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Pizza : a slice of heaven : the ultimate guide and companion
Levine, Ed
Adult Nonfiction 641.824 L
From Publishers' Weekly:
Having consumed 1,000 slices of pizza in one year, across 20 states, Canada and Italy, Levine certainly possesses a firsthand, encyclopedic knowledge of the dish. But in his attempt to create "the ultimate guide and companion," he has constructed an unwieldy book with too many toppings. It is at once an anthology of reprinted essays and articles, a collection of celebrity mini-memoirs, a history of pizza both ancient and modern, and a collection of capsule reviews of dozens of pizza purveyors (including classic pizzerias, larger chains and staples of the frozen-food aisle). For the essays, Levine (New York Eats) raids the stables of the New York Times and Cond? Nast on the East Coast, and culls from various Pacific coast journalists in the West. Highlights include an amusing piece by Jeffrey Steingarten on how to create a 700-degree heat source at home, and Levine's own seminal 2002 Times piece, "The State of the Slice." But Nora Ephron's memory of her "first time" eating pizza is disappointingly brief and hurried, and actor Ed Norton's 79-word cameo appearance in a paragraph about stromboli feels out of place. New York gets the most attention with reviews from all five boroughs, Westchester and Long Island (an eating trip to Italy merits just 10 pages). Levine at least ends on a high note, profiling the top six pie makers he encountered. B&w photos. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
New York Times contributor Levine (New York Eats) has assembled an interesting and often amusing exegesis of pizza, complete with ratings of pizza joints worldwide; notes on ingredients, regional variations, and categories (e.g., frozen, chain, airport, bar pizza); and numerous personal essays from, among others, Nora Ephron, Mario Batali, Calvin Trillin, and Ruth Reichl. As the title states, this is a guide and companion, not a cookbook; aspiring pizzaiolos beware, there are only two recipes here. While the book covers the United States from coast to coast and traverses the world from Montreal to Argentina to Italy, the bulk of its coverage centers on what Levine calls the "Pizza Belt," radiating out from New York to Washington, DC, and Providence, RI. Recommended for any public library in that region or for larger public libraries elsewhere.-Courtney Greene, DePaul Univ. Lib., Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Levine, Ed
Adult Nonfiction 641.824 L
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From Publishers' Weekly:
Having consumed 1,000 slices of pizza in one year, across 20 states, Canada and Italy, Levine certainly possesses a firsthand, encyclopedic knowledge of the dish. But in his attempt to create "the ultimate guide and companion," he has constructed an unwieldy book with too many toppings. It is at once an anthology of reprinted essays and articles, a collection of celebrity mini-memoirs, a history of pizza both ancient and modern, and a collection of capsule reviews of dozens of pizza purveyors (including classic pizzerias, larger chains and staples of the frozen-food aisle). For the essays, Levine (New York Eats) raids the stables of the New York Times and Cond? Nast on the East Coast, and culls from various Pacific coast journalists in the West. Highlights include an amusing piece by Jeffrey Steingarten on how to create a 700-degree heat source at home, and Levine's own seminal 2002 Times piece, "The State of the Slice." But Nora Ephron's memory of her "first time" eating pizza is disappointingly brief and hurried, and actor Ed Norton's 79-word cameo appearance in a paragraph about stromboli feels out of place. New York gets the most attention with reviews from all five boroughs, Westchester and Long Island (an eating trip to Italy merits just 10 pages). Levine at least ends on a high note, profiling the top six pie makers he encountered. B&w photos. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
New York Times contributor Levine (New York Eats) has assembled an interesting and often amusing exegesis of pizza, complete with ratings of pizza joints worldwide; notes on ingredients, regional variations, and categories (e.g., frozen, chain, airport, bar pizza); and numerous personal essays from, among others, Nora Ephron, Mario Batali, Calvin Trillin, and Ruth Reichl. As the title states, this is a guide and companion, not a cookbook; aspiring pizzaiolos beware, there are only two recipes here. While the book covers the United States from coast to coast and traverses the world from Montreal to Argentina to Italy, the bulk of its coverage centers on what Levine calls the "Pizza Belt," radiating out from New York to Washington, DC, and Providence, RI. Recommended for any public library in that region or for larger public libraries elsewhere.-Courtney Greene, DePaul Univ. Lib., Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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