Bøger af Klecko

"A Bakeable Feast" by Klecko is a memoir of 45 years as a bread baker, poet, emcee and keen observer of a host of co-workers and colleagues from across the globe. Each 'Baking Memory' is a page in length and tells the stories of individuals who have populated the bread crew over the years - the memories vary from sweet to ribald, from funny to tragic, and everything in between. There are stories of drug users, Nutcracker collectors, pastry chefs, blizzards, holidays, loneliness, chess clubs, music, movies, nuns, magic, Munchkins, shuttered bakeries and Klecko's travels to Russia. He also writes of the opportunity that put him on the map in his hometown of St. Paul - baking a loaf of bread specifically for Mikhail Gorbachev when he visited Minnesota's capital. Klecko is one-of-a-kind - a talented baker, gifted writer and compelling storyteller. In the tradition of "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain, "A Bakeable Feast" takes the reader beyond the quest for our daily bread and honors the people - the "tribe" - that master bread baker Klecko has met along the way.

Zelda's Bed spans 72 hours in Montgomery, Alabama. Making a pilgrimage plagued by travel delays and extreme heat, Klecko spends an August weekend at the Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum to launch The Dead Fitzgeralds, the first book in his Fitzgerald trilogy. Located in Montgomery's Cloverdale neighborhood, the museum is in a home where the couple lived briefly in 1931; it now shares space with an Airbnb. For Klecko, a stranger in a strange land, being in the South is surreal and intriguing. A place where he thrives as he delivers his message about the Fitzgeralds. Once the mission is complete, he wanders to Hilltop where he does tarot readings for a line of people stretched out the door of a Montgomery nightclub into the summer heat. From there, he bides his time well into the night, a bottle of Crown Royal at his side, under a sprawling magnolia tree in the Fitzgeralds' front yard. The mystery of Zelda is revealed during a night he spends in her bedroom. And he discovers the sad charm of Zelda's love for her Montgomery hometown, and her dreams for the future, as he trudges, parched and hungover through Oakwood Cemetery on a Sunday morning.In real time, it's hard to noticeSilence without exceptionLeads up to The crescendo of a momentIn 72 hours, Klecko experiences the moments of a lifetime and the kindness of strangers in a place called Montgomery, Alabama.

"3 a.m. Austin Texas" is based on a true story of the author, Klecko. In 1982, when he was a young Minnesota man, still in his late teens, he threw away his life only to reclaim it while hitchhiking to Texas in the dead of winter. Long before the days of cellphones, this journey, made in abject solitude, save for a few people he met along the way, taught him how to be resilient and gain confidence.

In "Hitman-Baker-Casketmaker: Aftermath of an American's Clash with ICE," winner of a 2020 Midwest Book Award, Klecko wrote about losing his bakery and crew of 25 years. In "Lincolnland," the 40+ year master bread baker has a dream where Abraham Lincoln tells him not to lose hope. Vindication was waiting. All the baker had to do was head to Washington, D.C. to receive instructions from Lincoln's ghost. Klecko went to the nation's capital but Lincoln never materialized. Still the baker believed, planned a second trip to D.C., but the world shut down due to the pandemic. With nothing to lose, Klecko reached out to famous people who inspired him. Could they help? Would they help? Along the way, he traveled throughout the Midwest on a series of unique adventures. Would Klecko find vindication or Lincoln's ghost? The outcome may shock you, but one thing's for certain: If you buy "Lincolnland" and read "Lincolnland," you're going to be motivated to live your life to the fullest.