Edited by Anthony Bourdain and James Wilson

Reading Responses
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Reading Responses
Reading Respons1 1: “Three Chopsticks” by Calvin Trillin in “The Best American Travel WritingTM (2008)” Edited by Anthony Bourdain and James Wilson
“The Best American Travel WritingTM 2008” volume contains a series of essays edited and with an introduction by Anthony Bourdain. Together with James Wilson, a series editor, the authors have collected a superbly assorted and sweeping collection of series exploring headlong into the darker evocative moments and refined understanding of full-time travelers. The essays portray a picture meant to provoke and absorb readers offering a moving record of what it is like being a traveler in the 21st century. One of the best essays in this collection is Trillin’s “Three chopsticks” where he portrays an insatiable appetite for street foods. For the purpose of this paper, an essay from the collection, “Three Chopsticks” by Calvin Trillin from The New Yorker will be analyzed. As a reading response, this paper analyses and provides an understanding on what the series author is communicating in their essays.
Calvin Trillin’s essay “Three Chopsticks” depicts that the many hawker stands spread throughout the streets of Singapore, provide an endless choice of food delicacies that travelers will never find in any other country on Earth (Trillin, 2008). A question while reading this piece of writing many will ask, “is street food the best ever cuisine?” Well, Trillin tends to not only idolize Singapore’s street food, but essentially all street foods above all other types of foods and speculates he his sense of taste is at optimal level when he standing up as he eats. As a habitual eater at Singapore’s food stands, the writer is even worried that he might come across bugs (Trillin, 2008). He goes ahead making a list of “must-eats”, but the list is long to exhaust. As Trillin gets home, he even finds that the New York food stands are even excessively exciting, anyway.in the concluding line of his essay, Trillin says, “You can’t go home without easting a knish. I’ll knock your socks off (Trillin, 2008, p.276).”
Trillin’s love for street food cuisine is unending. As a travel writer, he has had a chance to taste a variety of street foods at many stands, including the food stands at the streets of Singapore. In the essay, the writer comes up with a long list of his favorite dishes at food stands that he has personally had a chance to taste, but the list is unexhausted given the time he has in writing the series. However, his love for eating at food stands emanates from his psychological notion that food tastes better when one is standing. The scientific explanation to this reasoning needs research. Many people agree that food tastes same regardless one is standing or sitting.
Reading Response 2: “Speakeasy Tacos” by Michael Jaime-Becerra In “Golden State (2017)” edited by Lisa Locascio
Lisa Locascio, a novelist and critic, presents an excellent 20017 annual anthology with great contemporary fiction and non-fiction stories from California in its insane a...