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The Hamburger: A History (Icons of America) Paperback – Illustrated, May 26, 2009

by Josh Ozersky (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 26 ratings
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America has run on hamburgers for almost a century. This is the story of their sizzle and their symbolism, where they came from and how they conquered the world.

What do Americans think of when they think of the hamburger? A robust, succulent spheroid of fresh ground beef, the birthright of red-blooded citizens? Or a Styrofoam-shrouded Big Mac, mass-produced to industrial specifications and served by wage slaves to an obese, brainwashed population? Is it cooking or commodity? An icon of freedom or the quintessence of conformity?
 
This fast-paced and entertaining book unfolds the immense significance of the hamburger as an American icon. Josh Ozersky shows how the history of the burger is entwined with American business and culture and, unexpectedly, how the burger’s story is in many ways the story of the country that invented (and reinvented) it.
 
Spanning the years from the nineteenth century with its waves of European immigrants to our own era of globalization, the book recounts how German “hamburg steak” evolved into hamburgers for the rising class of urban factory workers and how the innovations of the White Castle System and the McDonald’s Corporation turned the burger into the Model T of fast food. The hamburger played an important role in America’s transformation into a mobile, suburban culture, and today, America’s favorite sandwich is nothing short of an irrepressible economic and cultural force. How this all happened, and why, is a remarkable story, told here with insight, humor, and gusto.
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  1. Print length
    147 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Yale University Press
  4. Publication date
    May 26, 2009
  5. Dimensions
    8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    030015125X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0300151251
  8. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

An American cultural historian and recognized authority on food, Josh Ozersky is food editor/online for New York Magazine. He has written for The

New York Times, the New York Post, Saveur, and many other publications. His books include Meat Me in Manhattan: A Carnivore’s Guide to New York and Archie Bunker’s America: TV in an Era of Changing Times. He lives in New York City.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Yale University Press; Illustrated edition (May 26, 2009)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 147 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 030015125X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0300151251
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 7.2 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.1 x 5.4 x 0.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 26 ratings

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Josh Ozersky

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
26 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Frederick S. Goethel
5.0 out of 5 stars Part Food History, Part Corporate Expansion and Part Sociology
Reviewed in the United States on June 23, 2008
Verified Purchase
The history of the hamburger would seem to be a relatively mundane and fairly well known issue. If you thought that, as I did, you would be very mistaken. The history of the hamburger is much more complicated than simply the invention and selling of meat on a bun.

The author starts the book by debunking most of the current myths about how and who invented the hamburger. And, the author uses pretty strict criteria for what a hamburger is and is not. He puts to rest the claims of many of the people who claim to be the originator and comes up with a plausible explanation of how the burger was actually invented.

From that point, the author looks at the social implications, as well as the corporate structure that made the hamburger what it is today. How did McD's get started and how did a lowly piece of meat create one of today's largest corporations? You'll just have to read the book to find out. What happened to the company that started it all? And, no, that would not be McD.

The book, while relatively short, is well written and very readable. I enjoyed learning about the sides of the hamburger that I never knew existed.
16 people found this helpful
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Alexander Espinosa
5.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Book
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2018
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Is a very fun quick read. If you enjoy books that tell a story you thought never existed this one is it. The book is a nice read and fun for non-fiction. Bought my book used, and got it in very good condition.
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Richard Weems
4.0 out of 5 stars It's a fun ride to be had--Ozersky's wit and warmth will not ...
Reviewed in the United States on July 20, 2015
Verified Purchase
Fairer to say a history of the fast food hamburger industry, Ozersky takes us through a whirlwind tour of the rise of the giants--White Castle (aka, patient zero) and the model they set that got picked up by McDonald's, emulated by Burger King, trashed by Wendy's. It's a fun ride to be had--Ozersky's wit and warmth will not disappoint.
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Justin Linsenmeyer
5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome. Loved it
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2016
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Just as described. Awesome. Loved it!
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Cornerstone
2.0 out of 5 stars Good author when he actually cares to discuss history.
Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2014
Verified Purchase
Solid history, but unfortunately for every two goods pages of history you get three pages of his "social commentary" on the US, often with somewhat tenuous connections to the subject at had, namely hamburgers. For example, he rants about "Happy Days" being the most popular sitcom at one time--the connection being hamburgers were one of the items served at a restaurant in the show. Weak stuff. The actual history here can be read on sources like Wikipedia.
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ThePandyMan
5.0 out of 5 stars "Well Done"
Reviewed in the United States on April 25, 2015
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This book was very thorough about the history of the Hamburger.
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Katie M.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great!
Reviewed in the United States on January 11, 2011
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Thank you! This book is great (says my husband, it was a gift for him!) Delivery was fast. Quality of the book is great...looks new.
One person found this helpful
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David Block
3.0 out of 5 stars If we are not what we eat, then are we what we say?
Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2011
Verified Purchase
If you did not believe in reincarnation before, read this book, and believe! Josh Ozersky lived thousands of years ago. He has returned to write the lore of The Burger.

In the 12 airtight tombs I excavated in the Babylonian cities of Ur, Ahhh, and UhOh, we find the still-wet blankets used to gag - some think, throttle - the enclosed young men and women, likely buried before their time. Clay tablets found nearby tell the story: in a society that prized sullen conversation, these people not only couldn't shut up, they could not stick to the subject. They had to quote Homer or throw in a reference to The Book of the Dead; talk about a party with the Hyksos or minor dignitaries from Troy. They couldn't inscribe one pictograph without making it into three tablets. Babylonians could not abide that barley-liquor party chatter from Abraham and forced him to emigrate, figuring the Judeans were already famous for their intellectualism. Josh Ozersky would have ended up in a tomb as one of the Babeling 12.

Ozersky is so bright and knows so many words and has read so many books and has so many things to say. He lacks only an internal editor, and so ends up being precious. Here's an example: "A hamburger is no mere sandwich, thrown together at home for convenient eating at the gaming table of the TV room, a random pile of starch and meat. No, it is a product of modern industrial manufacturing, each burger as artfully self-contained as a Homeric hexameter. The bun and the burger were created for each other and spoke of their symbiosis in the language of circumferential geometry" (29). OK. He really wants to talk about 'the hamburger' as a metaphor special to America: created for a poor but honest subsistence diet among hardworking immigrants, it quickly became a product of purely American mechanical ingenuity and management science, then the stuff of American fortunes, and then as an export, a symbol of the American exceptionalism that ironically wants to remake the world in the image of infinitely reproducible Big Mac's. And in this form, it becomes the stuff of art and myth once again.

The irony is not lost on him; he wants us to know that NOTHING is. I appreciate that. Couldn't you have said this in, say, 50 pages? Without the asides? It's not a cocktail party, Josh.

The bottom line is, a very interesting book, more about the idea of the burger than The Hamburger itself, written by a smart kid who never got laid in high school, and is trying to make up for it now.

By the way, I made up the stuff in the first two paragraphs. Not that I think Josh makes up things - no way! We just both enjoy creating tenuous contexts.
4 people found this helpful
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Food With Legs
5.0 out of 5 stars Banquet burger of burger histories
Reviewed in Canada on June 3, 2015
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Equal parts entertainment and education from the most talented food writer of his generation. Sad to see him go so soon.
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