'The first lesson reading teaches is how to be alone'

Toast Ebook

Toast

Nigel Slater

‘Toast’ is Nigel Slater’s award-winning biography of a childhood remembered through food. Whether recalling his mother’s surprisingly good rice pudding, his father’s bold foray into spaghetti and his dreaded Boxing Day stew, or such culinary highlights as Arctic Roll and Grilled Grapefruit (then considered something of a status symbol in Wolverhampton), this remarkable memoir vividly recreates daily life in 1960s suburban England. Likes and dislikes, aversions and sweet-toothed weaknesses form a fascinating backdrop to Nigel Slater’s incredibly moving and deliciously evocative portrait of childhood, adolescence and sexual awakening.

Reviews of Toast

  • ‘Acutely observed, poignant and beautifully written…Slater tells his heartbreaking story with great subtlety. The theme of food and love is a fascinating one and I have never seen it better handled.’ Daily Telegraph

    ‘He recreates with moving honesty and laugh-out-loud comedy the hopes and fears of boyhood. Remarkable.’ Observer

    ‘”Toast” connects emotions, memory and taste buds. Genius.’ Lynne Truss, Sunday Times

    ‘A talent for prose as simple and pleasurable as his recipes.’ Sunday Telegraph

    ‘Exquisitely written…You read this remarkable memoir partly cringing, partly marvelling at Slater’s hallucinogenic retrieval of times past. He is the Proust of the Nesquik era.’ Independent

    ‘It achieves a remarkable freshness…[and] reveals a gift for doleful, Alan Bennett-like comedy.’ Guardian

    ‘This touching memoir proves [Slater] is more than a cookery writer. Its emotional impact will touch a chord with many.’ Sunday Mirror

    ‘Wonderful, precise…extraordinary.’ Matthew Fort

    ‘It’s bitter-sweet, it’s a book to be consumed in a single sitting, a book that slips down really nicely. However you want to put it, “Toast” is delicious.’ The Oldie

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