Season to Taste: How I Lost My Sense of Smell and Found My Way - Paperback

by Molly Birnbaum (Author)

"A rich, engrossing, and deeply intelligent story....This is a book I won't soon forget."

--Molly Wizenberg, bestselling author of A Homemade Life

"Fresh, smart, and consistently surprising. If this beautifully written book were a smell, it would be a crisp green apple."

--Claire Dederer, bestselling author of Poser

Season to Taste is an aspiring chef's moving account of finding her way--in the kitchen and beyond--after a tragic accident destroys her sense of smell. Molly Birnbaum's remarkable story--written with the good cheer and great charm of popular food writers Laurie Colwin and Ruth Reichl--is destined to stand alongside Julie Powell's Julie and Julia as a classic tale of a cooking life. Season to Taste is sad, funny, joyous, and inspiring.

How do you reclaim a future that depends on a sense you no longer have?

• Anosmia and Recovery: Follow Molly Birnbaum's journey after a car accident destroys her sense of smell, derailing her dream of becoming a chef and forcing her to find a new path forward.
• Food and Memory: A fascinating exploration of the science behind our senses, and the powerful, often mysterious connection between aroma, emotion, and memory.
• An Inspirational Story: Written with the charm of Laurie Colwin and the insight of Ruth Reichl, this is a story of loss, resilience, and the joy of rediscovering your passion against all odds.
• For Fans of Julie & Julia: A classic tale of a cooking life, this book is a must-read for foodies, aspiring chefs, and anyone who has ever had to start over.

Front Jacket

When a head injury obliterated twenty-two-year-old Molly Birnbaum's sense of smell, it destroyed her dream of becoming a chef. Determined to reawaken her nose, she bravely sets off on a quest to rediscover the scented world. On the way, she seeks out everyone from former poet laureate Robert Pinsky to neuroscientist Oliver Sacks. A moving personal story packed with surprising facts about the senses, Season to Taste brims with the scents of Molly's world--cinnamon, cedarwood, fresh bagels, and lavender--lost and finally found. In Season to Taste, Molly describes an ineffable, but indispensable, layer of life.

--Boston Globe

Back Jacket

When a head injury obliterated twenty-two-year-old Molly Birnbaum's sense of smell, it destroyed her dream of becoming a chef. Determined to reawaken her nose, she bravely sets off on a quest to rediscover the scented world. On the way, she seeks out everyone from former poet laureate Robert Pinsky to neuroscientist Oliver Sacks. A moving personal story packed with surprising facts about the senses, Season to Taste brims with the scents of Molly's world--cinnamon, cedarwood, fresh bagels, and lavender--lost and finally found. In Season to Taste, Molly describes an ineffable, but indispensable, layer of life.