Book Review: Tyler Cowen’s “An Economist Gets Lunch”

An Economist Gets Lunch: New Rules for Everyday Foodies

★★★★/5

Author: Tyler Cowen, 2012

Pop-Econ, Foodie Culture, Travel, Non-Fiction

260 Pages

Tyler Cowen is a renaissance man — an established economist, a respected blogger and commentator, an agile academic, a controversial contrarian, a keen writer, a rigorous participant in arts and culture, and interestingly enough, a renowned foodie.

It’s this broad array of topics that seems to confuse his readers — many reviews seem to be coming from his other books, most of which have widely different approaches, tones, and perspectives. Take Dwight Garner’s review at the New York Times: He seemingly was unable to detect the humor and light approach that Tyler Cowen wrote into the book — with normal exaggerations like ‘a million results on Google,’ and stretching Calvin Trillin’s quote “Le Maison de la Casa House” to “Le Maison de la Casa Haus,” to include a flair of German.

Likewise, many other online reviewers took this book with the kind of academic rigor unfit for a book about food experiences. Instead, you’ve got to approach this book with the right mind — and an open stomach.

Cracking open the book, Cowen’s words are incredibly brash and direct; like the man himself. His stories meander, like a walk through side streets, casually commenting with thoughts and insights of a world-traveler. It’s not exactly a polished commentary — but he’ll hit you with an unconventional angle every time; yet he cuts to the chase (my summarizing of his major points):

Why are American tastes so behind others?

How can we truly be more environmentally conscious without all the smoke-and-mirroring of feel-good ‘Green-vertising’?

Where can I find great food — without smashing the bank?

Does he make any new discoveries? Not necessarily — but with a light touch of economic methodology, Cowen seasons this book with sharp intuition as to why it’s best to avoid the tourist traps, city centers, and over-priced socializing hubs; why American food has such a bad reputation (hint, the Prohibition, World War II, and the child-centric American family dealt the one-two punch to American tastebuds); and how American consumers can improve, and maybe revolutionize, our food culture. What he ends up offering is a very open-ended plate of intellectual suggestions with a very pleasing proposition: it’s your world, make it better.

However, like the man himself, the book throws out a lot of thoughts that flow out without exactly making clear why it was brought up — commenting incredibly specific meats in a chapter about Mexican foods in general, or bringing up Jodi Ettenberg just to open up his second to last chapter. These moments seem to limit the actual grand-scale scope Cowen brings up in other chapters, not to mention, they arise like unexpected chunks in an otherwise smooth read.

It’s important to remember that this book isn’t about economics, though — it’s about the food, both at home and abroad. With his unique perspective, Tyler Cowen hatches out a new journey for the taking, and likewise can delight the palettes of foodies of all kinds looking for a fresher perspective on their table.