State of the Book (II)

As many of you know: I wrote a book. It took what felt like a million years, though in reality it was just about two. I finished writing it last spring. The edits were completed this summer. I showed you the manuscript, and then the galley and jacket cover. Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way comes out at the end of June.

Writing this book was an intense experience, a humbling one. I learned how to craft a narrative and work along different story lines. More important: I learned how to mess up and begin again. (The delete key is my friend!) In the process of reporting and writing this book, I taught myself about neuroscience, flavor chemistry, and the art of perfume. I cooked a lot and ate even more. I interviewed some of the most fascinating people I’ve ever met. I can’t wait to share it with you all.

But in the meantime, I thought I’d give you a little update with some happy news: Blurbs!

In the last two months, some very talented writers have been kind enough to read (and compliment!) my book. I could not be happier (amazed/surprised/honored, etc!) to share their very generous words.

“Season to Taste would be a lovely food memoir, if it were only that. It would be a fascinating book about the sense of smell, and about a loss that might have undone someone less brave, curious, and persistent than Molly Birnbaum. But it’s also something more: it’s a book about life’s unexpected turns, about love and its complexities, and about the ineffably mysterious human brain. I couldn’t stop telling people about it, while I was reading it. It will make you see your nose, your life, and your most important decisions in a whole new way.”

—Maile Meloy, author of Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It

"I had a hunch that Molly Birnbaum could tell a rich, engrossing, and deeply intelligent story, but what I didn't know is that I would learn so much from it - about strength, about persistence, about the resilience of the human body and mind. This is a book I won't soon forget."

—Molly Wizenberg, author of the blog Orangette, and A Homemade Life

"Molly Birnbaum's fascinating book takes her—and us—deep inside the mysterious world of scent. Her writing about this unseen force is fresh, smart, and consistently surprising. If this beautifully written book were a smell, it would be a crisp green apple."

—Claire Dederer, author of Poser

“Imagine discovering the scent of cucumber, skunk, and even your own brain. Season to Taste reminds us how much our sense of smell grounds us, is part of our identity and, without it, we are bereft of our most profound memories and desires. Molly Birnbaum’s fascinating journey, told with charm and compassion, is ultimately a story of triumph. A book for food lovers, sensualists, and all of us in search of our true heart’s desire.”

—Kim Sunee, author of Trail of Crumbs