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Description of the Book
The stunning and long-awaited memoir from the beloved founder of the James Beard Award-winning website Leite’s Culinaria—a candid, courageous, and at times laugh-out-loud funny story of family, food, mental illness, and sexual identity.
Born into a family of Azorean immigrants, David Leite grew up in the 1960s in a devoutly Catholic, blue-collar, food-crazed Portuguese home in Fall River, Massachusetts. A clever and determined dreamer with a vivid imagination and a flair for the dramatic, “Banana” as his mother endearingly called him, yearned to live in a middle-class house with a swinging kitchen door just like the ones on television, and fell in love with everything French, thanks to his Portuguese and French-Canadian godmother. But David also struggled with the emotional devastation of manic depression. Until he was diagnosed in his mid-thirties, David found relief from his wild mood swings in learning about food, watching Julia Child, and cooking for others.
Notes on a Banana is his heartfelt, unflinchingly honest, yet tender memoir of growing up, accepting himself, and turning his love of food into an award-winning career. Reminiscing about the people and events that shaped him, David looks back at the highs and lows of his life: from his rejection of being gay and his attempt to “turn straight” through Aesthetic Realism, a cult in downtown Manhattan, to becoming a writer, cookbook author, and web publisher, to his twenty-four-year relationship with Alan, known to millions of David’s readers as “The One,” which began with (what else?) food. Throughout the journey, David returns to his stoves and tables, and those of his family, as a way of grounding himself.
A blend of Kay Redfield Jamison’s An Unquiet Mind, the food memoirs by Ruth Reichl, Anthony Bourdain, and Gabrielle Hamilton, and the character-rich storytelling of Augusten Burroughs, David Sedaris, and Jenny Lawson, Notes on a Banana is a feast that dazzles, delights, and, ultimately, heals.
Media Inquiries
Sharyn Rosenblum
Dey Street Books
Sharyn.Rosenblum [at] harpercollins [dot] com
I’m straight. I’m not bipolar. I’ve been married 52 years. I have a son of 40 years. Yet, I’m wending my way through your vibrantly alive existence with admiration and wonder. In Bananas, you’re working at Windows of the World. But it isn’t NYC or Windows or anything physical that holds my attention. It’s your words, your wit, the angle from which you observe the cosmos that have captivated me. Any advice about how I can keep Bananas from ending?
Yes, Wayne! Get another 99,999 other people to buy it and I’ll write a sequel! But seriously, thank you for the kind words.
David,
I just finished Notes on a Banana and had to reach out to you. This book made me laugh out loud and brought many a tear to my eyes. Bravo! I, like you am gay and bipolar. I just finished my memoir. We also have many things in common, we both lived in Rochester NY for a period of time and traveled along Monroe Ave many an evening. I too was misdiagnosed for 20+ years. I am using your memoir as part of my book proposal’s competing works section as I look for an agent and a publisher. I only hope that my book will bring people to tears of laughter like yours did for me. I would love to hear back from you and for you to read my book once published. All my best, Robert Graves, Buffalo NY
Robert, thank you for your kind words. And, wow, there are a lot of similarities! I wish you the very best with your book proposal. I hope it finds the perfect home.
I ACCIDENTALLY came across your hummingbird feeder recipe on my listed Google articles. A place I never view, let alone open a link. I IMMEDIATELY fell in love with your voice and started to read everything, shared links with my husband who is the chef in our home, and bookmarked your page. Then I saw “shop” and I thought “huh, a cookbook?” I then read about your struggle with depression. I have been diagnosed with bipolar several decades ago. I have now determined I need to be your neighbor, your female bestie, and I must stalk (your writings) till I know everything about you. THANK YOU for being you, sharing your culinary knowledge, and making it funny!
Tina, welcome to LC! I’m delighted you enjoyed reading some of my writing. You might enjoy Notes on a Banana. A lot of tears and laughter in there.