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Book Cover for: Cheesecake, Mark Kurlansky

Cheesecake

Mark Kurlansky

Reader Score

65%

65% of readers

recommend this book

Critic Reviews

Good

Based on 6 reviews on

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From New York Times bestselling author Mark Kurlansky, a delectable novel following one Manhattan block as an ancient cheesecake recipe-and a conniving landlord-change the Upper West Side forever.

West 86th Street knows its desserts. It's the 1970s, and poppyseed strudel, praline ice cream cake, and New York cheesecake are as integral to Manhattan's Upper West Side as clustered pigeons, suited doormen, and greasy diners. That is, until Cato comes to town. Cato the Elder, a Roman born in 234 BCE, is credited with the earliest written recipe ever found. A recipe for . . . cheesecake. No cream cheese, no graham cracker crust, somehow savory and sweet, the recipe is enigmatic-and suddenly, it's all anyone on West 86th Street can talk about.

The Katsikases, a Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated to open a restaurant in New York, added Cato's pastry to their menu as a ploy to attract "upscale" diners. After a glowing write-up in the Times, the recipe becomes a neighborhood fixation-and the Katsikases' patriarch, Art, buys up as much of the block's real estate as he can. As the portentous pastry appears in the lives of the old-school residents Art is pricing out of their apartments, a sidewalk view of West 86th Street emerges: A high-profile family planning a high-pressure bat mitzvah, a painter's muse with a terrible secret, an eccentric art collector plotting revenge. Sometimes laced with green M&Ms, sometimes with sage, sometimes with spite, Cato's cheesecake heralds change as West 86th Street is transformed for good.

Book Details

  • Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
  • Publish Date: Jul 15th, 2025
  • Pages: 240
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.40in - 5.95in - 0.88in - 0.77lb
  • EAN: 9781639735723
  • Categories: Cultural HeritageFamily Life - GeneralCity Life

About the Author

Kurlansky, Mark: - Mark Kurlansky is the New York Times bestselling author of Milk!, Havana, Paper, The Big Oyster, 1968, Salt, The Basque History of the World, Cod, and Salmon, among other titles. He has received the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, Bon Appétit's Food Writer of the Year Award, the James Beard Award, and the Glenfiddich Award. He lives in New York City. www.markkurlansky.com

Critics’ reviews

Praise for this book

"Mark Kurlansky is among our most intelligent, prolific and literate writers about food." --Mark Bittman, The New York Times

"Mr. Kurlansky is a veteran writer . . . He has come to be known for his ability to weave history, philosophy and personal experience into compelling narratives . . . Often marvelous." --Wall Street Journal on THE UNREASONABLE VIRTUE OF FLY FISHING

"The sort of book that Proust might have written had Proust become distracted by the madeleine . . . you step away from this book with a new vantage on history." --New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice, on MILK!

"Elegant . . . related with vast brio and wit." --Los Angeles Times on COD

"Magnificent . . . a towering achievement." --Associated Press on THE BIG OYSTER