At a time when stuffy French restaurants and soulless Continental cuisine prevailed, James Beard invented something strange and new: the notion of an American cuisine. Born in 1903 in Portland, Oregon, Beard was a failed actor who wound up hosting one of the first television cooking shows, and by flouting the rules of publishing would end up crafting uniquely expressive cookbooks, with recipes and stories that laid the groundwork for how we cook and eat today. Drawing on vast research, John Birdsall tells Beard's story, the tale of a chef who had an infectious love of life and pleasure.