Cheesecake

A Novel

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Pub Date Jul 15 2025 | Archive Date Jul 31 2025
Bloomsbury USA | Bloomsbury Publishing

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Description

From New York Times bestselling author Mark Kurlansky, a delectable novel following one Manhattan block as an ancient cheesecake recipe-and a conniving landlord-change the Upper West Side forever.

West 86th Street knows its desserts. It's the 1970s, and poppyseed strudel, praline ice cream cake, and New York cheesecake are as integral to Manhattan's Upper West Side as clustered pigeons, suited doormen, and greasy diners. That is, until Cato comes to town. Cato the Elder, a Roman born in 234 BCE, is credited with the earliest written recipe ever found. A recipe for . . . cheesecake. No cream cheese, no graham cracker crust, somehow savory and sweet, the recipe is enigmatic-and suddenly, it's all anyone on West 86th Street can talk about.

The Katsikases, a Greek cheesemaking family who immigrated to open a restaurant in New York, added Cato's pastry to their menu as a ploy to attract “upscale” diners. After a glowing write-up in the Times, the recipe becomes a neighborhood fixation-and the Katsikases' patriarch, Art, buys up as much of the block's real estate as he can. As the portentous pastry appears in the lives of the old-school residents Art is pricing out of their apartments, a sidewalk view of West 86th Street emerges: A high-profile family planning a high-pressure bat mitzvah, a painter's muse with a terrible secret, an eccentric art collector plotting revenge. Sometimes laced with green M&Ms, sometimes with sage, sometimes with spite, Cato's cheesecake heralds change as West 86th Street is transformed for good.

From New York Times bestselling author Mark Kurlansky, a delectable novel following one Manhattan block as an ancient cheesecake recipe-and a conniving landlord-change the Upper West Side forever.

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Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781639735723
PRICE $26.99 (USD)
PAGES 208

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Featured Reviews

This book was fun to read. What’s not to love about a rivalry between restaurants and cheesecakes. This book and characters had me laughing, wanting to bake a cheesecake and eat it while reading this story! Highly recommend!

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In a word .. delicious. Or scrumptious.

I've loved cheesecake since I was in high school. yum.

Cheesecake: A Novel is a story that goes round and round, but cheesecake is definitely the re-occurring theme. Very, very enjoyable read.

Lots of recipes. I really wanted to call New York and order a cheesecake as I was reading. Would love to figure out how to order one from Herb Grosinger, that sounds like the perfect option. Looks like he also wrote a book.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bloomsbury USA publishing for approving my request to read the advance read copy of Cheesecake by Mark Kurlansky in exchange for an honest review. Approx 208 pages, publication date is July 15, 2025.

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