Play Audiobook Sample
Much Depends on Dinner: The extraordinary history and mythology, allure and obsessions, perils and taboos, of an ordinary meal Audiobook
Play Audiobook Sample
(3.10) - 295 listener ratings
Quick Stats About this Audiobook
Total Audiobook Chapters:
Longest Chapter Length:
Shortest Chapter Length:
Average Chapter Length:
Audiobooks by this Author:
Publisher Description
Best-selling author Margaret Visser holds a doctorate in classics and appears frequently on television and radio shows. Much Depends on Dinner was chosen as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review and Publisher's Weekly. As the subtitle suggests, here she uses the framework of a simple meal to show us how our food has defined who we are and how we live. Dr. Visser begins by showing how corn has shaped the history of man. In further chapters, she considers the economics of salt, the medicinal properties of butter, and offers similarly fascinating information about chicken, lettuce, olive oil and lemon juice. The final chapter ends on a sweet note with ice cream and the nostalgia it creates. As it gathers information from the villages of ancient hunters and the corridors of modern science, Dr. Visser's perceptive book examines food through a wider lens than today's nutritional microscope. It isn't meant to change our eating habits, but it leaves us with a taste for the history and mythology of everyday foods. Narrator Suzanne Toren captures Dr. Visser's enthusiasm for her subject.
Download and start listening now!
"The history of what we ate! This is a fascinating, carefully structured history of food. Visser brilliantly divides her chapters into the elements of a meal. We learn about how people discovered, cultivated, enjoyed and abused corn, chicken, salt, and other seemingly ordinary edibles. This is an important book. I wonder how much it influenced the organic food movement? This is the sort of thing I imagine Jane Brody reading when she runs out of ideas."
— Celia (4 out of 5 stars)
Much Depends on Dinner Listener Reviews
-
" Really interesting. I ate this book up. "
— Hilary, 2/20/2014 -
" Pretty amazing that Visser conceived of and wrote this YEARS before countless others began waxing poetic on the ethics of food... "
— Elizabeth, 2/11/2014 -
" I don't cook, but I enjoy eating on a regular basis. Also, I enjoy reading about the sociology of dining rituals. cool stuff. "
— Kaethe, 1/31/2014 -
" Simply brilliant! It will change forever how you view the food you eat. "
— Guy, 1/12/2014 -
" recommended to me long ago by Jane "
— Ann, 1/4/2014 -
" Slightly out of date but fascinating all the same. "
— Megan, 12/24/2013 -
" Loved this book and the fascinating details and history of our food. "
— Lisagray, 12/17/2013 -
" Ordinary meal, it's ingredients and cooking methods dissected and described in incredible detail, almost too much detail. "
— Brent, 11/29/2013 -
" I was already familiar with a lot of the information, especially in the corn, salt, and chicken chapters. But the author included many interesting anecdotes and word origins, so I didn't mind. The butter chapter was my favorite. "
— Pancha, 11/20/2013 -
" Insightful, funny, and most of all a romp through a dinner that explains so much about who we are through what we eat. I love Visser's way of thinking, seeing and explaining. "
— Sskous, 11/17/2013 -
" A teeny bit outdated, but a good place to start if you are interested in American food and culture. Very readable/non-academic. "
— Allisonv, 11/17/2013 -
" Dull and pedantic. And the ending is really abrupt. It took me well over a year to finish this book in fits and starts. "
— Kim, 10/20/2013 -
" Unusual approach to food. Writer takes the ingredients in an ordinary dinner (chicken, corn, ice cream, etc.) and informs you of the history and evolution of the food. Very nicely written "
— Joel, 3/23/2013 -
" Bit if a hodge-podge of facts, not very well arranged, but some interesting snippets here and there. "
— Andrea, 2/29/2012 -
" A wonderful, fascinating book. Everybody eats. I wonder how the 'bag from McDonalds' will fit into a future cullinary history. "
— Regina, 2/25/2012 -
" Beautifully written book I've been meaning to read since it came out decades ago. While I'm sure some of the information is now dated, reading it at this stage makes me realize how incredibly influential Visser's ideas and insights have been and continue to be. Still a wonderful read. "
— Rhea, 2/7/2012 -
" Full of crazy facts about some of the basic foods we eat every day. For example, chickens were first domesticated for cock fighting- not for eating. "
— Trina, 10/30/2011 -
" Dated, but fun. The ending was abrupt and didn't do anything to tie the book together. Interesting to read something that illustrates the coming mistrust (or rather, increasing mistrust) of the food industry. "
— Jada, 8/29/2011 -
" This is one of those books that's maybe not written as well as it could be (okay, it's duller than dirt in many parts), but the subject matter is so darn interesting and well-researched that all is forgiven. "
— Jessica, 5/29/2011 -
" Generally enjoyable read, often meandering, with an information density that rivals most college-level textbooks. "
— grundoon, 2/3/2011 -
" Informative and interesting, but a bit dry and long-winded in writing style "
— Stefanieq, 1/8/2011 -
" Simply brilliant! It will change forever how you view the food you eat. "
— Guy, 9/26/2010 -
" Full of crazy facts about some of the basic foods we eat every day. For example, chickens were first domesticated for cock fighting- not for eating. "
— Trina, 10/22/2009 -
" I don't cook, but I enjoy eating on a regular basis. Also, I enjoy reading about the sociology of dining rituals. cool stuff. "
— Kaethe, 9/16/2009 -
" A wonderful, fascinating book. Everybody eats. I wonder how the 'bag from McDonalds' will fit into a future cullinary history. "
— Regina, 5/16/2009 -
" Really interesting. I ate this book up. "
— Hilary, 4/19/2009 -
" Insightful, funny, and most of all a romp through a dinner that explains so much about who we are through what we eat. I love Visser's way of thinking, seeing and explaining. "
— Sskous, 8/23/2008 -
" I was already familiar with a lot of the information, especially in the corn, salt, and chicken chapters. But the author included many interesting anecdotes and word origins, so I didn't mind. The butter chapter was my favorite. "
— Pancha, 8/3/2008 -
" Pretty amazing that Visser conceived of and wrote this YEARS before countless others began waxing poetic on the ethics of food... "
— Elizabeth, 2/29/2008 -
" Unusual approach to food. Writer takes the ingredients in an ordinary dinner (chicken, corn, ice cream, etc.) and informs you of the history and evolution of the food. Very nicely written "
— Joel, 2/28/2008 -
" A teeny bit outdated, but a good place to start if you are interested in American food and culture. Very readable/non-academic. "
— Allisonv, 1/15/2008
About Margaret Visser
Margaret Visser is an award-winning author and essayist. Her previous five books, all bestsellers, have met with international acclaim. Much Depends on Dinner won the Glenfiddich Prize for Food Book of the Year and was named one of the best books of the year by Publishers Weekly and The New York Times. The Rituals of Dinner won the IACP Literary Food Writing Award and the Jane Grigson Award, and was named a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her most recent book, The Geometry of Love, also the subject of a prize-winning documentary film, was a finalist for the Charles Taylor Prize. A professor of classics at York University for 18 years, she now devotes her time to research and writing. Visser lives in Toronto, Paris, and the south of France.
About Suzanne Toren
Suzanne Toren, award-winning narrator, has over thirty years of experience in narration. She was named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine in 2019. She has won the American Foundation for the Blind’s Scourby Award for Narrator of the Year, AudioFile magazine named her the 2009 Best Voice in Nonfiction & Culture, and she is the recipient of multiple Earphones Awards. She performs on and off Broadway and in regional theaters and has appeared on Law & Order and in various soap operas.