Story of Corn - Softcover

PhD, Betty Fussel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0826335926 ISBN 13: 9780826335920

Publisher: University of New Mexico Press, 2004

Synopsis

A unique compendium, drawing upon history and mythology, science and art, anecdote and image, personal narrative and epic to tell the extraordinary story of the grain that built the New World. Corn transformed the way the entire world eats, providing a hardy, inexpensive alternative to rice or wheat and cheap fodder for livestock and finding its way into everything from explosives to embalming fluid. Betty Fussell has given us a true American saga, interweaving the histories of the indigenous peoples who first cultivated the grain and the European conquerors who appropriated and propagated it around the globe. She explores corn's roles as food, fetish, crop, and commodity to those who have planted, consumed, worshiped, processed, and profited from it for seven centuries.

About this title

Review:

"Fussell has clearly done a good deal of research and a lot of traveling--peering over a precipice at Machu Picchu, descending into a restored ceremonial kiva of the Anasazi people in New Mexico, visiting the sole surviving corn palace from the Midwest boosters' glory days of a century ago."

""The Story of Corn" is a fascinating read."

." . . a fascinating read. Look for the book and dive in."

"The fascinating story of corn is told in a wonderfully engaging book by Betty Fussell, a food historian."

"Fussell tells a fascinating, thoroughly researched and comprehensive story of the centrality of corn to American culture."

." . . a lively blend of anecdotes and facts about world corn. . .a specialized food history that will appeal across many different lines, from students of anthropology and sociology to culiary enhusiasts and history buffs."

"Fussell has the admirable virtue of integrating her copious research gracefully into the vast narrative that tracks corn through the empire of the Incas to the moderm saga of ethanol fuels, deftly blending anthropology, science and history. . . The carefully selected bibliography is a fine finishing touch to this sophisticated and satisfying "tour de force.""

." . .a most wide-ranging, complex account. . The author delves into corn's long history, from it's origins as a grass to its place in the mythology and economy of aboriginal peoples, and its modern usefulness as scientists probe the limits of its molecules. . . This is a book that needed writing and one that imaginative teachers can fit into a whole range of school subjects."

From the Back Cover:

In an authoritative, wise and wholly original blend of social history, art, science and anthropology, Betty Fussell tells the story of corn in a narrative that is as uniquely hybrid as her subject. It is a story that can be told in the language of myth or industry, of sacred ritual or secular farming, but in any language it makes clear that all the civilizations of the Western Hemisphere have been built on corn. The great epic of this amazing grain and of the people who for seven centuries have planted, eaten, worshipped, processed and profited from it reaches into every corner of American life--not just its food but also its poetry, its commerce, its religion and, of course, its booze. In her beautifully balanced text as well as in hundreds of extraordinary illustrations, Fussell juxtaposes the many facets of corn's history and influence to surprising, dramatic effect. The Story of Corn changes completely one's sense of the shape and nature of the American experience. You will never again munch on a hush puppy, admire a Maya temple, read Hiawatha or simply pass a cornfield in the same way.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of New Mexico Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0826335926
• ISBN 13: 9780826335920
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 356