Taste

The author shares a memory of sweetness: her mother gives her some medicine in a spoonful of jam. Decades later, the taste of jam brings back the feeling of that moment. The sense of taste has the power to transport us in ways nothing else can. Jehanne Dubrow guides you through flavors sweet, salty, sour, and bitter, with wide-ranging commentary that collects books, art, memories, and experiences in wonderful cohesion. Her writing is witty, incisive, and poignant. I loved her original connections among poems or stories, many of which were familiar but here are newly rediscovered; many many others have been added to my “must-read” list. The chapter on ‘Bitter’ begins with a contemplative tea ceremony, then peers through a lonely window, winding around chocolate and chopped greens before ending with annihilation in almonds and opera. ‘Sour’ carries you from an abandoned romance to the steppes of Russia, with a stop in the depths of Hades. Even ‘Sweet’ is not an undiluted pleasure, from Eve’s apple to Kara E. Walker’s ‘Marvelous Sugar Baby.’ Far as the topics range, they tightly coalesce into profound meditations. This is a thoughtful, beautifully written volume you are sure to savor.