A witty cultural and culinary education, Immoveable Feast is the charming, funny, and improbable tale of how a man who was raised on white bread—and didn't speak a word of French—unexpectedly ended up with the sacred duty of preparing the annual Christmas dinner for a venerable Parisian family.
Ernest Hemingway called Paris "a moveable feast"—a city ready to embrace you at any time in life. For Los Angeles–based film critic John Baxter, that moment came when he fell in love with a French woman and impulsively moved to Paris to marry her. As a test of his love, his skeptical in-laws charged him with cooking the next Christmas banquet—for eighteen people in their ancestral country home. Baxter's memoir of his yearlong quest takes readers along his misadventures and delicious triumphs as he visits the farthest corners of France in search of the country's best recipes and ingredients. Irresistible and fascinating, Immoveable Feast is a warmhearted tale of good food, romance, family, and the Christmas spirit, Parisian style.
Author Info
John Baxter has lived in Paris for more than twenty years. He is the author of four acclaimed memoirs about his life in France: The Perfect Meal: In Search of the Lost Tastes of France; The Most Beautiful Walk in the World: A Pedestrian in Paris; Immoveable Feast: A Paris Christmas; and We'll Always Have Paris: Sex and Love in the City of Light. Baxter, who gives literary walking tours through Paris, is also a film critic and biographer whose subjects have included the directors Fellini, Kubrick, Woody Allen, and most recently, Josef von Sternberg. Born in Australia, he lives with his wife and daughter in the Saint-Germain-des-Prés neighborhood, in the same building Sylvia Beach called home.
Reviews
“Fluent, witty and moving . . . the prose invites us to savor and enjoy . . . A swift yet sumptuous read.” — Los Angeles Times
“A genial culinary memoir . . . Immoveable Feast is entertaining, often very funny, and surprisingly full of information.” — New York Times Book Review
“Baxter’s discerning palate is matched by his gift for charming digression: The book abounds in stories about his childhood, tidbits about the history of food and encounters with characters who seem to have stepped straight out of a French film.” — Washington Post Book World
“Enchanting. ... Baxter takes us from perfect moment to perfect moment and leaves us with an appreciation not just for his family, but for the human family, with ‘the security and comfort of its table and hearth.’ And isn’t that our true heart’s desire during this holiday season?” — New Orleans Times-Picayune
