Cheesemonger, by Gordon Edgar
Cheesemonger: A Life on the Wedge by Rainbow Grocery's cheesemonger Gordon Edgar was officially unleashed on the world this past weekend at the Sonoma Valley Cheese Conference. What a gift. If you ever doubted that the personal was political or that it was possible to be irreverent and take food seriously at the same time, you must check out Edgar's take on cheese and work and life and everything in Cheesemonger.
He bluffed his way into a job in the cheese department at Rainbow Grocery - San Francisco's biggest independent grocery store and the country's largest retail worker co-op - but somehow makes it seem inevitable after all. He used his political punk activist passions as a springboard into the cheese world and embraced it wholeheartedly. You will certainly learn something about cheese from Cheesemonger, but what's really fascinating is how Edgar manages to weave the cheesy bits in with his insights on cooperatives, politics and Americans' relationship to food. It's a very personal memoir and, with chapter titles like 'Cheese Culture, Punk Culture and Reagan Cheese', you can bet a completely unexpected and refreshing book.
Gordon Edgar will be reading from his book April 3rd, 3 p.m., at Omnivore Books in San Francisco.
Omnivore Books on Food
3885a Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
415.282.4712
omnivorebooks.com
And, if you're inspired by his stories about co-op commerce and haven't tried it yet...
Rainbow Grocery
3885a Cesar Chavez Street
San Francisco, CA 94131
415.282.4712
www.rainbow.coop
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