{"product_id":"notes-on-a-banana-a-memoir-of-food-love-and-manic-depression-9780062414380","title":"Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA FINALIST FOR THE NEW ENGLAND BOOK AWARD FOR NON FICTION\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA PASTE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eONE OF TIMEOUT NEW YORK'S BEST SUMMER BEACH READS OF 2017\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eONE OF REAL SIMPLE'S 25 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eFATHER'S DAY BOOKS THAT COVER ALL OF DAD'S INTERESTS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe stunning and long-awaited memoir from the beloved founder of the James Beard Award-winning website Leite's Culinaria--a candid, courageous, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story of family, food, mental illness, and sexual identity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBorn into a family of Azorean immigrants, David Leite grew up in the 1960s in a devoutly Catholic, blue-collar, food-crazed Portuguese home in Fall River, Massachusetts. A clever and determined dreamer with a vivid imagination and a flair for the dramatic, \"Banana\" as his mother endearingly called him, yearned to live in a middle-class house with a swinging kitchen door just like the ones on television, and fell in love with everything French, thanks to his Portuguese and French-Canadian godmother. But David also struggled with the emotional devastation of manic depression. Until he was diagnosed in his mid-thirties, David found relief from his wild mood swings in learning about food, watching Julia Child, and cooking for others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eNotes on a Banana is his heartfelt, unflinchingly honest, yet tender memoir of growing up, accepting himself, and turning his love of food into an award-winning career. Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life: from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to \"turn straight\" through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his twenty-four-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David's readers as \"The One,\" which began with (what else?) food. Throughout the journey, David returns to his stoves and tables, and those of his family, as a way of grounding himself.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA blend of Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, the food memoirs by Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton, and the character-rich storytelling of Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Jenny Lawson, Notes on a Banana is a feast that dazzles, delights, and, ultimately, heals.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLeite, David:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eDavid Leite is a food writer, cookbook author, and web publisher. He founded Leite's Culinaria (leitesculinaria.com) in 1999. In 2006, he had the distinction of being the first winner of a James Beard Award for a website, a feat he repeated in 2007. His writing has appeared in the \u003cem\u003eNew York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Food \u0026amp; Wine, Pastry, Men's Health, \u003c\/em\u003ethe \u003cem\u003eLos Angeles Times, \u003c\/em\u003ethe\u003cem\u003e Chicago Sun-Times, \u003c\/em\u003e and the \u003cem\u003eWashington Post, \u003c\/em\u003eamong other publications. His first book, \u003cem\u003eThe New Portuguese Table, \u003c\/em\u003e explored the food of his heritage and won the IACP's 2010 First Book: Julia Child Award. David is also a frequent correspondent and guest host on public radio's \u003cem\u003eThe Splendid Table.\u003c\/em\u003e He has been heard on NPR's \u003cem\u003eAll Things Considered \u003c\/em\u003eand has appeared on \u003cem\u003eUnited Stuff of America, Beat Bobby Flay, \u003c\/em\u003e and the\u003cem\u003e Today \u003c\/em\u003eshow\u003cem\u003e.\u003c\/em\u003e When no one is looking, he still dances in his underwear in the kitchen.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Dey Street Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50409522757906,"sku":"9780062414380","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_19bffa75-f2a1-4189-b175-a6e2ea612dc6.jpg?v=1729289658","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/notes-on-a-banana-a-memoir-of-food-love-and-manic-depression-9780062414380","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}