June 2005    

Pizza: A Slice of Heaven: The Ultimate Guide and Companion Author: Ed Levine Publisher: Universe Publishing $24.95 Paper (367 p.) ISBN: 0789312050 B&T         YBP Reviewed by Bob Nardini, Senior Vice President & Head Bibliographer Stop anyone on a college campus in North America and it's far more likely they will be unequipped to tell you where the library is than unable to direct you to the nearest spot for decent pizza. Pizza, about as close to a universal experience in higher education as there is, won tenure long ago and all contributions to the literature are welcome ones. Ed Levine's object in this book was to write a firsthand guidebook to the best pizza restaurants everywhere. Even for a dedicated pizza enthusiast-and Levine surely is-that's a tall job. He consumed, he estimates, a thousand slices of pizza over about a year of travel and "research." But the task demanded more, so Levine enlisted dozens of friends and fellow food writers to help. Now, thanks to Levine and his corps, a pizza pilgrimage will always be within reach for his readers. Well, maybe not always. "A state either has the pizza magic or it doesn't," writes Levine. The focus of his book is the "Pizza Belt," as he refers to the corridor formed by Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York City and Long Island, New Haven, Providence, and Boston. This is where American pizza was defined, of course. The mission Levine set for himself, now that there are over 60,000 pizzerias in every corner of the United States, was to find the relative handful of these carrying on in the Neapolitan-American tradition established by the Italian immigrants who brought with them to America the special knowledge of ovens, dough, tomato, and cheese necessary to invent what Levine considers the "perfect food." This means if you live in New Hampshire, for example, don't waste time looking for your favorite local in Levine's index. But no matter where you live, if you are dedicated to pizza you will savor the pizza genealogy traced by Levine starting in 1905, when Lombardi's was licensed as the first pizzeria in New York City. In 1924, Lombardi's begat Totonno's, and in 1929, John's. In the manner of Genesis, Levine traces this line and others-such as the New Haven pizza lineage which began with Frank Pepe's in 1925-and delivers his personal take on the 2005 product of the direct and indirect progeny of these pizza deities. Levine, whose approach is ecumenical, is not such a purist as to ignore other pizza traditions, such as Chicago deep-dish pizza. He even takes note of a crab pizza, available in Baltimore, a Memphis barbecue pizza, and a kimchi pizza made in the heart of the Pizza Belt, Queens. But his yardstick is the Neapolitan-American as his book surveys pizza outposts such as Santa Fe, Dallas, Milwaukee, Honolulu, Atlanta, and other cities, including Phoenix, whose Pizzeria Bianco might make the best pizza in America, he was surprised to find. Levine includes a few overseas cities as well, notably Naples, whose ancestral pizza he didn't like as well as what he can find at home in the Pizza Belt. While the real point of Levine's book is its description and evaluation of dozens upon dozens of pizzerias, he and his correspondents also write about the many facets of pizza culture. In this task he had the help of such friends as Calvin Trillin (who, more passionate toward other foods, is "pizza-neutral"), Nora Ephron (who recalls "my first time"), and other writers and restaurant critics from around the country. Levine himself ruminates on bar pizza, airport pizza, frozen pizza, chain pizza, chefs and pizza, and other pizza sidelights. There actually is a literature of pizza, and in that body of work Levine's book is a minor entry, one that recycles some of the content of more substantial books. It's meant for fun, one of those books you don't actually read, but flip through occasionally, as mood suggests. Library hospitality collections might make use of it, but otherwise this is one for the personal bookshelf, a book any pizza lover will reach for, with serious purpose, whenever traveling beyond one's own pizza locale. Published by YBP Library Services 999 Maple St., Contoocook, NH 03229 USA v: 800.258.3774   f: 603.746.5628 w: www.ybp.com   e: academia@ybp.com All rights reserved.