Each ingredient in a soup, color used in an illustration, and word modifying a sentence provides a trace of deep-seated emotional experience." —The Guardian
"This is no mere cookbook . . . [It contains] narratives as delightful to your literary palette as the recipes are to your culinary one." —NYLON
"What we eat is emblematic of who we are, where we come from, and what matters most to us. This is the basic and delicious premise behind The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook." —The Kitchn
"In this lovely new book, Garrett—herself an artist and writer—has collected stories and recipes from a quirky selection of dozens of writers and artists. The authors here have scavenged their pasts, their families, their relationships, and their personal tragedies. They give us stuff to eat, too." —Epicurious
"Do you like eating? Do you like whimsical, beautifully illustrated recipes written by your favorite novelists, cartoonists and other creative geniuses? Then The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook is for you." —Lenny Letter
"A collection of juicy and impassioned stories with colorfully illustrated recipes." —Rookie
"Readers [are] sure to appreciate the thoughtful curation of this most unusual cookbook." —Publishers Weekly
"Very rarely have I found writing so consistently charming, or a book so unwaveringly lovable! This is an instant classic that all of us, readers and eaters that we are, have no choice but to absolutely adore." —Porochista Khakpour, author of The Last Illusion and Sons and Other Flammable Objects
"Proust knew what was what: food is rarely just a meal, and memories are made over plates, in front of stoves, at tables, and, of course, in the mouth. This is a book of the best gustatory recollections—great writers and artists offering us their own personal madeleines. It's a delicious seventy-six-course literary meal." —Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life and Chang & Eng
"The joy of Natalie Eve Garrett's charming cookbook isn't just in the recipes, it's in the personal vignettes attached to each dish—altogether funny, heartbreaking, and redeeming—from some of our most beloved writers and artists. Inside, you'll find recipes to be recreated, but more importantly, stories to be treasured. This is a book that belongs on your kitchen shelf as well as on your bedside table." —Kevin Pang, James Beard Award–winning food writer
"This book is the most rewarding and nourishing of Venn diagrams: story and food. Trust me—you will never see more beautifully crafted, heartbreaking, or provocative first sentences in recipes; this is a cookbook that was meant to be read. I never knew I wanted Padgett Powell's gumbo recipe, or to read Sharon Olds's early ideas about food—but I did. You will find yourself in the night kitchen with Leanne Shapton and remote cabins with Anthony Doerr, reading rituals of healing and joy." —Megan Mayhew Bergman, author of Almost Famous Women and Birds of a Lesser Paradise
"The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook has the two best things: great writing and great food. In Natalie Eve Garrett's careful hands, neither one outshines or unbalances the other, and combined, they make for a smart, delicious, well-rounded book that you'll want to give to anyone who likes to read and eat or eat and read." —Jessica Soffer, author of Tomorrow There Will Be Apricots
"The Artists' and Writers' Cookbook gives the reader the distinctly wonderful feeling of hanging out in the kitchen with some of the most interesting people writing and creating art today. Even if you're not a cook, this gorgeous book is a joy—you'll want to read it cover to cover." —Gabi Moskowitz, author of The BrokeAss Gourmet Cookbook and producer of Young & Hungry on Freeform
