Program Description: Our Nonfiction Book Group will discuss Cooked: A Natural History of Transformation by Michael Pollan. This book is available for borrowing through the Mid-Hudson Library System. Library cardholders may also borrow ebooks and audiobooks through OverDrive or Hoopla.
Date/Time: Monday,September 21, 6-7pm (via Zoom)
Registration: To register for this book group, email morton@hudsonarealibrary.org.
The Nonfiction Book Group meets monthly on Mondays, 6-7:30pm. The group is facilitated by library Board President Mark Orton.
Michael Kevin Pollan is an American author, journalist, activist, and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. Pollan is best known for his books which explore the socio-cultural and health impacts of food in books like The Botany of Desire and The Omnivore’s Dilemma.
In Cooked, Michael Pollan explores the previously uncharted territory of his own kitchen. Here, he discovers the enduring power of the four classical elements—fire, water, air, and earth— to transform the stuff of nature into delicious things to eat and drink. Apprenticing himself to a succession of culinary masters, Pollan learns how to grill with fire, cook with liquid, bake bread, and ferment everything from cheese to beer. In the course of his journey, he discovers that the cook occupies a special place in the world, standing squarely between nature and culture. Both realms are transformed by cooking, and so, in the process, is the cook. (From michaelpollan.com)