The best food novel I've read this year is Ric Royer's Niagara Falls, NY. It's much more than that. It's also a novel about coming home to a desolate place during the pandemic, regaining personal momentum, and it's a book about the history of Niagara Falls, specifically the utopian dreamers that tried to form it and failed. But the food is what sticks for me. It's the greasy junk food of depression and if you've ever shoveled fries into your mouth to blot out the world, you will understand the mastery of Royer's portrayal. Oily sausage links sit unrefrigerated in a car trunk, along with Tim Hortons doughnuts, and Arby's roast beef. The final chapter of the novel is a symphony of take-out Chinese dishes, surreally spread out (ala Beauty and the Beast) around Royer delivering him enough nourishment to finally move on. I didn't know Royer before reading his book but I want to know him. Speaking with him, I was drawn to his soft voice and considerate tone. His gentleness is present throughout our conversation, which ranges from cancellation to suicide to the beauty of post-industrial wastelands. I read this book while I was working on my own manuscript and it made me want more for myself and for the book I am writing. I've come to see this podcast as an attempt to form a supportive community amongst indie-outsider writers. No one is getting rich here so, for me, the point is to be guided and inspired by old voices and new voices in the scene. Niagara Falls, NY inspired me. It's a great book.

More info about Ric at http://www.ricroyer.com/