Life, on the Line; A Chef's Story of Chasing Greatness, Facing Death, and Redefining the Way We Eat
New York: Gotham Books, 2011. First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. [x], 390 pages. Illustrations (some in color). Inscription appears to be signed by both authors (different ink) on the title page. Clearly signed by Grant. Additional ink notation on title page not from author. DJ has minor edge wear and flap creases. By 2007, chef Grant Achatz had already achieved the kind of success that most chefs only dream of. He had been named one of the best new chefs in America by Food & Wine in 2002, and received the James Beard Foundation Rising Star Chef of the Year Award in 2003. In 2005 he and Nick Kokonas opened the conceptually radical restaurant Alinea, which was named Best Restaurant in America by Gourmet magazine. Then, positioned firmly in the world's culinary spotlight, Achatz was diagnosed with stage IV squamous cell carcinoma--tongue cancer. Five months later, Grant was declared cancer-free, and just a few months following, he received the James Beard Foundation Outstanding Chef in America Award. This book tells the story of a culinary trailblazer's love affair with cooking, but it is also a book about survival, about nurturing creativity, and about profound friendship. This is not a cancer story in which the disease makes the guy realize he needs to stop focusing on his work and finally spend time with his two young sons, see his parents more, and reconnect with his former sweetheart. No, this is the cancer story that makes a man realize that his screaming ambition was right the whole time, and that if he had only a month to live, he'd better get some stuff done. More