Food Is Life Is Love Is Food
Imagine being the restaurant critic of The New York Times, which is tantamount to being a professional eater. There you are in one of the world’s largest and most opulent cities, famous for (among other things) its abundance of fine dining establishments, with not only the opportunity but the obligation to eat, eat, eat. Actually, we don’t need to imagine the experience, because Frank Bruni, author of Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater, has described the dilemma in 354-page detail.
During his five years as “one of the most loved and hated tastemakers in the New York restaurant world,” it was Bruni’s profession to dine not only in his newspaper’s native city but all over the USA. This duty coincided with his lifelong struggle against obesity.
Several Childhood Obesity News posts have mentioned the particular difficulty that many people experience in getting through holidays, when family gatherings are fraught with the emotional obligation to eat everything that isn’t nailed down. For chubby and perpetually hungry little Frank, whose mother and grandmother both existed with one purpose — to cook massive, calorie-laden meals — this was every day of his young life.
Even when his mom had misgivings and tried to impose some limits, it was impossible to avoid constant clashes with the overwhelming emotional equation: If you don’t love Grandma’s food, you don’t love Grandma. Eventually, his mom gave up and, just like Grandma, “cooked with a ferocity.”
Growing up — and out
To complicate matters further, little Frank was a naturally inactive child. If reading books could burn calories, he would have been fine. Sadly, that was not the way of things. Heading into his teens, Bruni got into swimming, but basically remained a fat kid. Then there was the considerable matter of realizing that he was gay. All the while, and rivaling his massive love for his family, the abiding passion of his young life was food.
As a college freshman, he was already into diet pills, laxatives, and bulimia. Embarking on his journalistic career, the young man weighed well over 250 pounds. Eventually, a friend hooked him up with her personal trainer, and change began to occur. By the time he became a restaurant critic, he had mastered the technique of portion control.
Reviewer Dominique Browning notes that this life story is not only told with humor, but is “embarrassingly, inspiringly honest” and adds,
I could feel the profound pleasure he took in his work — both the dining and the writing. No matter whether he was covering slow food or fast, fancy or fraught or both, he seemed to want to invite everyone to the table with him…
Another reviewer, George Ilsley, seems to have approached this autobiography from a strictly psychological angle, saying,
Even when others like him and admire the way he looks, Bruni still seems to feel fundamentally unattractive. In my opinion, he never reached the core of that false core belief, and the societal programming that drove it, like poison, into the depth of his soul.
Yet another description characterizes Born Round as a “heartbreaking and hilarious account of how he learned to love food just enough,” and opines that the book “will speak to every hungry hedonist who has ever had to rein in an appetite to avoid letting out a waistband.”
Your responses and feedback are welcome!
Source: “Weight Watcher,” NYTimes.com, 08/19/09
Source: “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater,” Goodreads.com, undated
Source: “Born Round: A Story of Family, Food and a Ferocious Appetite,” Goodreads.com, 09/18/17
Image: Book cover/Public Domain
