NONFICTION
A Life of James Beard Stocked With Tasty Morsels

James Beard in his kitchen in 1961, demonstrating how to flambé. He won the trust of readers as an “unfussy bon vivant, as much in love with a good club sandwich as he was with veal Oscar.”
By Ligaya Mishan

THE MAN WHO ATE TOO MUCH
The Life of James Beard
By John Birdsall
Illustrated. 449 pp. W.W. Norton & Company. $35.