Devoured

In Devoured, Sophie Egan reveals the deeper meaning behind our food choices: from our prioritizing of convenience over health to the ways food at work affects our happiness; from the American obsession with “having it our way” at Starbucks, Chipotle, and other chains to the fascinating dynamic between highbrow food culture—artisan this and small-batch that—and the lowbrow, such as Taco Bell’s record-breaking sales of Doritos Locos Tacos.

Consider this the Freakonomics of food. Weaving together psychology, anthropology, food science, marketing, and behavioral economics, Devoured takes us from the workplace to the home kitchen, from the grocery aisles to fast-food counters.