Name: Caroline Lewicki's review of Slice Harvester by Colin Atrophy Hagendorf
Item: Slice Harvester
Rating: 1
Author: Caroline Lewicki

Colin Atrophy Hagendorf

Over the course of two years, a twenty-something punk rocker eats a cheese slice from every pizzeria in New York City, gets sober, falls in love, and starts a blog that captures headlines around the world—he is the Slice Harvester, and this is his story. Since its arrival on US shores in 1905, pizza has risen from an obscure ethnic food to an iconic symbol of American culture. It has visited us in our dorm rooms and apartments, sometimes before we’d even unpacked or painted. It has nourished us during our jobs, consoled us during break-ups, and celebrated our triumphs right alongside us. In August 2009, Colin Hagendorf set out to review every regular slice of pizza in Manhattan, and his blog, Slice Harvester, was born. Two years and nearly 400 slices later, he’d been featured in The Wall Street Journal, the Daily News (New York), and on radio shows all over the country. Suddenly, this self-proclaimed punk who was barely making a living doing burrito delivery and selling handmade zines had a following. But at the same time Colin was stepping up his game for the masses (grabbing slices with Phoebe Cates and her teenage daughter, reviewing kosher pizza so you don’t have to), his personal life was falling apart. A problem drinker and chronic bad boyfriend, he started out using the blog as a way to escape—the hangovers, the midnight arguments, the hangovers again—until finally realizing that by taking steps to reach a goal day by day, he’d actually put himself in a place to finally take control of his life for good.

A Memoir in Pizza

Slice Harvester

Leslie Stinson

Caroline Lewicki

This took me far too long to finish...

I found very little that I actually liked about this book. As a New Yorker, I was initially excited to read about a pizza quest that spanned Manhattan. It seems like the book would be a lot more about pizza, but it's really the story of the author overcoming drug and alcohol abuse through this blog about pizza he started. I wanted more pizza and less personal, but maybe I should have read the blog for that.

He is also part of the punk scene and makes a lot of references to things I had never heard of (and after reading and googling, still don't quite know what some of these things were). A lot of the book fell upon deaf ears for me because he uses an obscure punk reference to talk about his experiences. I don't get the reference, so I lose the whole paragraph (or page...or chapter).

The one and only redeeming quality to this book was the end of chapter 9 into chapter 10. Hagendorf describes the best pizza he's had through Slice Harvesting, and then sits down to talk to the owner about his life. It was insightful and interesting, and he learns about a greater pizza connection through his conversation. THAT is what I wanted from this book.

Jason Porterfield

Crisp, not too cheesy, nice balance of ingredients. Just the right amount of punk skuzz.

"Over the course of two years, a twenty-something punk rocker eats a cheese slice from every pizzeria in New York City, gets sober, falls in love, and starts a blog that captures headlines around the world--he is the Slice Harvester, and this is his story. Since its arrival on US shores in 1905, pizza has risen from an obscure ethnic food to an iconic symbol of American culture. It has visited us in our dorm rooms and apartments, sometimes before we'd even unpacked or painted. It has nourished us during our jobs, consoled us during break-ups, and celebrated our triumphs right alongside us. In August 2009, Colin Hagendorf set out to review every regular slice of pizza in Manhattan, and his blog, Slice Harvester, was born. Two years and nearly 400 slices later, he'd been featured in The Wall Street Journal, the Daily News (New York), and on radio shows all over the country. Suddenly, this self-proclaimed punk who was barely making a living doing burrito delivery and selling handmade zines had a following. But at the same time Colin was stepping up his game for the masses (grabbing slices with Phoebe Cates and her teenage daughter, reviewing kosher pizza so you don't have to), his personal life was falling apart. A problem drinker and chronic bad boyfriend, he started out using the blog as a way to escape--the hangovers, the midnight arguments, the hangovers again--until finally realizing that by taking steps to reach a goal day by day, he'd actually put himself in a place to finally take control of his life for good"--

Brook

Loved this

Knowing Colin, I could hear this book in his voice (and eventually did, as I got to help check his bootleg audiobook version for his grandma. Lol). Such a great tale, with some bio about the slice slingers thrown in. Glad he made it through, and this was a joy to read. Also, damn, alcohol is rough, and it's hella rad he got sober and is thriving now. Read this if you like pizza.

Leslie Stinson &
Slice Harvester by Colin Atrophy Hagendorf

Reviews

Join the club

Leslie Stinson &Slice Harvester by Colin Atrophy Hagendorf

Reviews

Join the club

Leslie Stinson &
Slice Harvester by Colin Atrophy Hagendorf