Food Critic Frank Bruni Talks "Born Round"

"Born round, you don’t die square" — as food critic Frank Bruni’s grandma used to say.

She was talking about how central food is to a satisfying and successful life.

That theme is a big part of the former New York Times restaurant critic’s new memoir, "Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater."

The young Frank Bruni loved Grandma Bruni’s little pastas, which each carried the shape of her thumb. Yet the love of food, he found, was a mixed blessing.

Bruni became, as he puts it, a "baby bulimic." And by the time he was in college, eating disorders were taking over his life.

Bruni says his relationship with food has defined him. He's fought with food, even wrestled with it in his dreams, and now brokered a delicate truce.

This Hour, On Point: Frank Bruni's inner strength — and rating the perfect meal.

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Guests:

Frank Bruni, restaurant critic for The New York Times from 2004 until this month. He's the author of “Born Round: The Secret History of a Full-Time Eater.” His recent article in The New York Times Magazine, "I Was a Baby Bulimic," was adapted from the book.

Read an excerpt (PDF file) from "Born Round."

**Check out more of On Point's food coverage:

Mark Bittman on Intelligent Eating; Anthony Bourdain on “Medium Raw”; Michael Pollan’s ‘Food Rules’; Gourmet’s Ruth Reichl: “Not Becoming My Mother”; Sweet Lightning: Extreme Chocolate.