His latest book, A Meal Observed, won the PEN USA Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction in 2005, and was included in the Best Food Writing 2004. He is also the author of Dangerous Games and the San Francisco Chronicle best seller Fall of the Phantom Lord, which examined the allure of risk sports and chronicled the exploits of world-class rock climber Dan Osman.
“Delectable… a tribute to Todhunter's prowess as a writer… has the flavor and urbanity of A.J. Liebling and John McPhee.” —New York Daily News
“Front and center in this philosophical and exhilarating collection is the humanity motivating every incredible action.”
—The New York Times
“Classic, participant-observer journalism, informed and heady, that brightly illuminates the strange, enthralling world of extreme sports.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Since 1987, Todhunter has contributed articles and essays to National Geographic, The Atlantic, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post Sunday Magazine, Smithsonian and Men’s Journal, among other national publications. His subjects range widely, from a frozen gully in the Scottish highlands, to the ship’s bar of a German freighter, to the pastry kitchen of a Parisian restaurant. Two of his articles for The Atlantic have received notable mention in the Best American Sports Writing series, and his work has been anthologized in numerous volumes, including Down Time: Great Writers on Diving and The Best of Rock & Ice. His work has been translated into Italian, Russian, Chinese and Japanese.