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Note: This is not a reprint. The original paperback or hardcover edition has been purchased directly from the authorized distributor or publisher. The book purchased has been carefully bound in genuine leather to enhance its durability and extend its shelf life. Please be assured that no content or pages have been altered or reformatted during the leather binding process. Product Information: - Title of Product: Fieldwork: A Forager's Memoir by Regan, Iliana [Royal Edition] Author: Regan, Iliana Number of Pages: 344 Publication Year: 2024 Language: English Book Synopsis: - From National Book Award-nominee Iliana Regan, a new memoir of her life and heritage as a forager, spanning her ancestry in Eastern Europe, her childhood in rural Indiana, and her new life set in the remote forests of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Fieldwork explores how Regan's complex gender identity informs her acclaimed work as a chef and her profound experience of the natural world. Not long after Iliana Regan's celebrated debut, Burn the Place , became the first food-related title in four decades to become a National Book Award nominee in 2019, her career as a Michelin star-winning chef took a sharp turn north. Long based in Chicago, she and her new wife, Anna, decided to create a culinary destination, the Milkweed Inn, located in Michigan's remote Upper Peninsula, where much of the food served to their guests would be foraged by Regan herself in the surrounding forest and nearby river. Part fresh challenge, part escape, Regan's move to the forest was also a return to her rural roots, in an effort to deepen the intimate connection to nature and the land that she'd long expressed as a chef, but experienced most intensely growing up. On her family's farm in rural Indiana, Regan was the beloved youngest in a family with three much older sisters. From a very early age, her relationship with her mother and father was shaped by her childhood identification as a boy. Her father treated her like the son he never had, and together they foraged for mushrooms, berries, herbs, and other wild food in the surrounding countryside--especially her grandfather's nearby farm, where they also fished in its pond and young Iliana explored the accumulated family treasures stored in its dusty barn. Her father would share stories of his own grandmother, Busia, who'd helped run a family inn while growing up in eastern Europe, from which she imported her own wild legends of her native forests, before settling in Gary, Indiana, and opening Jennie's Caf, a restaurant that fed generations of local steelworkers. He also shared with Iliana a steady supply of sharp knives and--as she got older--guns. Iliana's mother had family stories as well--not only of her own years marrying young, raising headstrong girls, and cooking at Jennie's, but also of her father, Wayne, who spent much of his boyhood hunting with the men of his family in the frozen reaches of rural Canada. The stories from this side of Regan's family are darker, riven with alcoholism and domestic strife too often expressed in the harm, physical and otherwise, perpetrated by men--harm men do to women and families, and harm men do to the entire landscapes they occupy. As Regan explores the ancient landscape of Michigan's boreal forest, her stories of the land, its creatures, and its dazzling profusion of plant and vegetable life are interspersed with her and Anna's efforts to make a home and a business of an inn that's suddenly, as of their first full season there in 2020, empty of guests due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She discovers where the wild blueberry bushes bear tiny fruit, where to gather wood sorrel, and where and when the land's different mushroom species appear--even as surrounding parcels of land are suddenly and violently decimated by logging crews that obliterate plant life and drive away the area's birds. Along the way she struggles not only with the threat of COVID, but also with her personal and familial legacies of addiction, violence, fear, and obsession--all while she tries to conceive a child that she and her immune-compromised wife hope to raise in their new home. With Burn the Place , Regan announced herself as a writer whose extravagant, unconventional talents matched her abilities as a lauded chef. In Fieldwork , she digs even deeper to express the meaning and beauty we seek in the landscapes, and stories, that reveal the forces which inform, shape, and nurture our lives. Product Description: This exquisite book is crafted exclusively for discerning readers and collectors who seek to elevate and preserve their literary treasures. Bound in GENUINE LEATHER, it showcases the finest craftsmanship with luxurious GOLDEN LEAF DETAILING adorning the spine, front cover, and back cover. The elegance is further enhanced by EDGE GILDING, giving the book an opulent finish. Customize Your Leather-Bound Edition with Color Options: - 1. Select from a wide array of leather colors at no additional cost. Share your preferred leather color with us via email. 2. Choose from a diverse range of leather colors with colored marbles (endpaper), including Brown, Crimson Red, Forest Green, Royal Blue, Rich Black, Hot Pink, Yellow, And Tan . 3. For a truly unique touch, request Multi-Color Labels to complement your custom leather-bound book spine. 4. Own a timeless masterpiece that adds sophistication to any collection! Artisan Quality and Dispatch Information: - ● We appreciate your understanding that these Leather-Bound Books are meticulously crafted works of art, requiring significant time and attention to detail to achieve their exceptional quality. ● Our standard handling time for dispatch is 35 business days, as each book undergoes various stages of production. However, we do accommodate special & requests for specific occasions. ● We offer additional customization options upon request, subject to extra charges. Additionally, we handle both printing and leather binding for all books. ● Product Disclaimer : Please note that as Leather is a Natural Material, minor variations in color or texture may occur. Track Page Views With Auctiva's Counter