Supper Time

出版者:Texas A & M Univ Pr

作者:Hale, Leon

页数:192

出版时间:1999-11

价格:$ 27.06

装帧:HRD

isbn号码:9780965746830

具体描述

From the beloved Houston Chronicle columnist comes this delightful and heart-warming stroll through the kitchens of his life.In relating his love affair with the food that has sustained him for more than three-quarters of a century, Leon Hale recreates for us the tables of Texas and the South enjoyed by our parents and grandparents -- and if we are lucky, ourselves. They were filled with solid, nurturing fare like chicken and dumplings, cornbread with Jersey butter, chicken-fried steak, green beans glistening with bacon drippings, and homemade fried pies -- tables glowing with the memory of good times and good friends.America's way of eating has evolved, of course, and Hale's passion for food has evolved with it. Today his pleasures run to more healthful fare: jalapeno turkey burgers on whole grain buns, blue corn dinner pancakes with black beans, the world's best sweet pepper omelette.From the day in Bryan when he invented blackened chicken to his bachelor apartment adventures making pot roast and "the Soupwich" -- a lunch-time staple -- Hale has been a producer of unusual dishes. But he is only an occasional cook.For the most part he has been on the consuming end, as he recalls some of the beloved figures whose signature dishes he still longs for: his mother-in-law, "Mimi" Vick, and her Christmas ambrosia; Mary Elizabeth Adams and her world-class fried chicken; Made Moore's guacamole salad accompanied by fried Matagorda oysters -- a holiday tradition. Or Mary Helen Hale's Texas cheese dip, which became the Hale family's all -purpose comfort food.With memories of cooks who learned their craft in the late 1800s, Supper Time serves as a kind of food history of twentiethcentury Texas. Forgotten staples of the 1920s like chow-chow give way to Forties' Spare sandwiches, Sixties' backyard barbecues -- where neighbors would piggy-back a pork chop or two on the grill if Hale was cooking -- and eventually to today's low fat but satisfying dishes like turkey breast meat loaf with skinny mashed potatoes.This is an intimate, unforgettable portrait of a man, his friends, family, and his time, full of personal preferences, brimming with memory and affection, enriched by family recipes, old and new. And Hale tells his story with the self-deprecating humor, wit, and grace for which he is celebrated.

用户评价

阅读这本书的过程，与其说是阅读，不如说是一场与作者思想的激烈对撞。作者的叙事节奏掌握得炉火纯青，他似乎对人类心理的微妙之处有着近乎病态的洞察力。故事的推进并不急躁，而是像一条蜿蜒的河流，时而平静地流淌，让你沉浸在细腻的日常描摹中；时而又突然卷起惊涛骇浪，将那些被小心翼翼隐藏起来的冲突和欲望猛烈地抛到读者面前。我尤其欣赏他对于环境和氛围的营造能力，那种通过零碎的细节和感官描述，构建出一个鲜活、可触摸的场景的功力，简直让人叹为观止。很多段落，我不得不停下来，反复咀嚼那些句子，试图解析其中蕴含的多重含义。这绝不是一本可以走马观花地读完的书，它需要你全身心地投入，用你全部的经验和情感去回应作者抛出的每一个命题。读完某一章，我常常需要起身走动一番，让自己的思绪从书中那种压抑而又充实的氛围中抽离出来，光是回味那些意象，就足以占据我一整天的心神。

这本书的封面设计真是让人眼前一亮，那种深邃的蓝色调，配上烫金的字体，立刻就抓住了我的注意力。我是在一家小小的独立书店里偶然发现它的，当时正值一个阴沉的下午，书店里昏黄的灯光打在封面上，营造出一种神秘又引人入胜的氛围。我随手翻开扉页，里面的排版极其讲究，字里行间透着一股精致感，那种纸张的触感也十分舒服，厚实而不失韧性，让人忍不住想一直摩挲。更别提它的装帧工艺了，侧边切口处理得非常平滑，看得出作者和出版方在制作上的用心。我本身对书籍的物理形态就有种近乎偏执的喜爱，而这本书，光是捧在手里，就已经算是一种享受了。我甚至有点舍不得马上开始阅读，只想先细细品味这份视觉和触觉上的盛宴。它静静地躺在我的书架上，已经成为一个艺术品般的存在，每一次经过都会让我多看几眼，期待着潜入它文字构筑的世界。这本书的外在美，无疑是吸引我迈入其内容殿堂的第一张门票。

从文学技法上来说，这本书简直是一本教科书级别的范例。作者对语言的驾驭达到了出神入化的地步，他能将最日常的词汇组合出最出人意料的美感。初读时，我惊叹于他那些华丽的比喻和排比句式，它们如同精密的乐谱，将情感的起伏安排得一丝不苟。然而，真正让我折服的是那些简洁有力的短句，它们如同锋利的匕首，在关键时刻直插要害，将情感的本质毫不留情地剖开。书中还穿插了一些实验性的结构，比如非线性的时间叙事，以及一些带有象征意义的符号嵌入，这些都极大地丰富了文本的层次感。对于那些热衷于分析文学形式的读者来说，这本书提供了太多的研究空间，你会发现每一次重读，都能从不同的结构节点挖掘出新的含义。它不是在取悦读者，而是在挑战读者的智力和审美阈值，这种高强度的互动，让人欲罢不能。

坦白讲，这本书并不适合所有读者，它带有强烈的个人色彩和一种近乎冷峻的哲学底色。如果你期待一个轻松愉快的消遣读物，那么你可能会在最初的几章就感到困惑和挫败。它探讨的主题——关于记忆的不可靠性、存在的虚无感以及个体在宏大命运面前的无力——都是相当沉重和深刻的。我合上书本后，那种久久不能散去的空茫感，是很多快餐式读物无法给予的。它像一个深井，需要你鼓足勇气跳下去，在黑暗中摸索着寻找那些关于“意义”的碎片。这种阅读体验，与其说是娱乐，不如说是一种精神上的洗礼和淬炼。它强迫你直面生命中那些不愿触碰的阴影，并在这种直面中获得一种奇特的、带着痛楚的清醒。这本书带来的不仅仅是故事，更是一种看待世界的新视角，一种更为审慎和克制的态度。

这本书的魅力，还在于它成功地塑造了一群复杂到令人心悸的角色群像。他们没有绝对的善恶之分，每一个人物的内心都充满了灰色地带和矛盾的张力。我尤其被那个中年侦探——那个总是叼着一根快要燃尽的烟，眼神里写满了疲惫与了悟的角色所吸引。他的每一个决定，都显得那么沉重，仿佛背负着整个世界的重量。作者没有给我们一个简单的道德标尺去衡量他们，而是逼迫我们站在他们的立场上去理解他们的选择，即便是那些在常理看来难以容忍的行为。这种对人性的深入挖掘，让我不禁反思起自己过往的一些判断。书中的对话场景设计得尤为精彩，那些看似平淡无奇的交流中，暗流涌动着试探、谎言和不为人知的渴求。这种“冰山理论”式的描写手法，让每一次真相的揭露都显得来之不易，也更加震撼人心。