Review: Toast: the story of a boy's hunger

Slater's Toast awoke in me so many past food feelings from my own childhood not just from his sumptuous descriptions of his own past life but because of the proximity our lives shared in the fact that we were raised in towns barely eight miles apart and are within two years of being the same age. The descriptions of past memories of sweets reminded me so much of my childhood, and I think would resonant more with a British audience than American.

My mother, as his, did not enjoy the preparation of food, and while for Slater that led to a life of exploration in food, for me not so much. This is why I enjoyed this book. Not only is it a tell-all tale of a youth hungering for the love of a father that was only occasionally available but one of a life of exuberance, a life that becomes filled with the joy of finding your niche in life and wallowing in it wholeheartedly. If only we all could find that space in our life.

Slater normally writes books on cooking, with recipes, so this was a brave soul-searching stab at v>a new venture that lets us in on why he is so good at what he does.