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 Condé 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.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Book Description
Pizza is the single most popular food in the world, and wherever you go in America you can always find it. In fact, we consume 33 billion dollars worth of pizza annually from the 63,873 pizzerias in America. That's a lot of slices.
This year's pizza centennial is a milestone laid claim to by Lombardi's Pizza, which opened its doors in New York in 1905. Celebrating this anniversary is Ed Levine's A Slice of Heaven: The Ultimate Pizza Guide and Companion, in which Levine and some of America's best writers and cartoonists set out to answer every cosmic question involving this beloved food: Is Chicago pizza really more of a casserole? What makes New York pizza so good? Is the pizza in New Haven better than anything found in Naples? Is the best pizzeria in the world found in Phoenix, Arizona? What and where is the Pizza Belt? How good can homemade pizza be? Why was Nora Ephron petrified that her very first date would take her to a pizzeria? How did someone named Fats Goldberg end up being New York's preeminent thick-crust pizza maker? Is there an American pizza aesthetic? How does one go about judging pizza? Is there such a thing as a good frozen pizza? All these questions and more will be answered in A Slice of Heaven by Levine, along with some of his favorite writers, including, among others, Calvin Trillin, Ruth Reichl, Roy Blount, Jr., Arthur Schwartz, Mario Batali, Jeffrey Steingarten, and Eric Asimov. A Slice of Heaven tackles the profound questions and never-ending debates that invariably come up whenever the subject of pizza is brought up in polite company.
From the Inside Flap
Pizza is the single most popular food in the world, and wherever you go in America you can always find it. In fact, we consume 33 billion dollars worth of pizza annually from the 63,873 pizzerias in America. That's a lot of slices.
This year's pizza centennial is a milestone laid claim to by Lombardi's Pizza, which opened its doors in New York in 1905. Celebrating this anniversary is Ed Levine's Pizza: A Slice of Heaven: The Ultimate Pizza Guide and Companion, in which Levine and some of America's best writers and cartoonists set out to answer every cosmic question involving this beloved food: Is Chicago pizza really more of a casserole? What makes New York pizza so good? Is the pizza in New Haven better than anything found in Naples? Is the best pizzeria in the world found in Phoenix, Arizona? What and where is the Pizza Belt? How good can homemade pizza be? Is there an American pizza aesthetic? How does one go about judging pizza? Is there such a thing as a good frozen pizza?
All these questions and more will be answered by Levine and Calvin Trillin, Ruth Reichl, Roy Blount, Jr., Arthur Schwartz, Mario Batali, Jeffrey Steingarten, and Eric Asimov, among others, who tackle the profound questions and never-ending debates that invariably arise whenever the subject of pizza is brought up in polite company.
About the Author
Author and radio and television personality Ed Levine has been called the "missionary of the delicious and the Homer of rugelach," by Ruth Reichl in The New York Times. He is a regular contributor to The New York Times, and is the author of New York Eats and New York Eats (More), which was a finalist for the Julia Child Cookbook Award.
Pizza: A Slice of Heaven FROM THE PUBLISHER
Pizza is the single most popular food in the world, and wherever you go in America you can always find it. In fact, we consume 33 billion dollars worth of pizza annually from the 63,873 pizzerias in America. That's a lot of slices.
This year's pizza centennial is a milestone laid claim to by Lombardi's Pizza, which opened its doors in New York in 1905. Celebrating this anniversary is Ed Levine's A Slice of Heaven: The Ultimate Pizza Guide and Companion, in which Levine and some of America's best writers and cartoonists set out to answer every cosmic question involving this beloved food: Is Chicago pizza really more of a casserole? What makes New York pizza so good? Is the pizza in New Haven better than anything found in Naples? Is the best pizzeria in the world found in Phoenix, Arizona? What and where is the Pizza Belt? How good can homemade pizza be? Why was Nora Ephron petrified that her very first date would take her to a pizzeria? How did someone named Fats Goldberg end up being New York's preeminent thick-crust pizza maker? Is there an American pizza aesthetic? How does one go about judging pizza? Is there such a thing as a good frozen pizza? All these questions and more will be answered in A Slice of Heaven by Levine, along with some of his favorite writers, including, among others, Calvin Trillin, Ruth Reichl, Roy Blount, Jr., Arthur Schwartz, Mario Batali, Jeffrey Steingarten, and Eric Asimov. A Slice of Heaven tackles the profound questions and never-ending debates that invariably come up whenever the subject of pizza is brought up in polite company.
FROM THE CRITICS
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.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
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