Appetite for America

Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wild West--One Meal at a Time (Paperback, 515 pages) By Stephen Fried

In the Wild West of Bat Masterson and Bill Kidd, when the United States was still uniting and a deal could be made with a simple handshake, a visionary young immigrant worked his way up from dishwasher to founding father of the nation’s service industry.

With the verve and passion of Fred Harvey himself, award-winning journalist Stephen Fried tells the story of how this determined entrepreneur built his business from a single lunch counter into a family empire that stretched across the West. His eating houses and hotels along with the burgeoning railroads were patronized by princes, presidents, and countless ordinary travelers looking for the best cup of coffee in the country. The celebrated Harvey Girls, the country’s first female workforce, became genuine Americana, even inspiring an MGM musical starring Judy Garland.

In a historical biography as richly rewarding as a slice of apple pie, Stephen Friend follows the rise of the remarkable man whose family business and can-do spirit civilized the West—and shaped American culture and history for generations.

“Appetite for America is the kind of superb non-fiction you don't see anymore--marvelously reported, fluidly written and a remarkable story about a remarkable man who influenced American culture perhaps more than anyone alive past or present. Stephen Fried brings Fred Harvey alive in a true story as brilliant as it is meticulous as it is compulsively readable.”

--Buzz Bissinger, best-selling author of Friday Night Lights