04/17/2017
Leite is the author of The New Portuguese Table and the Leite’s Culinaria website, so it’s no surprise that the beginning and end of his memoir find him writing about food with infectious gusto and cleverness, giving a glimpse of why his website’s won James Beard Awards. He’s also written on the topic for the New York Times and other venues. Fans of that work will certainly wish there were more culinary stories in this work, but all readers will be touched by his first-generation Portuguese-American upbringing and struggles with his sexual identity as well as his battles to understand and treat his bipolar disorder. He expertly walks the line between sad and funny, making himself the clown and hero of this coming-of-age tale. His firsthand account of mental illness pulls no punches, serving up an honest and open perspective on personal and family issues that are often swept under the rug. Despite Leite playing the leading man, the true stars of the memoir are Leite’s parents, who mirror his passion (his mother) and thoughtfulness (his father) and allow Leite to continually draw the focus of the story back to family and food, love and learning. The ideals that have made Leite’s food writing so successful make this memoir worth a look. (Apr.)
Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression
Narrated by David Leite
David LeiteUnabridged — 11 hours, 58 minutes
Notes on a Banana: A Memoir of Food, Love, and Manic Depression
Narrated by David Leite
David LeiteUnabridged — 11 hours, 58 minutes
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Overview
The stunning and long-awaited memoir from the beloved founder of the James Beard Award-winning website Leite's Culinaria-a candid, courageous, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story of family, food, mental illness, and sexual identity.
Born into a family of Azorean immigrants, David Leite grew up in the 1960s in a devoutly Catholic, blue-collar, food-crazed Portuguese home in Fall River, Massachusetts. A clever and determined dreamer with a vivid imagination and a flair for the dramatic, ""Banana"" as his mother endearingly called him, obsessed over proper hair care, yearned to live in a middle-class house with a swinging kitchen door like the ones on television, and fell in love with everything French, thanks to his Portuguese and French-Canadian godmother. But David also struggled with the emotional devastation of bipolar disorder. Until he was diagnosed in his mid-thirties, David found relief from his wild mood swings in cooking, Julia Child, and a Viking stove he named ""Thor.""
Notes on a Banana is his heartfelt, unflinchingly honest, yet tender memoir of growing up, accepting himself, and turning his love of food into an award-winning career. Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life: from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to ""turn straight"" through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his twenty-three-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David's readers as ""The One,"" which began with (what else?) food. Woven throughout these stories are the dishes David loves-the tastes that led him to happiness, health, and success.
A blend of Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, the food memoirs of Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton, and the character-rich storytelling of Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Jenny Lawson, Notes on a Banana is a feast that dazzles, delights, and, ultimately, heals.
Editorial Reviews
Leite bravely lets us into his world filled with family, food, mental illness and his struggle with coming to terms with his sexual identity . . . a beautifully-written book . . . poignant and rich, as some of us who love Leite’s work, have come to expect.” — Forbes
“Born into a devout immigrant community that didn’t believe in psychiatry or being gay, Leite fought for twenty-five years to understand the truth about himself—his triumph is rich with lessons for us all.” — Drew Ramsey, MD, Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and author of Eat Complete
“Warm, witty, [and] sometimes heartbreaking . . . Fans of the author’s James Beard Award-winning website, Leite’s Culinaria . . . won’t be surprised by his wonderful sense of humor and his keen powers of observation . . . candid and charming.” — Booklist
“Leite impressively finds honesty and humor in the darkest of circumstances….a brave and moving tale of food, family, and psychology.” — Kirkus
“Excellent...Leite has managed the unlikely feat of combining a work of laugh-out-loud humor with the solemn subject of mental illness. A splendid and entertaining book.” — Dick Cavett
“In hilarious, deeply honest prose, Leite has brilliantly captured the light and dark of bipolar disorder. But this book does so much more. It explores the relationships between culture and family, friendship and food, love and the body. A memoir about the astonishing resilience of the human heart.” — Marya Hornbacher, author of Madness: A Bipolar Life
“Masterful . . . Notes on a Banana is beautifully crafted, inspiring, and poignantly honest. A must read for all foodies and memoir lovers who know the power food and family have to overcome nearly every obstacle in life.” — Josh Kilmer-Purcell, author of I Am Not Myself These Days
“An honest look at overcoming a life fraught with anguish and obstacles . . . Leite [is] one of the best food writers of our generation. Notes on a Banana is the brutally forthright story of a man who found love, and finally his calling . . . in the kitchen.” — David Lebovitz, author of My Paris Kitchen
“One of the finest portraits of bipolar disorder I have ever read.” — Paste
“Ruthlessly candid . . . The book is funny and hopeful even during some of its darkest passages, a deft balancing act that has brought Leite pre-publication comparisons with Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris.” — Connecticut Post
“Expertly walks the line between sad and funny . . . [Leite’s] firsthand account of mental illness pulls no punches, serving up an honest and open perspective on personal and family issues that are often swept under the rug.” — Publisher’s Weekly
“A witty account . . . readers will enjoy Leite’s ability to bring levity to a host of serious—and sometimes sad—subjects. The book gives a universal account of complications that many lives encounter, but Notes on a Banana brings levity and humor to the hardships the author recounts.” — Associated Press
“A tender, funny and sadly real story—one that will certainly resonate with readers.” — TimeOut New York
“Tender and honest, this reflection on what it means to grow up and find yourself will make dad both laugh and cry.” — No Real Simple, 25 Father’s Day Books That Cover All of Dad’s Interests Real Simple, 25 Father’s Day Books That Cover All of Dad’s Interests
“A terrific contribution to understanding not only the experience of bipolar illness but the experience of life: warm, funny, poignant, and human.” — Kay Redfield Jamison, author of An Unquiet Mind
Born into a devout immigrant community that didn’t believe in psychiatry or being gay, Leite fought for twenty-five years to understand the truth about himself—his triumph is rich with lessons for us all.
Ruthlessly candid . . . The book is funny and hopeful even during some of its darkest passages, a deft balancing act that has brought Leite pre-publication comparisons with Augusten Burroughs and David Sedaris.
Leite bravely lets us into his world filled with family, food, mental illness and his struggle with coming to terms with his sexual identity . . . a beautifully-written book . . . poignant and rich, as some of us who love Leite’s work, have come to expect.
One of the finest portraits of bipolar disorder I have ever read.
An honest look at overcoming a life fraught with anguish and obstacles . . . Leite [is] one of the best food writers of our generation. Notes on a Banana is the brutally forthright story of a man who found love, and finally his calling . . . in the kitchen.
Excellent...Leite has managed the unlikely feat of combining a work of laugh-out-loud humor with the solemn subject of mental illness. A splendid and entertaining book.
In hilarious, deeply honest prose, Leite has brilliantly captured the light and dark of bipolar disorder. But this book does so much more. It explores the relationships between culture and family, friendship and food, love and the body. A memoir about the astonishing resilience of the human heart.”
Masterful . . . Notes on a Banana is beautifully crafted, inspiring, and poignantly honest. A must read for all foodies and memoir lovers who know the power food and family have to overcome nearly every obstacle in life.
Warm, witty, [and] sometimes heartbreaking . . . Fans of the author’s James Beard Award-winning website, Leite’s Culinaria . . . won’t be surprised by his wonderful sense of humor and his keen powers of observation . . . candid and charming.
A witty account . . . readers will enjoy Leite’s ability to bring levity to a host of serious—and sometimes sad—subjects. The book gives a universal account of complications that many lives encounter, but Notes on a Banana brings levity and humor to the hardships the author recounts.
A terrific contribution to understanding not only the experience of bipolar illness but the experience of life: warm, funny, poignant, and human.
Expertly walks the line between sad and funny . . . [Leite’s] firsthand account of mental illness pulls no punches, serving up an honest and open perspective on personal and family issues that are often swept under the rug.
A tender, funny and sadly real story—one that will certainly resonate with readers.
One of the finest portraits of bipolar disorder I have ever read.
Warm, witty, [and] sometimes heartbreaking . . . Fans of the author’s James Beard Award-winning website, Leite’s Culinaria . . . won’t be surprised by his wonderful sense of humor and his keen powers of observation . . . candid and charming.
Expertly walks the line between sad and funny . . . [Leite’s] firsthand account of mental illness pulls no punches, serving up an honest and open perspective on personal and family issues that are often swept under the rug.
Expertly walks the line between sad and funny . . . [Leite’s] firsthand account of mental illness pulls no punches, serving up an honest and open perspective on personal and family issues that are often swept under the rug.
A witty account . . . readers will enjoy Leite’s ability to bring levity to a host of serious—and sometimes sad—subjects. The book gives a universal account of complications that many lives encounter, but Notes on a Banana brings levity and humor to the hardships the author recounts.
Though the James Beard Award-winning food writer gets intense and often dark in his colorful memoir (Leite lives with manic depression) his joy in life, family, and food remains constant.
It’s rare that you come across a book about the destruction that comes with bipolar disorder and coming to terms with one’s sexuality that succeeds in being absolutely laugh-out-loud funny. . . . masterful.
Leite’s memoir is a true literary feast for the soul, presented with creative, honest prose, droll anecdotes, and all the savory trimmings of a happy ending.
Tender and honest, this reflection on what it means to grow up and find yourself will make dad both laugh and cry.
One of the finest portraits of bipolar disorder I have ever read.
The most magnificent and accurate description of bipolar disorder I’ve ever read . . . Leite’s courage and triumph in the face of this illness will inspire those who are suffering by showing them how they can lead productive and beautiful lives.
11/15/2016
The winner of multiple James Beard awards, Leite grew up in a blue-collar Portuguese home in Fall River, MA, longing for middle-class stability and struggling with bipolar disorder, which was not diagnosed until his mid-thirties. Meanwhile, he threw himself into cooking. With a 100,000-copy first printing.
Author David Leite narrates this idiosyncratic and sometimes infuriating audiobook about his experiences growing up, falling in love, and finding his niche in work. An award-winning food writer and early podcaster, he reads his story in a kind of self-indulgent, sometimes self-satisfied, manner that somehow exorcises his battle with what he describes as Bipolar 2. His life has been a series of challenges marked by manic highs and lows. The memoir traces Leite’s struggles to earn a degree and accept being gay, and, most importantly, to understand his illness. Much is left to the listener to parse as he both reveals and conceals. It’s clear that the lived experience of mental illness is exceptionally difficult to share in an audiobook or on the page. A.D.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
2017-02-20
A James Beard Award-winning food blogger tells the story of his struggle to come to terms with his Portuguese heritage, bipolar disorder, and homosexuality.The son of two immigrants from the Azores, Leite (The New Portuguese Table: Exciting Flavors from Europe's Western Coast, 2009), nicknamed "Banana," grew up in a Massachusetts town that was "pretty much in the geographic armpit of the state." His one joy was being around the "Sisters of the Spatula," the women who, along with his mother, ruled his childhood with love and food. But the older he became, the more Leite wanted to eat hamburgers and cakes smeared in "swirls of Betty Crocker chocolate frosting." Fitting in became an even greater challenge during his adolescence, which was marked by episodes of extreme panic, anxiety, and insomnia. Further complicating Leite's situation was the realization that his fondness for looking at male underwear models in the Sears catalog signaled a nascent homosexuality he desperately wanted to disavow. In college, the author had affairs with men while "dating" a woman he fantasized would be his wife but with whom he could never have sex. He also began experiencing the chaotic extremes of the bipolar disorder that psychologists had mistakenly diagnosed as depression. Leaving college without a degree, Leite went to New York, where he worked first as a waiter then as an ad writer while unsuccessfully trying to turn straight through involvement with the "gay curing" Aesthetic Realism movement. A long-term relationship with a man who "loved everything about the ceremony of the table" led to Leite's reimmersion in the cooking he loved and the Azorean culture from which he had separated himself. It also gave him the courage to seek the answers that had eluded him and his doctors about the truth of his condition. In this coming-of-age story and chronicle of self-acceptance, Leite impressively finds honesty and humor in the darkest of circumstances, making this a strong debut memoir. A brave and moving tale of food, family, and psychology.
Product Details
| BN ID: | 2940173782656 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | HarperCollins |
| Publication date: | 04/11/2017 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
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