Third Helpings

It seems like food writing, and food television shows for that matter, have become much more precious since this Calvin Trillin book was published in 1983. It was a simpler time before the Food Network, "foodies," and Yelp. Trillin's essays have that rare quality of being simultaneously ingenuous and worldly-wise witty. At a clambake, an "oyster eat" in Deleware, a Reading, Pa., barroom or a Hong Kong market, Trillin's eyes and ears are always open. As is, of course, his mouth. 

Fatso (1980)

Fatso, written and directed by Anne Bancroft, got poor reviews on its release in 1980, but it deserves better. A tender story about an overweight man who finds love, it also hilariously takes advantage of the superb acting and physical talents of its star, Dom DeLuise. Bancroft excels in a manic supporting role, and Ron Carey is a perfect foil as DeLuise's brother, Junior. No one who has seen the film is likely to forget the line, "Get the honey, Junior," and the madcap scene it kicks off.

Floater

Calvin Trillin's 1980 novel, titled after a journalist who bounces from section to section at a national news weekly, might be the most accurate depiction of the types of people who inhabit a newsroom – or at least did during the early part of my career – I've ever read. The snark, sarcasm, plotting, nicknames, drinking and rumored office affairs are all played for laughs here but will strike home to anyone who worked at a newspaper in the 1980s.

Tepper Isn't Going Out

Calvin Trillin's Murray Tepper is a kind of Chauncey Gardiner from Kosinski's Being There: He sits in his car in Manhattan, legally parked and reading a newspaper, and people start to approach him for advice. The title refers to the fact that Tepper intends to stay parked for as long as he has paid the meter; when drivers notice him and ask if he is "going out," the answer is always no. These seem like slim reeds to support a novel, but Tepper is good-natured fun and doesn't need to be anything more. 

Runestruck

This 1977 Calvin Trillin novel has an entertaining cast of characters including a frantic mayor, a grease monkey country songwriter, and a smart-aleck newspaper editor. The discovery of a rune stone sets off an effort to prove that their Maine town was the landing spot for the Vikings. No belly laughs, but a nice diversion.