Win a copy of a New York Times Notable Book of The Year, Memorial by Bryan Washington today! This is a beautiful and poignant novel you’re going to enjoy. 5 winners will be selected!
For all you readers! We’ve partnered with Riverhead Books to give away Bryan Washington’s debut novel Memorial to 5 lucky JOC winners this holiday. The highly anticipated follow-up to Washington’s critically acclaimed book of short stories Lot, Memorial follows two men living in Houston — Mike is a Japanese-American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson’s a Black daycare teacher, and they aren’t sure if their relationship has run its course.
While the novel is neither a cookbook nor even a food book, cooking is a language of love throughout the story — love for a parent, love from a parent, love of a partner, and even lack of love.
Memorial is an exciting read, and we know you’re going to enjoy it. Enter to win a copy now!
About Memorial by Bryan Washington
Memorial is a funny and profound story about big first loves, family in all its forms, becoming who you’re supposed to be, the limits of love, and how sharing food can say so much without us saying anything at all.
The novel is packed with different types of dishes and cuisines, and each serves as vital motifs for relationships, people, and places. Whether it be discarded crinkled hamburger wrappers; sultry Sriracha sprinkled omelettes; uncomfortable Tex-Mex restaurants or elaborate feasts of okonomiyaki, kitsune udon, curry, rice and more; the story is driven by meals and cooking in both Houston and Osaka.
Named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, TIME, O, the Oprah Magazine, Esquire, Harper’s Bazaar, Good Housekeeping, and Real Simple. “A masterpiece.” —NPR
“No other novel this year captures so gracefully the full palette of America.” —The Washington Post
A funny and profound story about family in all its strange forms, joyful and hard-won vulnerability, becoming who you’re supposed to be, and the limits of love.
About Bryan Washington
Bryan Washington is a National Book Award 5 Under 35 honoree, and winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize and the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. His first book, the story collection Lot, was a finalist for the NBCC’s John Leonard Prize, the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize, the Aspen Words Literary Prize, and the New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award.
Enter to Win A Copy of Memorial by Bryan Washington
GIVEAWAY RULES:
Please Note: Your email for the comment entry has to match with your email address in my Email Newsletter Subscription mailing list.
This giveaway contest closes on Tuesday, December 22, at 12 p.m. PST and is open to US residents only.
Five (5) winners will be selected via Pick Giveaway Winner Plugin and contacted via email, so please include a valid email address in the email address entry box (please double check your spelling!).
The winners are required to respond within 36 hours to claim the prize.
HOW TO ENTER:
The more tickets/comments left on this blog post will increase your odds of winning. Good luck!
Ticket 1 (Required): Follow @riverheadbooks on Instagram and leave a separate comment below on this post.
Ticket 2 (Required): Subscribe to Just One Cookbook Email Newsletter if you haven’t and leave a comment below on this post.
Ticket 3 (Optional): Follow JOC Instagram and then leave a separate comment below on this post.
Ticket 4 (Optional): Follow JOC Facebook and then leave a separate comment below on this post.
Ticket 5 (Optional): Like JOC Pinterest and leave a separate comment below on this post.
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The winners are…
- Alan K Murakami
- Vanessa Allison
- Jolene Chang
- SR
- Michelle Xie
Congratulations! We will contact you shortly.
“There’s probably a joke somewhere about a black American flying halfway around the world for fried chicken. But what’s more interesting than a simplistic reductionism is the question of how fried chicken brings so many people together: I should probably preface this with the fact that I’ve spent my whole life eating the dish, across backyards in Orlando, and barstools in New Orleans, and patios in Houston and fuck-knows-how-many kitchens. “
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“But the dish begs for those portions—each piece’s flavor is significant. Maybe a hint of ginger, maybe a hint of sake, and it’s all just faint enough to leave you reaching for more. You could probably eat karaage all day, most days, until you figured enough was enough; then, you could probably eat some more.”
“Flaky and fleshy, and sliced just large enough for chopsticks, it’s loads lighter on your stomach than the fried chicken we typically associate with the States: Putting away five or six pieces of karaage feels a little like a wing or two in the American South.”
“There’s octopus and pork, or squid and perch, or any other animal from land or sea. But when most folks mention the dish, they’re probably talking about chicken—tori no karaage. “
“But what really got me, then and now, was the karaage: fried deeply; chewed gently; bite-sized; in helpings of five and six pieces at a time. Karaage itself refers to a manner of cooking: the meal is marinated, seasoned, and double-fried in a light coating. Your result is highly crispy and packed with flavor. “
“The first time around, I’d eaten my way through an entire checking account: in packed izakayas stuffed sideways across Shibuya, and train station ramen stalls dishing out tsukemen. You had the gyoza stands in Yoyogi Park, with dough as tender as fish-meat, and the hole-in-the-walls hawking katsudon, and curry diners up and down Shinjuku. I gorged on nikujaga in open stalls under the rain—with their beef and potatoes still simmering in my bowl—between three, four, and five variations of tamago-kake gohan, the eggs still runny over rice, moistening every grain.”
“About an hour after unpacking in Shimokitazawa, I started asking around for karaage. Couldn’t even wait a day. I’d flown to Tokyo for the second time in two years for a number of reasons—but the biggest one was food. “
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