Be My Guest

Praise

“Basil draws on memoir, storytelling, religion, politics, and philosophy in this delightful and ruminative culinary cultural study . . . . [Her] powerful intellectual curiosity is sure to intrigue readers.”
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)

“Basil explores what it means to be a woman, an immigrant, a host, and a guest through the backdrop of food, specifically the Indian food that reflects her Sikh background . . . . Pungent details help bring readers into the moment . . . . [Basil] also touches on deep subjects such as racism, food waste, and how food can be healing, seductive, or even used as a weapon.”
—Kirkus

Praise from the UK: 

“If the whole world digested Be My Guest, we’d be OK. It won’t happen, of course, and Basil doesn’t pretend that it will. Chauvinists, xenophobes, climate change deniers—inhospitable people the world over—will detest her compellingly beautiful book.”
—Alexander Gilmour, The Financial Times
 
“Reading this slender, rich exploration of what it means to cook for others is like pulling up a chair at the ideal dinner party.”
—Hephzibah Anderson, The Guardian
 
“A powerful meditation on hospitality . . . . Packed with such brilliance.”
—Gareth Grundy, The Observer
 
“Written with poetry and heart, Basil manages to unite huge themes that affect us all while capturing the beauty of sharing.”
—Francesca Brown, Stylist Magazine
 
“A brave and beautiful exploration into food, race, memory and the very meaning of life. I read it greedily—and so will you.”
—Meera Sodha, food writer and columnist
 
“Be My Guest offers a rare combination of intellectual sophistication and emotional warmth. I enjoyed it very much.”
—Sarah Moss, author of Ghost Wall
 
“An intimate, delicious and thought-provoking story, told with warmth, humor and generosity.”
—Nigel Slater, food journalist and author
 
“The subject of food and its many-threaded associations – of generosity and privation, sharing and hoarding, diversity and denial, pleasure and fear – is the starting point for this absorbing meditation on the interface of self with other in contemporary Europe. Priya Basil writes with honesty, clarity and wit about what it means to be hospitable in a culture of selfishness, and the problems and possibilities of commonality.”
—Rachel Cusk, author of the Outline trilogy

“A beautiful and personal book.”
—Fernando Augusto Pacheco, Monocle 
 
“Buy the beautiful Be My Guest by Priya Basil for anyone you know who has incorrect political thoughts, including yourself. We all need to learn to be more generous hosts.”
—Sophie Morris, inews.co.uk
 
“A very elegant meditation . . . . It’s clever, it’s political, but it’s also incredible emotional . . . . I recommend it very highly. It’s just a lovely, intellectual and emotional reset to read.”
—Octavia Bright, Literary Friction
 
“A candid, often very funny, insightful look at food and the complexity of hospitality – a brilliant book.”
—Jenny Lindord, author of The Missing Ingredient 
 
“Subtle, funny and incisive, Be My Guest can be read in a day, but it will take weeks to digest it fully.”
—The Eden Magazine