Author Description

<b>“Finally back in print, <i>Flash in the Pan</i> is the original—and still the best—reportage on the life and death of an American restaurant, a ground level view of every phase of its life. From the early, hope filled planning stages to the last, humiliating moments, it's a tragi-comic epic of hubris and human folly. Painfully hilarious and even more painfully true. This is a welcome reissue of a restaurant classic that should be read by every culinary and food service student in America and sit comfortably next to Orwell's <i>Down and Out</i> on every shelf.” <br>—Anthony Bourdain, author of <i>Kitchen Confidential</i></b><br><br>In 1990, journalist David Blum got backstage access to the life and death of The Falls, a downtown Manhattan restaurant that captured the 1980s in all its extravagant excess. Its owners—a tanned, Brahmin barkeep and a handsome Irish firefighter from Queens—partnered with movie star pal Matt Dillon to cater to New York's most glamorous models, actors, and writers. <i>Flash in the Pan</i> captured in hilarious detail the quick decline and disastrous fall of The Falls, and has become a classic cautionary tale for anyone who might harbor the fantasy of opening a restaurant.<br> <br><b>David Blum</b> is the editor of Kindle Singles, the storefront for high quality longform writing on Kindle. He was previously the editor in chief of <i>The Village Voice</i> and has written for <i>New York</i> magazine, <i>Esquire</i>, <i>Vanity Fair</i>, <i>The New Yorker</i>, and <i>The New York Times Magazine</i>. <i>Flash in the Pan</i>, first published in 1992, was his first book.