The Tummy Trilogy : American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; Third Helpings

In the 1970s, Calvin Trillin informed America that its most glorious food was not to be found at the pretentious restaurants he referred to generically as La Maison de la Casa House, Continental Cuisine. With three hilarious books over the next two decades—American Fried; Alice, Let's Eat; and Third Helpings—he established himself as, in Craig Claiborne's phrase, "the Walt Whitman of American eats." Trillin's three comic masterpieces are now available in what Trillin calls The Tummy Trilogy.

“Trillin is our funniest food writer. He writes with charm, freedom, and a rare respect for language.” —Seymour Britchkey, New Yorker

“As Proust took the simple madeleine and with genius made it a glory of a book, so Trillin takes the hamburger, takes the chili dog, takes the pizza, and does as much, or more.” —Henry Mitchell, The Washington Post Book World

“Marvelously funny and horrifyingly mouth-watering.” —Rolling Stone