In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto

How it reads

In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto is narrative nonfiction (food and nutrition manifesto, specifically), and its dominant mood is hopeful. Whatever it puts its people through, it believes things can get better. The pace is moderate — neither a page-turner nor a slow burn — so it holds up whether you read it in long sittings or short ones.

It's set in several locations, in the present day, told in the first person by a single narrator. Its central concerns are nature, survival and family. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.

It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 205 pages it's a quick read. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.