"A tough, witty, cogent rebuttal to the proposition that food can be reduced to its nutritional components without the loss of something essential.... [The author] assails some of the most fundamental tenets of nutritionism: that food is simply the sum of its parts, that the effects of individual nutrients can be scientifically measured, that the primary purpose of eating is to maintain health, and that eating requires expert advice.... Some of this reasoning turned up in Mr. Pollan's best-selling Omnivore's Dilemma. But In Defense of Food is a simpler, blunter and more pragmatic book, one that really lives up to the 'manifesto' in its subtitle."—NYTimes