OP: As They Were

Alfred A. Knopf, 1983. Near fine in Very Good. Sixth printing.

The name of Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (1908–1992) is inescapable in our world of chefs, writers, and food-enthusiasts of all kinds. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that her writing has been enormously influential on the generations that have followed. Indeed, she created the foundation of the food memoir genre, seamlessly weaving together personal experience, place and time, and the food that was on the table throughout. 

Far more than a memoirist, Fisher describes the significance of her work best herself: “It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others."

This 1982 collection of essays, As They Were, is perhaps lesser known than her earlier, WWII-era publications. However, within these pages we travel with Fisher to Long Island, Los Angeles, Provence, Arles, Dijon, and Switzerland in an engaging sampling of the author’s work, her words painting vivid landscapes and still lifes around us.

M. F. K. Fisher is famous enough at this point to be known without having been read. But we hope this offering of a sixth printing of As They Were might be the perfect start to a blossoming collection and an introduction to the work of a genre-defining writer. The book block and case are Near Fine. The jacket bears some closed tears to the rear but otherwise very crisp.