Name: How to Cook A Coyote
Price: 26.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Betty Fussell
ISBN: 9781640097384

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.

Kirkus Reviews, A Best Book of the Year
Alta, A Fall Most Anticipated Read

“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

How to Cook A Coyote

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