Buy This Book! or My Interview With an Awesome Vegan Author

When I first heard that my former colleague and rockstar writer/editor Elizabeth Castoria landed herself a snazzy book deal, my first thought was “what the hell took so long?!” The girl's got talent by the bucketful, and it just so happens that her specialty sits at the intersection of creative writing, information sharing, and vegan know-how.

Pretty ... freaking awesome! The author gives good face AND good advice.

Elizabeth's melded those above-par skills and packaged them up for inquisitive would-be herbivores in her gorgeous inside-and-out How To Be Vegan (Workman Publishing/Artisan Books, 2014).

Written in her uniquely witty voice, How To Be Vegan answers all the burning questions you and everyone you know might have about living a plant-based  lifestyle, including perennial favorite “where do you get your protein?” It also includes loads of I-need-to-make-this-right-now recipes (developed by prolific vegan powerhouse/culinary genius Robin Robertson), awesome flow charts, and even a Venn diagram or two.

The best way to learn all about Elizabeth's book is to go out and buy it--for yourself, for your friends, your family, your neighbors, and maybe even your cat, if you roll that way. The second best? Read this interview!

Q.So much good stuff in this book! What was your favorite part of the writing process? 

Thank you! It was such a blast to write, and I definitely hope that people have an equally good time reading it. It was really fun to try and think up all the questions that someone who’s new to eating plants might have. It’s been so long (roughly 15 years!) since I made the switch that my lifestyle is a little bit on autopilot. So, getting to rethink all the things that I do to make living this way easy and enjoyable was definitely fun. 

Gorgeous, n'est ce pas? Makes you want to go out + get a copy! 

Q.What piece of advice do you share in this book that you wish someone had shared with you when you were going vegan?

Good question! Like most teenagers, I was a little bit needlessly intense when I first went vegan, and that carried on for a few years. I had pretty inflexible ideas about living this way, and I made some judgements that I wouldn’t make today. There’s a fun little diagram in the book that has two circles like you might see in a Venn diagram labelled “Judgement” and “Your Thoughts” and there’s no overlap between them. Frankly, I wish I’d had this advice (or, more likely, actually listened to it!) when I was younger because judgement of ourselves and others is such a waste of valuable energy. Like, I could have been mastering computer coding with all the time I frittered away worrying about other people’s business.

Q.I swooned over the section on vegan travel destinations. What's your favorite out-of-town escape and what makes it so special?

You were one of the people who inspired that section, you world traveler. I hope to catch up to your country tally someday! As far as the places I have been, I love New Mexico. My dad grew up in Albuquerque, and we used to take family road trips out there every few years when I was a kid. I’ve been enchanted with that land my whole life, and it’s something that just deepens as I get older. Last year I visited Albuquerque, Santa Fe, Truth or Consequences, and White Sands with my sweetie, and it was so lovely to get to share something that’s held such a special place for me with him. And, duh, green chile sauce is the food of the gods.

 Q. I did not know Nutter Butters were vegan and am very upset I haven't been eating these for the last 14 years. What other edible treats might readers be surprised to learn they don't have to relinquish when bidding adieu to dairy and meat?

Nutter Butters are one of the things that I love to treat myself to when I’m flying somewhere because just about every airport in the States has them, and flying makes me nervous, which necessitates treats. I think it’s pretty solid logic. A few other surprisingly vegan goodies (and by “goodies” I definitely mean things that are processed beyond belief and probably aren’t technically food—as in, delicious) include Oreos (even the birthday cake flavor!), Wheat Thins, Cap’n Crunch, and Fritos. Basically, everything at a gas station, minus all the jerky.

Q. You've sold 1,000,000 copies of your book and don't have to worry about working for a while. What does the future look like for the world's luckiest vegan author?

Oooh, I like the way you think! First, trip to Paris during which I’ll beg you to show me all the great places to eat around town, and we will drink all of the Champagne. All of it. Remorselessly. I know it’s a little cliche to say that I’d travel more, but I really would!

Joyce Maynard's Hair

What I knew about Joyce Maynard before going to see her speak at the American Library in Paris, was, frankly, not a whole lot. I knew she was a writer, and I vaguely remembered reading something about her living in Keene, New Hampshire--not far from where I once lived during 6th, 7th, and 8th grade. I'd also read that, back in the '70s, she was the teenage paramour of J.D. Salinger, and it was that titillating tidbit that wrenched me out of my warm apartment and across town to the 7e on a brisk Paris evening.

The book that catapulted Maynard into the spotlight at 17. J'adore that bob

Miss Maynard charmed me immediately. She has an unassuming je ne sais quoi about her; a combination, I think, of a pixieish face that belies her 50-some-odd years, a slightly nervous energy (one that I understand from experience), and a seemingly natural talent for engaging storytelling. She mesmerized the audience--an attentive room-full of plastic-wine-cup-clutching bibliophiles wedged into sturdy Danish Modern chairs--with a riveting recount of the day's drama at the Musee d'Orsay. There, beside a bridge linking the left bank to the right, a team of gypsy pickpockets relieved her of her wallet using that Oh-Here's-The-Ring-You-Dropped scam. The combination of pity, anger, and laughter that her story provoked totally won me over.

The remainder of the evening was no less confessional, and equally spellbinding; with disarming earnestness, Maynard shared intimate details of her topsy-turvy life with us strangers. This was an oral autobiography punctuated with dramatic bullet points--alcoholic parents, an affair with a famous (and bitter, and controlling) old man--and  equally interesting but more mundane details about her development as a writer, parenting, collapsing relationships, and travel. We had a bit in common, I thought.

I left the event empty handed (the book I was most interested in had sold out already), but felt full with that warm-and-fuzzy feeling you get when you realize you're not alone in the universe--that there are kindred spirits within our own orbit who share similar experiences and express those similarities with vivid language.

What was I thinking? A yearlong experiment in blondness that lasted roughly 364 days longer than it should have

Since then, I've followed Mlle. Maynard through the usual social networks, which is where I came upon her most recent piece, this published in the New York Times on April 9 titled "The Kindest Cut." It's about hair. Most of us have at least a little bit of the stuff, and some of us struggle with it on a daily basis: Taming unruly cowlicks, dominating subordinate gray strands with "natural" hair dye, and aiming for a style that doesn't look like you tried too hard or cared too little. It's exhausting work, and has been an all-consuming preoccupation more than a few times in my life.

Right now, I'm preoccupied with whether or not to whack my hair off. I've been growing it long for about two years now, and it hits my upper back right about at bra-strap level. I think I thought that having long hair again would make me feel pretty. I realize I've never felt pretty, long hair or short, so that's not really a valid reason to schlep around a tangled mess of boring brown tresses. Perhaps, subconsciously, I also harbor a fear that men will no longer find me attractive if I snip of a few inches.

My hair last week. It doesn't look too bad when freshly washed, but it's still time for a change

"Men don't like short hair," a friend tells Maynard knowingly in "The Kindest Cut."  Maynard isn't deterred. "Should my hairstyle be dictated by the desire to please men or myself?" she asks herself in response. Now, I have to ask myself that same question. I hope I'll be brave enough to heed the desire to please myself, and not feel resigned to sporting a head of hair that's boring and unflattering. 


On our way to Copenhagen a couple of weeks ago, I made a pre-flight pit-stop at the Relay store at Charles de Gaulle. Quickly rifling through the magazines, I spotted a fashion feature showing magazine editors (aka "real people") wearing the latest designer duds. The clothes weren't nearly as compelling as one of the editor's hairdos. I hadn't seen anything so fun and interesting in a long time. Her slightly messy, long bob hit about shoulder length, with eye-grazing blond-and-brown bangs funking it up in a mod way. I loved it, and thought, "I wish I could have hair like that."
So, why not?