And Other Tales from the Belly of Japan

The Meaning of Rice

A Culinary Tour of Japan

Tales from the Belly of Japan 
**Shortlisted for the 2017 André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards**

His writing has been compared to Bill Bryson's... and, like Bryson, he gives a light touch to weighty topics, but the comedy does not diminish the informative heft of this foodie odyssey... Readers will enjoy generous helpings of insights into some of the world's finest sustenance.

Booth is drawn to the offbeat, and The Meaning of Rice gives us a banquet of the unfamiliar... What Booth does best is a masterclass in Japanese cuisine from haute to caff counter... Beneath the light-hearted surface is a depth of research, respect and affection for Japanese culture and the quiet stoicism of its people.

The Meaning of Rice: And Other Tales from the Belly of Japan by Michael Booth is an energetic, witty travelogue that I enjoyed for its quirkiness and its lightly-worn learning. We live in an age of supermarket sushi, but this book is a million miles from that kind of mass-production. If you want to know more about the mysterious and increasingly ubiquitous yuzu, or about how soba noodles are made—answer: with quite astonishing precision—this is the book for you. For me, Booth is Bill Bryson wrapped in nori and, metaphorically at least, tottering around on a pair of wooden sandals.

The Meaning of Rice…will have you salivating for the Land of the Rising Sun.

It is not just a book of food though, it is a warm and funny tome which sees Michael and his family venture far off the beaten track to find a fascinating cast of food heroes, from a couple lavishing love on rotten fish to a chef who literally sacrificed a limb in pursuit of the ultimate bowl of ramen. It’s fun and full of food and Michael has been dubbed the new Bill Bryson – not bad then!

Both jolly and illuminating – a rare combination.

Michael Booth is the author of six books, including the international bestseller, The Almost Nearly Perfect People, winner of the British Guild of Travel Writers award for Book of the Year, and Sushi and Beyond, which won the Guild of Food Writers award.

**Shortlisted for the 2017 André Simon Food and Drink Book Awards** 
**Shortlisted for the 2018 Fortnum &amp; Mason Food Book Award** 
 
'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
Food and travel writer Michael Booth and his family embark on an epic journey the length of Japan to explore its dazzling food culture. They find a country much altered since their previous visit ten years earlier (which resulted in the award-winning international bestseller Sushi and Beyond). 
 
Over the last decade the country’s restaurants have won a record number of Michelin stars and its cuisine was awarded United Nations heritage status. The world’s top chefs now flock to learn more about the extraordinary dedication of Japan’s food artisans, while the country’s fast foods – ramen, sushi and yakitori – have conquered the world. As well as the plaudits, Japan is also facing enormous challenges. Ironically, as Booth discovers, the future of Japan’s culinary heritage is under threat. 
 
Often venturing far off the beaten track, the author and his family discover intriguing future food trends and meet a fascinating cast of food heroes, from a couple lavishing love on rotten fish, to a chef who literally sacrificed a limb in pursuit of the ultimate bowl of ramen, and a farmer who has dedicated his life to growing the finest rice in the world… in the shadow of Fukushima.

Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia

The Almost Nearly Perfect People

'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
Winner of the Best Narrative Travel Book Award from the British Guild of Travel Writers

A funny, fearless tour behind Scandinavia’s polished image. 
 
Michael Booth has long been perplexed by strange paradoxes and character traits of the people of his adopted homelands – and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic and hygge that has engulfed the rest of the world. 
 
From his home in Denmark, he travels through Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland to uncover the truth behind the myth of the happiest people on Earth. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterised by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades. 
 
Part travelogue, part social investigation, and wholly entertaining, Booth asks tough questions about what happiness really means, how culture shapes wellbeing, and what the rest of the world can - and can’t - learn from the North. 
 
 
‘The next Bill Bryson’ New York Times 
 
‘Beautifully observed and very funny’ Rory Stewart 
 
‘Comprehensive and occasionally downright hilarious’ Mariella Frostrup, Observer

Comprehensive and occasionally downright hilarious... I was laughing out loud

An affectionate and informative study of a region.

[An] entertaining, warts-and-all, English expat look at the Nordic miracle.

A thoroughly entertaining read, written brilliantly

A welcome rejoinder to those who cling to the idea of the Nordic region as a promised land...the substance, more often than not, is spot on.

Every page contains at least one extraordinary fact about one or other of the Nordic countries.

Booth is an assiduous excavator of entertaining facts.

An enjoyable, funny romp through the region...[Booth’s] enthusiasm is contagious.

Booth does what the British do well. He writes irresistibly, ranging freely from serious, documented reportage to surprising conclusions... Simply a pleasure to read - 5 stars

You get cleverer by reading him... funny and insightful - 4 stars

The closest of this year’s books to manna from heaven - 5 stars

His personal insights are what gives this book its charm and it is a well-researched, up-to-date and relevant survey of an extremely appealing topic.

The real joy of the book is the accumulation of trivia: the fact that there are more saunas than cars in Finland, that in 1971 the Swedish army ordered 50,000 hairnets so its soldiers could indulge the fashion for men to have long hair.

A gently humorous and fact-rich piece of reportage.

Humorous and very readable... If all those references to the wonders of the Nordic world ever become too irritating, this is the book to turn to.

The book was funny, well written and to the point.

Highly entertaining… If your Nordic knowledge is limited to ABBA, snow and Vikings, read this book… The Almost Nearly Perfect People will give you new perspectives and questions to mull over the next time you hear of another lifestyle ranking topped by the Nordic nations.

If you want travel writing amply packed with laughs, look no farther than Michael Booth’s The Almost Nearly Perfect People…, which does for the Scandinavian countries what James Bond has done for fast cars – made them impossible to resist. It’s a ride not to miss.

Filled with facts, and some very funny escapades, it’s a great guide to understanding the utopian myth of these seemingly “perfect” countries.

If your Nordic knowledge is limited to ABBA, snow and Vikings, read this book. Even if you are a seasoned traveller, or one of the "humbly proud" inhabitants, The Almost Nearly Perfect People will give you new perspectives and questions to mull over.

The Danes are the happiest people in the world, and pay the highest taxes. 
 
'Neutral' Sweden is one of the biggest arms manufacturers in the world. 
 
Finns have the largest per capita gun ownership after the US and Yemen. 
 
54 per cent of Icelanders believe in elves. 
 
Norway is the richest country on earth. 
 
5 per cent of Danish men have had sex with an animal. 
 
Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians, on and off, for over ten years, perplexed by their many strange paradoxes and character traits and equally bemused by the unquestioning enthusiasm for all things Nordic and hygge that has engulfed the rest of the world. 
 
He leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success and, most intriguing of all, what they think of each other. Along the way a more nuanced, often darker picture emerges of a region plagued by taboos, characterised by suffocating parochialism and populated by extremists of various shades. 
 
'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
'Beautifully observed and very funny' Rory Stewart 
 
Winner of the Best Narrative Travel Book Award from the British Guild of Travel Writers

Eat Pray Eat

'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
A book dedicated to all those approaching middle age, confronting dispiriting, irreversible physical decline, plagued by a gnawing sense of mortality, and frittering their time away on distractions, regrets and and thwarted ambition...

Deliciously comic, compelling and ultimately inspiring

Highly entertaining ... Booth has always been a very funny writer, and his descriptions of the yoga classes are hilarious. Stimulating and thought-provoking

A delightfully well-written tongue-in-cheek journey through India

'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
World-weary, distracted and more often than not the worse for wine, Michael Booth really needed to make some major changes to his life. Instead, he embarks on an over-ambitious, self-indulgent attempt to write the definitive book on Indian food, taking his wife and two young children in tow. 
 
They criss-cross India, from mist-shrouded Delhi to Mumbai and the slums of Dharavi, meeting the locals and samplying different cuisines along the way. However, his plan is derailed as he spirals deeper into his metaphysical middle-aged malaise, finally unravelling amid the sweltering heat of the Keralan backwaters. 
 
Fortunately, his wife takes control and enrolls her disintegrating husband in a hardcore yoga boot camp, enlisting a wise meditation guru who helps him chart a path towards enlightenment. But will Booth's cynicism and untrammelled appetites prove his undoing? Can he regain his balance, conquer his anxieties and face up to life as a husband and father?

What the Japanese Know About Cooking

Sushi and Beyond

A fascinating and hilarious journey through the extraordinary culinary landscape of Japan. 
 
‘His account of their “foodie family road trip” establishes Booth as the next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
Winner of the Guild of Food Writers Kate Whiteman Award for the best book on food and travel.

His account of their “foodie family road trip” establishes Booth as the next Bill Bryson.

Booth is one of the sharpest food writers around, and this is essential fare for foodies

Booth's style is hugely enjoyable...an entertaining guide to the food you should try on a trip to the area

Booth's descriptions of food made my mouth water. This book is a must for all lovers of Japanese cuisine

The reader will learn much about one of the great Cuisines of the world

He wins you over with his sheer enthusiasm, wide reading and research and he's able to render difficult food processes into digestible bites

An insightful and humorous journey into a labyrinth of the finest, most delectable and sometimes freakiest food imaginable

‘His account of their “foodie family road trip” establishes Booth as the next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
Japan is the pre-eminent food nation on earth. The creativity of the Japanese, their dedication and ingenuity, not to mention courage in the face of dishes such as cod sperm and octopus ice cream, is only now beginning to be fully appreciated in the sushi-saturated West, as are the remarkable health benefits of the traditional Japanese diet. 
 
Food and travel writer Michael Booth sets of to take the culinary pulse of contemporary Japan and he and his young family travel the length of the country - from bear-infested, beer-loving Hokkaido to snake-infested, seaweed-loving Okinawa. 
 
What do the Japanese know about food? Perhaps more than anyone else on earth, judging by this fascinating and funny journey through an extraordinary food-obsessed country. 
 
Winner of the Guild of Food Writers Kate Whiteman Award for the best book on food and travel.

Tales of Triumph and Disaster in a French Kitchen

Doing without Delia

An amateur English cook moves to Paris and enrols at France's - and the world's - most famous cookery school - with hilarious consequences. 
 
'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times

The most enjoyable book about food I've read since Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential

An entertaining romp through Parisian kitchen life

Fast-paced, laugh-a-page...[with] more tips than a library of Gordon Ramsay books

Booth's prose is as easily digestible as you hope his food is: he's as sharp as a Michelin chef's collection of knives ... A flavoursome offering

Gloriously funny...engaging, insightful, informative and even touching... style that's irresistible

He's funny and perceptive, but best of all, Booth writes like a dream

A light read, this is an entertaining soufflé of a book, perfect holiday fodder for Francophile foodies

Humorously chronicled...If you're a gourmand you'll love this book. Packed full of instructions on how to re-create French cuisine at home, it makes for brilliant reading and even better kitchen results. It's the perfect fix to the slap-it-all-in-the-pan-and-lick-your-fingers Nigella style of cooking

'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
Michael Booth has had his fill of celebrity chefs and their 'on the table in five minutes' recipes. He wants to learn how to cook properly, so he burns his cookery books and, together with his young family, heads for a new life in Paris - reasoning that, if anyone can be trusted to make food complicated, it's the French. 
 
Embarking on the ultimate foodie's fantasy, he enrols at the world's most famous cooking school, Le Cordon Bleu, where wise and battle-scarred French chefs commence their transformation of him into a professional cook. 
 
Along the way Booth shares the insider tips and secret techniques of classical cuisine. His odyssey takes him from trauma to triumph, ending in the white-hot heat of the Michelin-starred kitchen of the greatest chef in France.

To the Orient With Hans Christian Andersen

Just As Well I'm Leaving

'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
A funny, moving travelogue following in the footsteps of Hans Christian Andersen.

Beautifully written and highly entertaining...pacey, conversational and unpredictable... Like an earthier Bill Bryson and, whisper it, funnier

Hilarious and deliciously cruel about Denmark... A surprising, passionate enquiry into this most enigmatic of men...should not be missed

Booth's control of his material shines through. The mix of right-on comedic travelogue and expert disquisition is engaging... Highly recommended

A clever book... Manages to function as both coherent biography and literary criticism... An astute, erudite book

A romp in the pleasing company of master and apostle...as examples of the 'following in the footsteps' genre go, this one is livelier, wittier, better informed and more diligent than average

Booth is a pithy raconteur and has written a highly entertaining book

'The next Bill Bryson.’ New York Times 
 
Having been dragged against his will to live in Denmark, Michael Booth discovered one of the great secrets of travel literature - Andersen's A Poet's Bazaar - a fascinating travelogue through a Europe on the cusp of revolution, by an author who invented children's literature. He discovered, too, his chance to escape Denmark. 
 
In 1840 Andersen was also desperate to flee, writing as he sailed: 'It is just as well I am leaving, my soul is unwell!' In Germany he was enraptured both by steam travel and the fiery Franz Liszt. In sultry Naples this latent bisexual wrestled with his erotic demons before travelling to Athens (little more than a village), seeing the dervishes dance in Istanbul, and sailing home up the Danube. Booth follows him every step of the way, reflecting on Andersen's life, work and pathological self-obsession, encountering his own cast of characters, from an accommodating Hamburg prostitute to a bemused Danish Ambassador to the first ever female dervish, who whisks him off to meet her guru.

Michael Booth

In this enjoyable and information-packed travelogue…[Booth] is a terrific observer… his chatty style disarms his subjects and entertains the reader. It is a hard act to pull off when dealing with tragedy. His deft, accurate summaries of the contentious history in each place work well.

Three Tigers, One Mountain is a fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts, with a chummy, affable tone and profound interest in its subject… useful, fact-packed and readable.

In this entertaining travel book…[Booth] becomes our genial host on a tour of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China… It’s a credit to Booth’s skill as a writer that he keeps us both entertained and informed in every chapter.

[Booth is] an engaging travel companion. Not only is he serious about his reportage, but he is also a fine descriptive writer… the journey [in Three Tigers, One Mountain] is well worth the ticket.

Four years after Booth exploded the myth of the Scandi utopia, he enhances his reputation for getting to the truth of societal attitudes with this exploration of why, despite sharing much, the giants of East Asia - China, Japan and Korea - just don't get on.

History and politics are at the heart of Three Tigers, One Mountain, with Michael Booth cannily navigating the endless enmity between China, Korea and Japan.

A Journey through the Bitter History and Current Conflicts of China, Korea and Japan

'The next Bill Bryson' New York Times 
 
Two tigers cannot share the same mountain - Chinese proverb 
 
Despite geographical proximity, cultural similarities, and shared status as highly powerful nations, China, Korea and Japan love to hate each other. Why? 
 
In search of an answer, Michael Booth journeys across East Asia to explore the mutual animosity that frequently threatens to draw the world into all-out war. From misjudged cake decorations to electoral meddling, contradictory origin myths to territorial disputes, this deeply researched and hugely entertaining book shows that no conflict is too small to keep the fires of neighbourly hostility burning. 
 
'A fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts...useful, fact-packed and readable' Spectator

Michael Booth

Praise for Three Tigers, One Mountain

In this enjoyable and information-packed travelogue…[Booth] is a terrific observer… his chatty style disarms his subjects and entertains the reader. It is a hard act to pull off when deal ...

Three Tigers, One Mountain is a fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts, with a chummy, affable tone and profound interest in its subject… useful, fact-packed and readable.

In this entertaining travel book…[Booth] becomes our genial host on a tour of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China… It’s a credit to Booth’s skill as a writer that he keeps us both entertained and ...

In this enjoyable and information-packed travelogue…[Booth] is a terrific observer… his chatty style disarms his subjects and entertains the reader. It is a hard act to pull off when deal ...

Three Tigers, One Mountain is a fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts, with a chummy, affable tone and profound interest in its subject… useful, fact-packed and readable.

In this entertaining travel book…[Booth] becomes our genial host on a tour of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China… It’s a credit to Booth’s skill as a writer that he keeps us both entertained and ...

In this enjoyable and information-packed travelogue…[Booth] is a terrific observer… his chatty style disarms his subjects and entertains the reader. It is a hard act to pull off when deal ...

Three Tigers, One Mountain is a fine summary of East Asian cultures and conflicts, with a chummy, affable tone and profound interest in its subject… useful, fact-packed and readable.

In this entertaining travel book…[Booth] becomes our genial host on a tour of Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and China… It’s a credit to Booth’s skill as a writer that he keeps us both entertained and ...

Books by Michael Booth

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