Being a foodie with Crohn’s disease is no picnic – pardon the pun – as the autoimmune disease causes serious inflammation and food digestion issues. It could be worse, though, and unfortunately for Jon Reiner, it was. When a Crohn’s flare-up caused his guts to explode, he underwent life threatening surgery and was ordered not to eat or drink anything for three months. Reiner is brutally honest about the difficulties his battle caused not only for him, but for his family in an incredibly inspiring memoir based on his award-winning essay of the same name that ran in Esquire magazine.

The Bottom Line: The Man Who Couldn’t Eat will give you a new appreciation for the importance that food and eating have in all of our lives.