I recently bought a collection of MFK Fisher's books entitled The Art of Eating. The book contains all her major publications, including An Alphabet for Gourmets. Naturally, I turned straight to the letter "G," which stands for "gluttony." She defines gluttony as not merely eating a lot because you can, but eating more than you should just for the sheer pleasure of it, to prolong the flavors on your tongue and, indeed, to prolong the moment--to wring as much pleasure and flavor out of life itself as possible. She admitted that her tendency was to overindulge in wine more than in food, and this is what she wrote in her wonderfully lyrical style: "As often as possible, when a really beautiful bottle is before me, I drink all I can of it, even when I know that I have had more than I want physically. That is gluttonous. But I think to myself, when again will I have this taste upon my tongue? Where else in the world is there just such wine as this, with just this bouquet, at just this heat, in just this crystal cup? And when again will I be alive to it as I am this very minute, sitting here on a green hillside above the sea....More, more, I think--all of it, to the last exquisite drop...."
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