Born Round Audiobook By Frank Bruni cover art

Born Round

The Secret History of a Full-time Eater

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Born Round

By: Frank Bruni
Narrated by: Frank Bruni
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The New York Times restaurant critic's heartbreaking and hilarious account of how he learned to love food just enough after decades of struggling with his outsize appetite.

Frank Bruni was born round, round as in stout, chubby, and hungry, always and endlessly hungry. He grew up in a big, loud Italian family in White Plains, New York, where meals were epic, outsize affairs. At those meals, he demonstrated one of his foremost qualifications for his future career: an epic, outsize love of food. But Bruni's relationship with eating was tricky, and his difficulties with managing it began early. When Bruni was named the restaurant critic for The New York Times in 2004, he knew enough to be nervous.

The restaurant critic at the Times performs one of the most closely watched tasks in the epicurean universe; a bumpy ride was certain, especially for someone who had never written about food, someone who for years had been busy writing about politics, presidential campaigns, and the pope. What qualified him to be one of the most loved and hated tastemakers in the New York food world? Did his decades-long obsession with food suffice?

Food was his friend and enemy both, something he craved but feared, and his new-job jitters focused primarily on whether he'd finally made some sense of that relationship .In this coveted job, he'd face down his enemy at meal after indulgent meal. As his grandmother often put it, "Born round, you don't die square." Would he fall back into his old habits or could he establish a truce with the food on his plate?

Born Round traces the highly unusual path Bruni traveled to become a restaurant critic; it is the captivating account of an unpredictable journalistic ride from an intern's desk at Newsweek to a dream job at The New York Times, as well as the brutally honest story of Bruni's lifelong, often painful, struggle with food.

©2009 Frank Bruni (P)2009 Penguin New York Funny Witty

Editorial reviews

Frank Bruni, restaurant critic for The New York Times, loves food. But he also hates food, as it represents the root of his lifelong struggle with weight. And therein lies the dilemma. The delightfully funny and provocative memoir Born Round chronicles Bruni's relationship with food from infancy to adulthood, when he scored the renowned position at the Times. Born into an Italian family where eating was a major and constant event, Bruni can't recall a time when he wasn't worried about his appearance. From embarking on the Atkins diet with his mother at age 8 so he wouldn't be the chubby kid at school, to trying his hand at bulimia and the abuse of Ex-lax and Metamucil in college, Bruni recounts the numerous years of yo-yo dieting with absolute clarity and intimate detail.

Anyone who's ever had a few (or more) pounds to lose can relate to Bruni the author, but even more so because his voice as the narrator is so familiar. You feel as if a good friend is telling you his story and you're dying to hear more. Bruni's memoir is so honest and bare, it's hard to imagine anyone else narrating it. When Bruni recalls Thanksgiving memories with his family or his grandmother's favorite quote "Born round, you don't die square." his tone paints the picture of warmth and love.

No detail is too intimate, as Bruni illustrates his trials with dating (in one instance he keeps putting off a first date with a man he is very interested in, because he needs at least a week to lose five pounds before he is presentable), but his sense of humor keeps the narrative from being too heavy or depressing. Is Bruni the confident, aggressive, take-no-prisoners journalist that you would picture the infamous restaurant critic of The New York Times to be? No. He's a self-deprecating, insecure, sometimes-chubby-sometimes-not guy. And you love him all the more for it. Colleen Oakley

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Frank Brunni is a great storyteller. He is also brave to so freely tell us about his life - with all its accolades and shortcomings. Loved it. Thank you.

Inspiring

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I loved listening to this book! What wonderful stories—touching, funny, engaging. Bruni’s way with words made this an especially addictive read. If you like his NYT newsletter, you’ll love this book.

I loved listening to this book!

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People who have any experience w/ addiction are sure to enjoy and draw valuable lessons from this book, even if they don't love food. But for a food addict like myself, this seems to have it all: food virtually brought to life (food porn in words, which can be just as good as the real thing w/o the calories), dead-on descriptions of the rationalizing that precedes the binges and the guilt, regrets and dejection that follow, the sometimes unpredictable relapses, etc. I plan to go back to this book every time I can feel one of these last looming.

The book wasn't simply instructive or drool-inducing, though. It's worth a read (or listen) based on the merit of its prose alone. I also enjoyed the other parts even if their focus was not on food, such as the loving descriptions of the author's family, esp. of the two most important people (women) in his life, and his interesting "run-in" with one of America's most influential restauranteurs. Many parts had me in stitches, and passers-by who failed to notice my earphones must have thought me crazy.

The narration was just as good as that by professional readers and less nasal/annoying/exaggerated than some very popular ones. It was also unabridged, which seems to become more and more of a rarity w/ books narrated by authors (Ted Sorensen's autobiography was almost alone in this category until Born Round came along).

Has it all

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Typical compulsive eating history but no recovery. Overeaters Anonymous is one solution. Could try that!

Eating disorder- no recovery

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A long tale of two lifestyles that almost lost my interest. A great New Year book tho

Interesting if not a bit long

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Loved his descriptions of food and people. As a man who has struggled with weight all my life it was affirming, funny, horrifying and delightful. Such an interesting life well lived.

Wonderful story teller

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As someone who has similar mental and physical struggles surrounding food to what Frank describes in this book, I appreciated his candor in this memoir. He was brutally honest and self-exposing, and drives the point home that honesty is the key to success with yourself. This was so well-written and intriguing and I enjoyed listening to all of his stories, family dynamics, and travels. I cannot recommend this enough!

Boldly honest and insightful

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This is clearly an unusual take on someone who has an unhealthy relationship with food but makes the choice to confront this behavior in a professional context. However, more telling is the degree of rationalization to justify self-destructive habits to the detriment of self-esteem and personal relationships. Clearly, a high level of intelligence is no match for an addiction which cuts to the emotional core. I applaud his journey and became involved in his struggle. At the same time ego (not meant in a derogatory way) probably kept him away from the professional psychological support that may have brought some self-awareness to this life-long process. I'm pulling for him.

A Wonderful Read

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What did you like best about Born Round? What did you like least?

When, after 15 chapters, he finally become a restaurant critic. Unless you're someone who's struggled with eating disorders, this book is not for you! Most of the book is about his binging, purging, dieting unsuccessfully, poor self image, etc. after several chapters on this I fast forwarded it many times.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm already listening to two other books, so I'm just trying to get through the rest of this.

What does Frank Bruni bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His personal story.

Did Born Round inspire you to do anything?

Yes, to read another book. I wish I had returned this early on and made a wiser choice.

Any additional comments?

I have no idea how this receives such great ratings from Amazon! There must be plenty of people who can relate to this story and if it helps them, great. Ruth Reichl and Craig Claiborne he isn't!

What a disappointment!

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Bruni takes the listener on the grand tour of his life. From his childhood and coming of age in a food-centered Italian family to his starting out in his career and various posts he held through his mid-40's. Much of this is a poignant story of a young man with disordered eating and various coping mechanisms to limit its physical effects- diuretics, laxatives, purging and more. There are few stories of this type from men and Born Round is extremely valuable for that alone, but Bruni's story is a universal, relatable, and he charms the listener with his confessional style. I want him to be my new BFF.
The intersection of his eating/exercise habits and his life's journey thus far is a fascinating one. It has many light moments, some very sad ones, and one that made me sit down and weep, a big, ugly cry with tears streaming down my face as I listened to him narrate what must have been the worst day of his life. (No spoilers)

I recently saw Bruni give a talk at Temple University where he told a few of these stories (prompting this purchase) and they were equally well delivered in person and in this audiobook. Bruni will not disappoint.

Not for foodies... For humans

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