Consuming the American dream : essays celebrating the intersection of food, literature, and our national myth / edited by Robert C. Hauhart and Jeff Birkenstein

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hauhart, Robert C., 1950- editor.

Birkenstein, Jeff, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Food in literature.

American literature--20th century--History and criticism.

American literature.

American literature--21st century--History and criticism.

American Dream in literature.

Genre:

Literary criticism.

Essays.

Physical Description:

1 online resource

Edition:

First edition

Other Title:

Essays celebrating the intersection of food, literature, and our national myth

Place of Publication:

Knoxville : University of Tennessee Press, [2026]

Summary:

"This volume addresses the unique relationship between the American dream and the manifold ways in which food and food-related topics support and expand upon elements that constitute the American dream. The contributors discuss instances in which Americans of one heritage or another attempt to find freedom and fashion a life for themselves and a uniquely American identity. Through various forms of literature - novels, short stories, cookbooks, and memoirs - these essays explore the American Dream through a myriad of cultures, food, and their intertwined meanings"-- Provided by publisher

Contents:

Food and the American dream in four celebrated American novels / Robert C. Hauhart and Anahi Arenas

Eating through the pages : food and its diverse manifestations in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby / Lucky Issar

Grilling manhood : food, masculinity, and the American dream / David Magill

An exploration of bizarre foods and the representation of the American dream and American identity through food / Erin Dicesare

From dishtowels to riches : chasing the American dream in restaurant kitchens / Philine Schiller

Devouring and reconstructing the American dream in Bich Minh Nguyen’s Stealing Buddha’s Dinner / Stephanie Couey

“In a corn-field number every grain” : corn and Anne Bradstreet’s American dream / Ann Beebe

On the so-called “hummus wars” : Palestinian food and the making of an identity / Benay Blend

The underbelly of the American dream : feeding, eating, and starving for love in Toni Morrison’s Beloved / Cristovão Nwachukwu

I dream of fried chicken : Black women, Black foodways, and the American dream / Khari Chanel Johnson

Just add eggs : mixing up the American dream / Kelly E. Spivey

Soul food in a shoebox : how culinary resistance helped Black Americans achieve the American dream of travel / Telia Mary U. Williams

The American alimentary : Black eating cultures and personhood in Toni Morrison’s Paradise / Diana Farin Molina

Loving my soul : reconciling African American foodways with the American dream / Rod K. Taylor

Consuming the American immigrant dream in Michael Gold’s Jews Without Money / Jeff Birkenstein

Eating towards the American dream : consumption, class, and (un)fulfilment in Hanya Yanagihara’s A Little Life / Natalie Wall

“Never an American” : cathartic food practices against the inhospitable in Mohsin Hamid’s The Reluctant Fundamentalist / Maria Mothes

The dreams of a nation in culinary readings of short stories / Gigy J. Alex

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index

Online resource; title from PDF title page (JSTOR, viewed June 18, 2026)

Other Format:

Print version: Consuming the American dream.

ISBN:

9798895273180

9798895273210

OCLC:

1592275877

Access Restriction:

Restricted for use by site license