Award-winning journalist Taras Grescoe has written books that have changed how we look at illicit food and other substances (The Devil’s Picnic), how we think about the world’s seafood (Bottomfeeder), and how we as commuters hit the road (Straphanger).

The Devil’s Picnic is a feast like no other: start with an aperitif of powerful Norwegian moonshine; nibble on a French raw-milk cheese that can carry brain-swelling bacteria; sip some Bolivian cocaine tea and Swiss absinthe; finish off with a puff of a Cuban cigar in a Californian bar. Grescoe travels the world sampling these and other substances that have been legally banned and publicly demonized.

Bottomfeeder is a seafood lover’s round-the-world quest for a truly decent meal. From strip-mall Red Lobsters to the rotary sushi bars of Tokyo, Grescoe travels to the end of the seafood supply chain and back to discover how out-of-control pollution, unregulated fishing practices, and global warming are affecting the fish that end up on our plates.

In Straphanger, Grescoe hits the commuter road in a global quest to understand and illuminate the challenges of the post-automobile age. Straphanger is not just another attack on automobiles and suburban sprawl but one of the most entertaining and thorough examinations of global car culture yet written, and an empowering tool kit for anybody looking for alternatives to a car-based lifestyle.

TARAS GRESCOE is the author of four books, including the bestselling Bottomfeeder, which won the 2008 Writers’ Trust Non-Fiction Prize and the Mavis Gallant Prize for Non-fiction. Two other titles, Sacré Blues and The End of Elsewhere, were shortlisted for Writers’ Trust awards. His work has appeared in a great variety of major publications including The New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Gourmet, The Globe and Mail, Canadian Geographic, The Times (UK) and The Independent. He lives in Montreal. Visit him online at www.tarasgrescoe.com.

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