Eloquent, well-researched, and thoughtfully conceived and organized, this genre-defying book will appeal to foodies as well as those who appreciate both fine writing and the pleasures of domestic arts and crafts. Alex Beggs, The New York Times Book Review The Book of Difficult Fruit is brimming with obscure knowledge that’s going to loom over every gin martini I drink for the next decade, and there are fantastic recipes too. often fascinating, sometimes juicy, rarely dry. “Utterly original, expertly crafted, tangy and tart and true, Kate Lebo’s The Book of Difficult Fruit is a nonfiction masterpiece.” Amy Stewart, author of The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World’s Great Drinks The Book of Difficult Fruit is feral and fierce.” “Kate Lebo is the best kind of poet-naturalist: her writing is savage and lyrical and scientific all at once. Shortlisted for the Pacific Northwest Book Award 2022

New York magazine’s Vulture (honorable mention).Recognition for The Book of Difficult FruitĬonsidered a Best Book of the Year for 2021 by several publications, including: If you enjoyed reading The Book of Difficult Fruit, you might also enjoy these books you can check out from your library or purchase at Auntie’s bookstore. After reading The Book of Difficult Fruit, you will never think of sweetness the same way again.

Kate Lebo’s unquenchable curiosity promises adventure: intimate, sensuous, ranging, bitter, challenging, rotten, ripe. What if the primary way you show love is through baking, but your partner suffers from celiac disease? Why leave in the pits for Willa Cather’s plum jam? How can we rely on bodies as fragile as the fruits that nourish them? Here, these fruits will take you on unexpected turns and give sideways insights into relationships, self-care, land stewardship, medical and botanical history, and so much more. What makes a fruit difficult? Its cultivation, its harvest, its preparation, the brevity of its moment for ripeness, its tendency toward rot or poison, the way it might overrun your garden. In a work of unique invention, these and other difficult fruits serve as the central ingredients of twenty-six lyrical essays (with recipes). Q is for quince, which, when fresh, gives off the scent of “roses and citrus and rich women’s perfume” but if eaten raw is so astringent it wicks the juice from one’s mouth. M is for medlar, name-checked by Shakespeare for its crude shape, beloved by gardeners for its flowers. D is for durian, endowed with a dramatic rind and a shifting odor-peaches, old garlic. A is for aronia, berry member of the apple family, clothes-stainer, superfruit with reputed healing power.

The book of difficult fruit kate lebo