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Toast Hardcover – October 7, 2004

by Nigel Slater (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,597 ratings
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An evocative memoir by the noted food writer and cookbook author shares the story of growing up in 1960s suburban England, remembering his childhood through the food in his family's pantry and the development of his own culinary talents. 20,000 first printing.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Gotham
  4. Publication date
    October 7, 2004
  5. Dimensions
    5.88 x 1.01 x 8.6 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1592400906
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1592400904
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Slater, celebrated in Britain for his food columns in London's Observer, recalls his childhood in great and moving detail, interweaving his hunt for oral gratification with prose portraits of his family. His mother, utterly devoted to him yet something of a kitchen klutz, could not make up for the physical abuse that burst from his conflicted father. Slater's mother's early demise and his father's remarriage to the family's cleaning woman did little to enhance the sensitive lad's self-image. What joy the boy found stemmed from occasional culinary successes out of his mother's kitchen and from an endless, stereotypically English cascade of sweets. Readers of Slater's accounts of eating out in the 1960s may come to believe that the British really invented fast food, something for which Americans generally shoulder blame. Slater's hunger for both food and human love are achingly recorded. American readers may find some of this memoir tedious and obscure since Slater obsesses over the seemingly boundless output of British candy factories, never employing a generic term when there is a regional trademarked noun at hand. Mark Knoblauch
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Back Cover

"Nigel Slater at his unpretentious, delicious best." Nigella Lawson, author of How to Be a Domestic Goddess

"His writing could not be more palate-cleansing his acidic riffs put you in mind of Nick Hornby, Martin Amis and Philip Larkin all at the same time." The New York Times

"Nigel is a genius." Jamie Oliver, author of Jamie s Kitchen, The Naked Chef, and Happy Days with the Naked Chef

"Nigel Slater's Toast is an exceptional book. It brilliantly weaves hungers together: belly hunger, sexual hunger, and the hunger for love and loss. I loved every page and the poignancy of being a child is dead on." Jane Stern, author of Ambulance Girl, coauthor of Roadfood, and contributing editor at Gourmet magazine

"I enjoyed every moment of reading Nigel Slater's Toast. It's hard to imagine a more elegantly rendered memoir of growing up. Funny, poignant, artful, erotic, sad, a story conveyed through intelligent and unsentimental prose the book is a jewel." Michael Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef

"Toast is a remarkable story of a young man's life, and the food that nourished it. Well written, lively and engaging." Marie Simmons, author of Fig Heaven

"The genius of his food writing comes from an obvious belief that food and happiness share the same organ in the brain." Lynne Truss

"Convincing, engaging, and rich with detail, Slater s prose lets readers taste the pink marshmallows, smell the freshly baked oat cookies, and feel the crunch of the green beans. Paced as superbly as a seven-course meal, [Toast is] able to engage the heart and the memory as well as the taste buds.--Publishers Weekly

"A banquet of unlikely delectations England s answer to Anthony Bourdain s Kitchen Confidential." Daily Telegraph (UK)

"No one writes more temptingly about food." The Independent (UK)

"An inspired memoir, boil-in-the-bag Proust!" Tim Adams, Observer (UK)

"This artful, disconcerting, endearing book deserves a place in the literature of childhood unhappiness and survival against the odds." Daily Telegraph (UK)

"A vivid record of people whose lives never warrant the study of historians, biographers or even novelists... wonderful... extraordinary." Matthew Fort, The Observer (UK)

"Nigel Slater's Toast eats its way through a difficult childhood... this is an ingenious and touching treat." Hermione Lee, Times Literary Supplement Books of the Year 2003 (UK)

"Utterly irresistible You read this remarkable memoir partly cringing, partly marvelling at Slater s hallucinogenic retrieval off times past. He is the Proust of the Nesquik Era. Independent Books of the Year (UK)

"Proves he can write mouth-wateringly about families and life, too: I gobbled it up." Daily Telegraph Books of the Year (UK)

"Toast follows a recipe boyhood blues without bitterness that looks simple yet is actually hard to pull off. Slater manages it." Guardian (UK)

"Delightful singular and original." Evening Standard (UK)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Gotham; First American Printing edition (October 7, 2004)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1592400906
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1592400904
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.88 x 1.01 x 8.6 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 1,597 ratings

About the author

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Nigel Slater

Nigel Slater

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Nigel Slater is the author of a collection of best-selling books and presenter of BBC 1's Eating Together, Simple Cooking and Dish of the Day. He has been food columnist for The Observer for over twenty years. His books include the classics Appetite and The Kitchen Diaries and the critically acclaimed two volume Tender. His award-winning memoir Toast – the Story of a Boy's Hunger won six major awards and is now a BBC film starring Helena Bonham Carter and Freddie Highmore. His writing has won the National Book Awards, the Glenfiddich Trophy, the André Simon Memorial Prize and the British Biography of the Year. He was the winner of a Guild of Food Writers' Award for his BBC 1 series Simple Suppers.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
1,597 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Uncle Al
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun, and insightful
Reviewed in the United States on August 20, 2023
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Kich back for a well-honed read.
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Teresa Kent
4.0 out of 5 stars it was a good book - sad and depressing
Reviewed in the United States on June 17, 2015
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It was irritating to not understand aoubt what foods he was talking about, but I pushed that to the side. I don't live in England, so don't have the experience with their food. Other than that, it was a good book - sad and depressing, but well written. Wish I knew more about English life so I could understand some of his experiences, but that is always a good research project!
One person found this helpful
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Dr. M. Cale
5.0 out of 5 stars Whimsical
Reviewed in the United States on February 19, 2023
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An easy read with lots of warm fuzzy moments for those of us who are almost Slater's contemporaries. He name drops many foods and brands that I'd completely forgotten about. The US/UK glossary in the back of the book is funny too.
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WeHo Ryan
3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
Reviewed in the United States on October 25, 2016
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I enjoy Slater's food column, and the outline of the story sounded promising. But in the reading I found myself uncomfortable with how much he pulled back the curtain on the private lives of the dead. His father is a villain straight out of central casting, as they say in Hollywood, and Slater paints an affecting picture of a lonely childhood. But he also comes across as kind of a jerk. His depiction of his stepmother strikes me as garden-variety class bigotry and sexism. He needs her to remain a two-dimensional nemesis, so much so that he sometimes is at pains to ignore her humanity, even when a generous interpretation of her actions would be the simplest and most logical reaction. And the sex passages read more as narrative gimmicks than as an organic part of the story. I was eager to try the book, and there are touching moments, but it left me sad.
9 people found this helpful
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Kiwi
5.0 out of 5 stars Easy, Honest and Amusing Read
Reviewed in the United States on January 28, 2014
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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Being a big fan of Nigel's cooking shows, I was curious as to something of his background and also how well he could write a non-cooking related book. It was a great read that I could barely put down, well written, very funny and so heartfelt. I can only wish he puts out another book!
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Froggy
4.0 out of 5 stars Not Your Average Making-of-a-Cook Book
Reviewed in the United States on December 31, 2012
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Nigel Slater is one of the best cook-writers around. His books combines thoughtful comment with superb recipes for food that people really eat."Toast" is a different sort of book and--for me--a difficult book. After the loss of his mother at a young age, Slater had a difficult childhood. He and his stepmother did not get along, and his father died when he was still in school. Slater writes with extraordinary candor about those years. While this book does provide insights into the making of a great food writer, it more powerfully uses foods to evoke memories and make sense of loss and healing.
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Maureen
5.0 out of 5 stars A fun read
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2012
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This book is particularly fun to read for anyone having spent a childhood in England. Some of the foods mentioned I had not heard of in years, but I clearly remember them. The title of the book is a bit misleading. Nigel Slater came from an affluent family so he never suffered hunger. This book associates food with his extended childhood memories. Sometimes they are sad.
3 people found this helpful
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E. Woontner
5.0 out of 5 stars So many flavors, so many feelings
Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2004
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Beautiful, funny, sad coming-of-age story, a swirl of flavors and emotions in an England in transition, where the type of chocolate bar you ate defined who you were, and the hippies were still threatening and terrifying for the middle class, stiff upper lip kind. I enjoyed it immensely and praise the ability of the author in making this reading almost an olfactory and savoring experience. The story is almost too predictable, and maybe not so important as the way in which food, memories and emotions are strictly connected.
17 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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Frankg
5.0 out of 5 stars I saw the movie first
Reviewed in Germany on January 22, 2024
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What a discovery!
A brillant written, funny tale.
I first saw the movie on TV. When googled the recipe of the famous lemon merengue pie.
After making and eating it I needed the book:)
I never heard of Nagel Slater before, but I'm a fan now.
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LizK
5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 2, 2023
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Very readable, a sobering read of a boy who succeeded despite a very tough upbringing
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Fran Weekes
5.0 out of 5 stars All About Nigel
Reviewed in Canada on February 2, 2020
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I first got to know Nigel Slater from his TV series and love his approach to cooking and life. I then saw the movie "Toast" and loved it. The book was a very nice read and I truly enjoyed it.
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pelly
5.0 out of 5 stars Soddisfazione.
Reviewed in Italy on October 5, 2019
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Completamente soddisfatta. Il libro è arrivato entro pochi giorni. Corrisponde esattamente alla descrizione del venditore.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Food writing at its best
Reviewed in India on May 3, 2016
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Loved it for the food writing. A friend had recommended the book to me years back and it lived up to its top billing. I must admit that I was a bit uneasy reading the bits about sexual abuse which would sneak up suddenly on one
2 people found this helpful
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