Eating My Words: An Appetite for Life

Sheraton's got a plum job: the New York Times's restaurant critic in the 1970s and '80s, she's also worked as a consultant for the Four Seasons and a food writer for New York magazine. Her forthright, enthusiastic memoir instantly engages, as she tells of her adventures as a food lover and journalist, from her years as a newlywed in postwar Greenwich Village to the present. In one chapter, Sheraton describes a 1960 international trip during which she sampled everything from borscht in Russia to fava bean breakfast porridge in Egypt. At the Times, Sheraton introduced the public to Rao's, demoted Le Cirque's rating to one star and amassed a collection of wigs and glasses to help protect her anonymity. After leaving the Times, Sheraton wrote for Time and Cond Nast Traveler, which allowed her to visit a Tokyo fish market and a Shanghai bakery where ""one worker handed me the wooden stamp and indicated that I should make myself useful by marking buns."" Whether writing about what makes a restaurant run well or the horrors of institutional cuisine, Sheraton's a likeable storyteller. She also serves as an able social historian, providing thoughtful commentary on cooking and dining trends in America (and beyond) during the past 50 years. Agent, Dan Green. (May)