Cooking for Gracie: The Making of a Parent from Scratch

A touching, insightful and uplifting memoir, complete with more than 40 recipes, that recounts a year in the life of a new parent learning to cook for three. Keith Dixon’s passion was cooking. For years, he sustained himself through difficult days by dreaming about the lavish recipes he was going to attempt when he got home—Thai curries, Indian raitas, Sichuan noodles. All that changed when his daughter, Gracie, was born five weeks early, at just four pounds. Keith and his wife, Jessica, adapted to life with a newborn as all parents do: walking around in a sleep deprived haze, trying to bond with Gracie and meet the needs of this new person in their lives—all while dealing with the overwhelming fear that they were going to catastrophically fail in their new roles. After Gracie became a part of their family, Keith no longer had time to cook the way he once knew; when he did find time to make something, he learned the hard way that his daughter woke easily to the simplest kitchen noise, and soon realized that if he wanted his family to eat well, he was going to have to learn to cook all over again. Based on three popular articles in the New York Times, Cooking for Gracie is a memoir of the first year of Gracie’s life, as Keith learns to cook for three—discovering what it means to be a father while still holding on to what made him who he was before his daughter came along. Keith and Jessica’s hilarious and poignant struggles to adjust to life with a newborn will resonate with new parents; foodies’ mouths will water over the tempting meals Keith creates; amateur cooks will laugh at his missteps in the kitchen—and it’s just impossible not to fall in love with the adorable Gracie. A critically acclaimed novelist, Keith Dixon reflects on food, parenting, and cooking with both humor and reverence, and shares the delicious, accessible parent- and family-friendly recipes he discovered along the way. Beautifully written and compulsively readable, Cooking for Gracie is an irresistible and unforgettable story, for foodies and parents alike, of a family of three learning to find their way together KEITH DIXON has been on the staff of the New York Times for seventeen years. He is also the author of two novels: The Art of Losing—which received starred reviews in both Kirkus and Booklist and was named “Editor’s Choice” by the Philadelphia Inquirer—and Ghostfires, named one of the five best first novels of 2004 by Poets &amp; Writers magazine.

Biographies & Memoirs

Dixon, Keith

Professionals & Academics

Crown

For years, Keith Dixon sustained himself through rough days by dreaming about lavish recipes he’d attempt when he got home—Thai curries, Indian raitas, Sichuan noodles. All that changed when his daughter, Gracie, was born. Keith and his wife adapted to life with a newborn as all parents do: walking around in a sleep-deprived haze, trying to bond with Gracie and meet her needs—all while fearing they would catastrophically fail in their new roles. Keith no longer had time to cook the way he once knew; he soon realized that if he wanted his family to eat well, he would have to learn to cook all over again. Based on three popular New York Times articles and full of delicious, family-friendly recipes, Cooking for Gracie is a memoir of Gracie’s first year—as Keith discovers what it means to be a father, while holding on to what made him who he was before his daughter came along. It’s an irresistible and unforgettable story, for foodies and parents alike, of a family of three finding their way together.

One man believes Linda Bascomb was murdered. A second believes she took her own life. The first is her husband, Warren, an aging surgeon who has lost his medical license because of his morphine addiction. The second is her son, Ben, a husband and father who struggles every day to remain sober and avoid bankruptcy. Warren has entered into an arrangement with his son that has since kept Ben financially afloat and Warren supplied with morphine. Ben's wife, Emma, desperately seeks to distance her husband from Warren before their relationship destroys her family. Opposing her efforts is Victor Javier, the mastermind of the arrangement, an immigrant whose cruelty masks a hope for his mother's deliverance. Though Linda Bascomb was once the true connection between Warren and Ben, her memory becomes the specter that polarizes them. As the pain of unresolved history accumulates, their embittered agreement collapses, and in the process destroys one life, changes another forever, and drives both from the emotional and chemical shelters in which they hide. In the inevitable reckoning, Ben and Warren are forced to acknowledge the power the dead exert on the living, the elusive nature of redemption, and the ways the things we lose define us. Sometimes shocking, always incisive, Keith Dixon's brilliant debut novel is a harsh but compassionate portrayal of love and need. Set on the emotionally bleak outskirts of New York City, Ghostfires, with stylistic power and psychological precision, lays bare a corrupt American dream-and a family with scores to settle.

Ghostfires: A Novel

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

St.Martin's Press

A brilliant debut novel about the power the dead exert on the living, the elusive nature of redemption, and the terrible accuracy with which we construct our own punishments

St. Martin's: Griffin

Michael Jacobs, a talented but obscure New York City filmmaker, has just watched his third film flop at the box office. With few options available, Jacobs is tempted by the prospect of easy cash when Sebby Laslo, his producer, makes a one-time offer. With the help of a corrupt jockey, Laslo plans to fix a horse race, but his gambling debts have left him untouchable and he needs someone he can trust to be the public face of the operation. Though Laslo is known for taking risks, Jacobs, hoping to repay an old favor to his friend, agrees to help.
Jacobs soon meets two Atlantic City bookmakers: Nikos Popolosikc, a quietly menacing restaurateur known for breaking hands; and Lad Keegan, a soft-spoken bar owner whose superstitions are bad for his clients' health. When Laslo's plan fails, Jacobs, heavily in debt, is ensnared by a violent underworld he neither knows nor understands. In the inevitable reckoning, Jacobs and Laslo become hunted men―and only one of them will escape.
Keith Dixon's second novel is a morality tale of stunning resonance and breathtaking symmetry. Hard-boiled yet deeply contemplative, allegorical yet starkly realistic, The Art of Losing divines the corrosive nature of greed, the terrible power of recklessness, and the consequences that erupt when those forces meet.

The Art of Losing: A Novel

Unashamedly polemical, this reissue of Freedom & Equality, first published in 1986, presents a strong and persuasively argued case for democratic socialism. In contrast to many recent books justifying conservatism and varieties of Marxism, Keith Dixon defends the two great principles underpinning democratic socialism – freedom and equality. He aims both to restore the idea of freedom to its proper place in the political vocabulary of the left and to defend a stark version of freedom as absence of constraint. Only this version of freedom, he argues, is consistent with the proper defence of civil liberties. Dixon also defends radical egalitarianism from its critics, who either repudiate its full force or reject it out of hand. He believes that freedom and equality are potentially realizable socialist goals, that democratic socialism is not necessarily linked with fraternalism, and – above all – that it should be based upon a firm and consistent conception of individuality.

Freedom and Equality (Routledge Revivals): The Moral Basis of Democratic Socialism

Politics & Social Sciences

Sociology

Routledge

Unashamedly polemical, this reissue of Freedom & Equality, first published in 1986, presents a strong and persuasively argued case for democratic socialism. In contrast to many recent books justifying conservatism and varieties of Marxism, Keith Dixon defends the two great principles underpinning democratic socialism 'freedom and equality. He aims both to restore the idea of freedom to its proper place in the political vocabulary of the left and to defend a stark version of freedom as absence of constraint. Only this version of freedom, he argues, is consistent with the proper defence of civil liberties. Dixon also defends radical egalitarianism from its critics, who either repudiate its full force or reject it out of hand. He believes that freedom and equality are potentially realizable socialist goals, that democratic socialism is not necessarily linked with fraternalism, and 'above all' that it should be based upon a firm and consistent conception of individuality.

Philosophy

First published in 1980, this book presents a study of knowledge and the patterns of social and scientific thought. Keith Dixon argues that traditional and contemporary formulations of the sociology of knowledge involve a series of fallacies, and the claim to reduce knowledge to ideology devalues the role of reasoned inquiry. Chapters discuss such areas as the theories of Marx and Mannheim, the sociology of science and of religious belief. With a detailed conclusion analysing the foundations and limits of the sociology of knowledge, this reissue will provide an interesting and useful analysis for students of Sociology.

The Sociology of Belief (Routledge Revivals): Fallacy and Foundation

First published in 1973, this book is concerned with the question of whether Sociology is, or ought to be, a theoretical science. Keith Dixon argues that the pretence to the theoretical is a hindrance to the development of the field of Sociology, which devalues significant empirical work by giving status to research findings only in so far as they relate to often arbitrary theoretical concerns. Dixon addresses the historical dimension in the explanation of human nature and rational action. This reissue will be of particular value to students and academics with an interest in the empirical and theoretical methodology applied to Sociological research.

Sociological Theory (Routledge Revivals): Pretence and Possibility

Reference

In the study of the sociology of knowledge and of the patterns of social and scientific thought. Keith Dixon contends that traditional and contemporary formulations of the sociology of knowledge involve a series of fallacies. They range , in his view, from epistemological special pleading to a self-defeating cognitive relativism. He argues that a distinction which marks off knowledge from rationalization, ideology, persuasive belief and error is crucial in giving a proper account of why people come to hold the idea they do within their social and historical milieus. He points out that, although people are clearly influenced by social forces independent of their will and are frequently blinded by self-interest, self-deceit and ignorance, they often defend their beliefs with passion, dedication, skill and respect for objective evidence. In these circumstances, therefore, it is inappropriate to assume in advance that what they conceive of as good reasons for belief are dictated by ideology alone. Whether in the sciences, in law, in politics, or in morality, independently reasoned judgment has its place. Keith Dixon emphasizes that the sociology of knowledge and belief needs to give due weight not only to the social and historical location of thought, but to the independently operative logic of various human discourses. He concludes that the claim, whether implicit of explicit, to reduce knowledge to ideology, rationalization or false consciousness parodies intellectual activity and seriously devalues the role of reasoned inquiry.

The sociology of belief: Fallacy and foundation (Monographs in social theory)

Routledge& Kegan Paul

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dixon, Keith. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Dixon, Keith

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Dixon, Keith. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Cooking for Gracie: The Making of a Parent from Scratch

Cooking for Gracie: The Making of a Parent from Scratch

Ghostfires: A Novel

Ghostfires: A Novel

The Art of Losing: A Novel

Freedom and Equality (Routledge Revivals): The Moral Basis of Democratic Socialism

Freedom and Equality (Routledge Revivals): The Moral Basis of Democratic Socialism

The Sociology of Belief (Routledge Revivals): Fallacy and Foundation

Sociological Theory (Routledge Revivals): Pretence and Possibility

The sociology of belief: Fallacy and foundation (Monographs in social theory)