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Home » Culture and Criticism

TN Read-Along #15: Suffering Succotash

Submitted by on July 25, 2012 – 5:09 AM88 Comments

“What do you mean raisins ‘don’t totally suck,’ Jacques?”

Just a reminder that this is a couple weeks away! The freebies have gone out, so if you still need a copy, try one of the links below!

I’m delighted to announce that our next Read-Along book is Suffering Succotash: A Picky Eater’s Quest to Understand Why We Hate the Foods We Hate. Said quest was undertaken by the co-godmother of the snackets here on TN and at Grub ReportKeckler, a.k.a. Stephanie Lucianovic. She’s shown above, looking quite somber indeed as she buttonholes Jacques Pepin in the KQED stew room — and you can buttonhole her yourselves, during a live chat! Keckler will answer your questions about cilantro, stinky cheese, your kookbag ex-boyfriend who would only eat white foods, and much more, right here on TN: Thursday July 26, 8:30 PM ET!

The physical book “drops” next week, but you can Kindle it already at the link above (I believe) (correction: as of this writing it’s still a Kindle pre-order) — and we have four copies to give away! Just leave a comment below saying that you’d like a free copy (make sure your email works, please!), and we’ll get copies out to you next week!

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88 Comments »

  • Robin in Philly says:

    Oooh, that sounds right up my alley! As a foodie, formerly very picky eater, and new mom about to start feeding solids, I have been reading a lot of articles on this topic. One way or another, I will have to read this!

  • Cara says:

    I would love a free copy! That sounds like a fascinating book.

  • Leah in SoCal says:

    I would love to have a free copy. Down with raisins!

  • Hellcat13 says:

    YAY! I don’t need a free copy, as I pre-ordered one of my own months ago, but as a picky-about-texture eater, I’m super excited to read the book and chat with the Nation about it.

  • Jenn says:

    The book sounds great! I’d love a free copy.

  • Kendra says:

    This sounds great. Am I disqualified if I like raisins, and all of their delicious dried fruit counterparts?

  • HielanLass says:

    Ooh, I’d love a copy! Because raisins are evil.

  • Christy M says:

    Oh, sounds interesting! As someone who has gotten over a lot of my food dislikes from a very picky childhood/adolescence, I’d love to know what was really at work.

  • Leigh in CO says:

    Yay! Spindle the Kindle will gobble a copy on July 3, meaning I’ll have fresh reads for holiday pool time. Sweet! (Sour? Bitter? Salty?)

  • Carolyn in CT says:

    I’m also a pre-orderer and I’m so anxiously awaiting delivery of this book and Pamie’s book that I may behave in an embarrassing fashion when the FedEx person finally brings them.

  • RC says:

    Sounds interesting! And I actually have time to read this summer! Any free copies left?

  • Angela says:

    Sounds super interesting! I’d love a copy

  • melina says:

    I’ve been looking forward to reading this, as a picky eater who was assured I’d “grow out of it.” (At 33, I have incredibly not grown out of it and am sort of losing hope. In the meantime, I love my carbs-and-cheese-based lifestyle.) So I would love a free copy, but I will totally be kindle-ing this one up otherwise. Yay!

  • Ruby says:

    I’d love a free copy! I’m very interested in this book.

  • Bekah says:

    Up with raisins, down with hamburger! I’d love a copy!

  • Erinwithans says:

    I’d love a copy! I was an insanely picky eater as a kid (to this day, when my family watches A Christmas Story, and it gets to that line about “in every family, there is a kid who will not eat”, everyone points to me). I didn’t get over it until my dad made a deal with me when I was 14: I could go on an exchange to Japan, but only if I ate everything they gave me. I stuck to it (and, you know, it was a month and I had to eat), and now I’m a really adventurous eater who generally orders the strangest thing on the menu. Unless it involves shrimp. I have tried to like them, and yet. Ew.

  • Heather C. says:

    I would love a free copy, as I love reading about food, and am looking for something new to start. My husband is very picky, so hopefully, I can gain some insight…..

  • DMC says:

    I like raisins.

    (But not so much that I wouldn’t denounce them if it’d help me win a copy of the book…)

  • Coco says:

    I’d love a copy! And that’s even though I love everything pictured on the cover!

  • c8h10n4o2 says:

    As a notoriously picky eater (and I agree about the damned raisins, or roach-impersonators, as I like to call them) this sounds fascinating! I’d love one!

  • Lena says:

    I would also love to have a free copy, this sounds great (and I know it will be hard to find over here in London, sob sob).

  • Jane says:

    I’m in! I never pass on a chance to bitch about Satan’s Herb (cilantro). Don’t need a free copy –

  • cayenne says:

    I would love to win this. The library hold list is loooooon, so I might not receive it in time to read along.

  • Yoshi says:

    I’d love a copy – I’ve been looking forward to it!

  • Sandman says:

    I, too, would love a copy of Keckler’s book. I think it’s a great theme, and people’s individual quirks about food fascinate me. (Got no problem with raisins here. Green olives, on the other (stinky) hand? I abhor and abominate those things…

    I can’t help wondering what the Nation would make of a dish from a famous chef (not M. Pépin) with a sauce based on an emulsion of capers and raisins. Or, you know, maybe I can guess.

  • pomme de terre says:

    Free copy, even though I am pro-raisin in certain situations.

  • Sue says:

    Oooh, yes please!! In the middle of cilantro debate (I can’t stand it, the SO and his mother are huge fans), thought of this book….

  • Bridget says:

    OOOOH! As a picky eater married to a man who would cheerfully eat dirt as long as he could put hot sauce on it, I can’t wait to read this! And I’m not too proud to beg for a free copy, so I can pass it around to my picky-eater friends and those that tolerate us.

  • Soph says:

    I would love a free copy! Looking forward to reading this, and congrats to Keckler for finishing it!

  • Pamela says:

    Free copy? Yes, please! I’ll be reading this anyway, though. I find other people’s food likes and dislikes (and their reasons for those) fascinating.

  • Adrienne says:

    I would ALSO like a free copy! Also, I am the least picky eater ever, so I kinda want to see what this is about.

  • ferretrick says:

    There should be a whole chapter on tuna fish. Haaaaaaaaaate.

  • Jennifer says:

    This sounds fascinating. I have a hubby who refuses to eat white foods (ANY white foods, from alfredo and ranch dressing to eggs) and daughters who wont eat cooked vegetables. As a non-picky person myself, I am baffled!

  • Meghan says:

    I’d love a copy! I’ve got the whole range of bizarre food personalities in my family – and am trying to keep my kids from falling into food phobias.

  • Natalie says:

    Sounds fascinating. I’d love a free copy.

  • Annemarie says:

    I would love a free copy Sars!

  • Amanda Mysteriosa says:

    I wouldn’t mind a free copy! Like Hellcat, certain textures really freak me out.

  • KTB says:

    I would LOVE to read this book! As a reformed picky eater, I feel like I have food conversations pretty much every other week. And I really, really want to read the chapter on cilantro, since I have some militantly anti-cilantro friends.

  • Hannah says:

    Oh, I’d love a free copy! (Now I’m going back to picking the tomatoes off my Jimmy John’s.)

  • Nicole says:

    Yay! I was wondering when the next read-along would take place! And I’m also another one who’s already pre-ordered, so I don’t need a free copy, but I’m looking forward to getting mine soon!

  • Jamie says:

    I would love a copy! I’ve got a one-year-old who (so far) will eat pretty much anything, but I’m fascinated by our food aversions and how they arise.

  • scout1222 says:

    Heck yes. I hate mushrooms!

  • Natalie says:

    I would love a free copy!

  • Jen S 1.0 says:

    I’d adore a free copy! I’d love it and cherish it and give it a good home, and understand its hating raisins and fish and nut butters and…

    Am I projecting again? Sorry. But it would have its own room.

  • Danielle says:

    Fascinating topic – I’d love a copy.

  • Kristin says:

    Cool – I’d like a free copy!

    But raisins are the devil’s handiwork.

  • Angie says:

    I’m so very picky! I can’t eat rice because of texture issues! This book sounds like such fun.

  • Ann says:

    Sounds delightful!

  • attica says:

    I *just* learned that my aversion to raw tomatoes is from the same biological anomaly that makes some people find the taste of cilantro soapy! Wow, now I don’t feel so ridiculous! (Especially on a site celebrating the red pulpy fruit.)

    What a fun pick!

  • Vixless says:

    Been dying to read this since the first tweet I saw! I would love a free copy. Or not. Will buy it eventually.

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