Page 31 - ARUBA TODAY

PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 20 april 2017
A31

‘Notes on a Banana’ takes readers

on coming-of-age journey

TRACEE M. HERBAUGH Admittedly, his mother “is a for which he won the cov-
Associated Press blood hound for Jesus,” he eted James Beard Award
Much has been contrib- writes. “She can sniff out sin — twice.
uted to the cannon of first- before it happens the way Logophiles will appreciate
person literature on anxiety some people smell burnt the author’s expansive vo-
and mental health disor- toast before a seizure.” cabulary and readers will
ders. Complicating his early enjoy Leite’s ability to bring
But David Leite, a James teen years, Leite starts be- levity to a host of serious —
Beard Award-win- coming aware of the fact and sometimes sad — sub-
ning food writer and cook- that he’s gay. This isn’t jects.
book author, offers a witty something he shares with The book gives a universal
account to the trove with his parents until he’s an account of complications
his new memoir, “Notes adult and in a relationship that many lives encounter,
on a Banana: A Memoir with his long-term partner, but “Notes on a Banana”
of Food, Love, and Manic Alan, many years later. brings levity and humor to
Depression.” Leite’s dreaming and am- the hardships the author
Leite takes the reader on bition propelled him to a recounts.q
a coming-of-age journey considerable amount of
— from his childhood in the success as a writer for the This cover image released by
blue-collar city of Fall River, likes of Bon Appetite and Dey Street shows “Notes on a
Massachusetts, to a work- other glossy magazines. He Banana: A Memoir of Food,
Love and Manic Depression,”
ing professional in New eventually started his own by David Leite.
York City. website, Leite’s Culinaria, Associated Press
First, Leite grew up in a
devoutly Catholic and
food-crazed Azorean fam-
ily. “Food. It was one of
the ways we bonded,” he Sold as one full set:
writes.
In this traditional Portu-
guese family, living in what 19 square tables and 38 chairs
he calls the “armpit of Mas- Lamps, fans, sconces, curtains
sachusetts,” Leite learned 1 couch, 1 desk, 6 blue chairs
to be a big dreamer. In 6 outdoor tables with 16 outdoor chairs (grey)
fact, dreaming is what 4 rattan stools
sustained him through-
out a childhood that was Available May 2, 2017.
Available May 2, 2017.
speckled with transgres-
sions like a neighbor’s sex-
ual advances. The whole
time, Leite is struggling to
understand the range of
his emotions that seems to
run higher and lower than
what he believes to be the
normal spectrum.
As a nod to the book’s title,
his mother often referred to
her son affectionately as
“banana.” She also writes
brief messages on banan-
as for her son. One of these
messages is “Jesus loves
you!”

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