How did it feel to start a new novel after the incredible success of your debut, How Much of These Hills Is Gold?
To be successful is to run the risk of being boxed in. I felt a kind of reckless freedom in my second book once I realized it would be nothing like my first—not stagnation, but play.
Everything about this book feels wonderfully sensual. Were epicurean delights always something that interested you?
I was a picky eater until I discovered food blogs. This was during the lull between high school and college, when I was thinking about expanded boundaries in many senses. You could say the narrative possibilities of food seduced me first.
The chef in your novel prepares incredible meals. What’s your favorite thing to cook for yourself?
Clear-the-fridge soup, which is less dish than creative mindset. •
LAND OF MILK AND HONEY, BY C PAM ZHANG
RIVERHEAD BOOKS • SEPTEMBER 2023 • 240 PAGES • $28 HARDCOVER
A chef begins a new job at an exclusive colony while the rest of the world is running out of food and resources owing to a quickly worsening climate crisis. She soon falls headfirst into an intoxicating abundance of food, clean air, and her own pleasure. C Pam Zhang—whose debut novel was the Alta Journal California Book Club’s inaugural pick in 2020—takes readers on a Dionysian plunge into a failing global order.
Nasim Ghasemiyeh is an associate editor at Alta Journal. She graduated with a degree in rhetoric from UC Berkeley.
