The Picnic

November 15, 2013

This well-written and well-researched work traces the origins and evolution of the concept of packing a basket of food for a leisurely outdoor meal. Levy (English, emeritus, Pace Univ.) tracks the beginning of the picnic to the 1500s, before the activity even had a name, to modern customs. Interestingly, the French pique-nique was originally an indoor meal that food writers and artists disliked and that others joked about. Levy explains that the real rise of the picnic coincided with the growth of an urban lifestyle and modern cities. He also skillfully describes the similarities and differences among classic picnic foods from a variety of locales. Of note is the chapter on the picnic in art, literature, and popular media, which comprises more than half of the text. While this book is fairly academic, it's written in an accessible style, and there's plenty of thought-provoking material that lay readers will enjoy. VERDICT This thorough, scholarly volume will appeal to foodies, historians, literature and art buffs, and outdoor enthusiasts.--Lisa Ennis, Univ. of Alabama at Birmingham

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