Fig Tree gobbles up Stanley Tucci's 'funny, poignant' new memoir

Fig Tree has signed a new food memoir from Stanley Tucci, What I Ate in One Year (and related thoughts).

Helen Garnons-Williams, publishing director at Fig Tree, has acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Felicity Blunt at Curtis Brown. North American rights were acquired by Alison Callahan at Gallery Books. Fig Tree will publish in hardback in October 2024.

“Food has always been an integral part of Stanley Tucci’s life: from stracciatella soup served in the shadow of the Pantheon, to marinara sauce cooked between scene rehearsals and costume fittings, to home-made pizza eaten with his children before bedtime,” the publisher said.

“Now in What I Ate In One Year Tucci records 12 months of eating, in restaurants, kitchens, film sets, press junkets, at home and abroad, with friends, with family, with strangers, and occasionally just by himself.”

Fig Tree described how “the meals memorialised in this diary are a prism for him to reflect on the ways his life, and his family, are constantly evolving” and through which Tucci “marks — and mourns — the passing of time, the loss of loved ones, and steels himself for what is to come”.

Fig Tree added: “Whether it’s duck a l’orange eaten with fellow actors and cooked by singing Carmelite nuns, steaks barbequed at a gathering with friends, or meatballs made by his mother and son and shared at the table with three generations of his family, these meals give shape and add emotional richness to his days.”

Garnons-Williams said: ‘‘We could not be more delighted to be publishing What I Ate in One Year: a funny, poignant, heartfelt and deeply satisfying serving of memories and meals from the inimitable Stanley Tucci. In measuring out a year of his life in coffee spoons (and soup spoons and serving spoons…) he has created an irresistible mediation on, and celebration of, the profound role that food plays in all our lives.” 

Tucci commented: ‘‘I am so pleased to be working with the good people at Fig Tree once again. In writing this account of dishes I have eaten, cooked, and shared with friends and family over the course of a year, I wanted to pay homage to the central role that food plays in my life, and also acknowledge its power to shape who we are and connect us.”

What I Ate in One Year follows an earlier food memoir Taste: My Life Through Food, pre-empted by Fig Tree in 2020, and two cookbooks, The Tucci Table (Orion) and The Tucci Cookbook (Gallery Books).

The actor, writer, director and producer has directed five films and appeared in over 70 films along with numerous television shows and plays. He also is a winner of two Golden Globes and six Emmys amongst other prizes.