How to Cook a Coyote - by Betty Fussell Hardcover

Book Synopsis

A New York Times Editors' Choice

Soigné! A recipe for survival. A juicy, sexy, and wise memoir from the "gifted essayist and meditative thinker" that captures the urgency of life at the age of ninety-eight (The New York Times)

From telling what it's like to go blind to confronting the ongoing erosion of time and the mystery of what's to come, How to Cook a Coyote recounts a decade of change as the celebrated food writer and critic Betty Fussell moves from Manhattan to the Montecito retirement community where Julia Child once resided. As Fussell recalls family, friends, enemies, and lovers with wry humor, affection, and a sharp-eyed confrontation with mortality, all the while, the coyote watches. An emblem of the wild and her metaphor for all the things one can't control--this coyote stalks her, taking on greater emotional and metaphorical resonance as the days progress.

Ultimately this exciting new work from an incomparable voice in American writing provides a recipe for how to enjoy each moment as if it were the last day of your life.

Review Quotes

A New York Times Editors' Choice
Kirkus Reviews, A Best Book of the Year
Alta, A Fall Most Anticipated Read

"Fond and bite-size . . . [Fussell] has long been among America's earthiest and most cerebral cookery writers . . . One of the lessons of Fussell's book is to stir what's left of your wits and to, at all costs, keep your sense of humor intact. It functions like the little mesh on the halved lemon that keeps the pips from falling into your oysters." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times

"A feisty memoir that pays tribute to lessons learned and friendships forged during her adventurous life . . . Both smart and accessible, Fussell's savvy musings are a welcome portrait of her robust appetite for life." --Becky Meloan, The Washington Post

"How to Cook a Coyote: The Joy of Old Age (Counterpoint Press) is a joyous, invigorating romp through Fussell's waning years, proving incredibly insightful and emotionally meaningful." --Matt Kettmann, Santa Barbara Independent

"She writes, usually with humor, about her move from New York to a retirement home in California (where Julia Child also lived), dating later in life and much more, all with an awareness of her looming mortality." --Christina Ianzito, AARP

"Equal parts funny and wise." --Elizabeth Casillas, Alta

"To read a memoir by a woman almost a century old is to be curious about her state of health and mind. How to Cook a Coyote: The Joy of Old Age comes as a refreshing relief: Old age may be part luck and part ordeal, but Betty Fussell is here to remind us of the joys to be found in staying alive . . . Tapping her vivid memories about friends, foes and lovers, most now deceased, Fussell relates stories with such intimate zeal that she starts to feel like an old friend. Her anecdotes are laced with comedy . . . How to Cook a Coyote might well be Fussell's last recipe, a fact she jauntily admits, but it possesses a powerful, sustainable ingredient with enviable appeal: her own joie de vivre." --Priscilla Kipp, BookPage

"[E]legant and often funny . . . A pleasure to read." --Kirkus Reviews (starred reviews)

"Her sardonic autobiographical essays burst with memories of food, friendship, sexual passion, and globe-trotting adventures . . . The book's 40 miniature essays are self-deprecating ('There is no protection from time. Witness my body') and often employ a playful, inviting direct address to the reader . . . These tongue-in-cheek essays remembering sensual joys are perfect for fans of Diana Athill, Ruth Reichl, and Abigail Thomas." --Shelf Awareness (starred review)

"Fussell writes bravely about her limited future, still showing her sharp wit and keen sense of irony. She's a bright example of savoring life and aging with grace." --Booklist

"Essayist and food writer Fussell serves up a spirited meditation on aging and mortality in this vibrant memoir . . . It's a graceful, gutsy ode to the pleasures and pains of growing old." --Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Born in Southern California in 1927, BETTY FUSSELL grew up in Riverside but lived for most of her life in the New York area. Best known for The Story of Corn, she is the author of twelve nonfiction books, ranging from biography to cookbooks, food history, and memoir. Her essays on food, travel, and the arts have appeared in scholarly journals, national magazines, and newspapers, including The New York Times, over the past fifty years. A specialist in Shakespeare, she has taught English and American literature and the history of food and its importance to American culture at colleges and universities across the country. She has lectured to audiences everywhere from New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art to Iowa's State Fair.

Her many awards include the IACP's Jane Grigson Award, Food Arts's Silver Spoon Award, the James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award, and the Who's Who of Food & Beverage.

Her memoir, My Kitchen Wars, was performed in Hollywood and New York as a one-woman show by actress Dorothy Lyman. Her most recent book is Eat, Live, Love, Die: Selected Essays, published in 2016 by Counterpoint Press. She moved back to California to live at Casa Dorinda in Montecito in 2012.