One More Croissant for the Road

 

One More Croissant for the Road by Felicity Cloake (2020 Mudlark paperback 344pp)

 

6 or so weeks ago as I was recovering from Covid, I read and very much enjoyed Felicity Cloake’s latest book “Red Sauce Brown Sauce” now I’ve gone back and read the first book she wrote combining her passions for food and cycling, “One More Croissant for the Road”

After years of only brief holidays on the continent, food-writer Cloake decides to make a concerted effort to see and taste more of France and to do so she decides to tour the country on a bicycle named Eddy.

Starting in Cherbourg she travels anti-clockwise, passing through large cities and tiny towns on her way to the finish-line in Paris two months later. In each center she samples the local dishes from the famous to infamous. There’s a lot of folklore about the origin of some well-known meals and we discover most of this is bogus or disputed. The book somehow manages to both confirm and confound stereotypes about the French – transport timetables can’t be trusted, everyone’s on strike, individuals can be vulgar and rude but at the same time the people can be incredibly kind and supportive of her journey.

Cloake’s journey is far from easy – traffic can be nasty and the inclines take a toll on both her body and her bicycle. She falls over more times than I can remember and generally suffers for her cause. For some sections of the trip, she’s joined by friends and or family who both help and hinder her progress.

Compared to her later book the writing is a little more staid and less irreverent. The humour is still there but perhaps deployed less often. I still enjoyed the chatty, fun tone of the narrative however.

In each chapter there are “Pause-Café” breakout boxes where she gives a history or explanation of a particular aspect of French culture, food or history. Also, in each chapter there are recipes so the braver readers can attempt to recreate some of the meals she has partaken of on her journey. At the end of each leg of the tour she rates the local Croissants out of 10 and recounts both the highs and lows.

I very much enjoyed this book too, perhaps not quite as good as the later volume but still a must read if you enjoy your food and dream of travel.

Two Heads

 

Two Heads by Uta Frith, Chris Frith & Alex Frith (2022 Bloomsbury paperback 345pp)

 

Two Heads is a lively, engaging and ultimately satisfying graphic novel (although being non-fiction I’m not sure it fits the strict definition) about the lives and work of husband-and-wife neuroscientists Uta and Chris Frith.

Written largely by their son Alex Frith, this book follows three main story threads – The life history of the Friths themselves, how they perform their research and the science itself.

I was initially disappointed by Daniel Locke’s artwork, the stylised people he draws look a little too simplistic and rushed by my taste. However, he begins to shine when illustrating complex theories, experiments and anatomy.

We’re treated to a fun history of the couple’s relationship and the various fields of research they pursued before meeting and becoming a double act studying how the brain/mind behaves in assorted situations.

There are frequent breaks from the main narrative to illustrate key matters of psychology, biology and anatomy. The book is divided into chapters each of which describe a new concept related to the Firth’s discoveries and/or their current research.

For a comic-style book there’s a lot of information contained in its pages, with many of the ideas being new to me at least. Also, there’s a somewhat rare look at how science is done in the real world with things like the current ‘reproducibility crisis’ taking centre stage. It’s emphasized that science is hard and not all well-thought-out theories can survive a simple well-run experiment.

Many unanswered questions remain – matters of nature or nurture abound when it comes to the developing brain. Why do we seem to be born hardwired for some things yet have to learn other simple social skills the hard way? Do we truly learn anything deeply or simply imitate those around us? Are our minds primed for working with other minds and how did this develop? The Friths continue investigating these issues and others well into their retirement.

The book throws a lot of ideas at you and can get quite ‘busy’. Possibly its best read a chapter at a time with a break in between to consider what you’ve read. I enjoyed diving into the Friths’ life and the mysteries of the human brain and will highly recommend it to any other enquiring mind.