The legendary life and entrepreneurial vision of Fred Harvey
helped shape American culture and history for three
generations—from the 1880s all the way through World War II—and
still influence our lives today in surprising and fascinating ways.
Now award-winning journalist Stephen Fried re-creates the life of
this unlikely American hero, the founding father of the nation’s
service industry, whose remarkable family business civilized the
West and introduced America to Americans.
Appetite for America is the incredible real-life story of Fred
Harvey—told in depth for the first time ever—as well as the story
of this country’s expansion into the Wild West of Bat Masterson and
Billy the Kid, of the great days of the railroad, of a time when a
deal could still be made with a handshake and the United States was
still uniting. As a young immigrant, Fred Harvey worked his way up
from dishwasher to household name: He was Ray Kroc before
McDonald’s, J. Willard Marriott before Marriott Hotels, Howard
Schultz before Starbucks. His eating houses and hotels along the
Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe railroad including historic lodges
still in use at the Grand Canyon were patronized by princes,
presidents, and countless ordinary travelers looking for the best
cup of coffee in the country. Harvey’s staff of carefully screened
single young women—the celebrated Harvey Girls—were the country’s
first female workforce and became genuine Americana, even inspiring
an MGM musical starring Judy Garland.
With the verve and passion of Fred Harvey himself, Stephen Fried
tells the story of how this visionary built his business from a
single lunch counter into a family empire whose marketing and
innovations we still encounter in myriad ways. Inspiring,
instructive, and hugely entertaining, Appetite for America is
historical biography that is as richly rewarding as a slice of
fresh apple pie—and every bit as satisfying.
*With two photo inserts featuring over 75 images, and an appendix
with over fifty Fred Harvey recipes, most of them
never-before-published.--From the Hardcover edition.
關於作者:
Stephen Fried is an award-winning investigative journalist and
essayist and an adjunct professor at Columbia University Graduate
School of Journalism. He is the author of Thing of Beauty: The
Tragedy of Supermodel Gia the inspiration for the Emmy-winning
film Gia, Bitter Pills, The New Rabbi, and
Husbandry. A two-time winner of the National Magazine Award,
Fried has written frequently for Vanity Fair, GQ, The
Washington Post Magazine, Rolling Stone, Glamour, Ladies’ Home
Journal, and Philadelphia magazine. He lives in
Philadelphia with his wife, author Diane Ayres.--From the Hardcover
edition.