I have been reading America the Edible: A Hungry History From Sea to Shining Sea, written by the Man VS. Food: Adam Richman. I wasn’t sure what I would be reading about at first and was surprised to find that the book is more of a personal journal and documents Richman’s memories traveling around to various cities in the United States that all hold a special place in his heart. When you watch Richman on television, he just seems to be a happy, go-lucky kind of guy and when you read his book you realize that you don’t really know him very well.
America the Edible tells of times when Richman wasn’t a television star and of times, but when he was just trying to make it in the world like everybody else. Adam Richman has always been a foodie at heart and has kept food journals for years. Food became Richman’s companion against all the challenges of life, including finding a career, love, and success. The book makes it clear that Richman knows much about the food industry and food history as he shares some of his knowledge throughout the book. My favorite chapters in his book are about Los Angeles and San Francisco, places that I can personally identify with and I think many readers will also share this perspective while reading Richman’s secret food diaries that are now compiled into this book. Unfortunately, this can also make some chapters with places less familiar somewhat uninteresting to read and make skipping chapters easy to do. Another issue in America the Edible occurs at times when the writing will go into a sensory overload that can sometimes become overzealous and turned me off while reading certain portions of chapters.
Overall, America the Edible is an interesting read but not quite what I hoped for. The book has plenty of useful tips and locations worth scouting out and trying. Richman’s die-hard fans will enjoy his anecdotes of romantic dining dates and career struggles that brought him to where he is today.
Carlos Eats 
4 responses to “America the Edible by Adam Richman, Man Vs. Food”
I didn’t know that Adam Richman had a book. I love Man V. Food, but I can only watch it on Netflix since I don’t get the Travel Channel 😦 Thanks for making me aware of the book. I’ll get a copy from the library so it doesn’t cost me more than $1 in late fees, which are inevitable with me. Can you recommend any other foodie books or ones like this one?
I have also been reading “Born Round” by Frank Bruni a NYT critic. I really like his writing style and he has an interesting story into the life of a NYC food critic. Food has just been a huge factor of his life since he was a toddler.
I’ll have to give it a read. I love to hear where people have come from.
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