APPETITE

A propulsive, heartfelt, and utterly original debut about a young chef trying to find her way in a world that’s not built for her to succeed—and the pro wrestler she idolizes who derails everything

Zarina, a prep cook at a fancy New Haven restaurant, is underpaid, overworked, and might as well be invisible. The only upside: they get to take home leftover ingredients. Every night, Zarina whips up modern spins on the Bangladeshi dishes she grew up eating, all while enjoying her second greatest passion: professional wrestling. Namely, Zarina’s hero Sierra Myst—the massively successful, high-flying heel who’s built like a superhero and is every bit as confident and daring as one. 

One night, Zarina posts online about one of Sierra Myst’s wins, and the most improbable thing happens: Sierra reaches out to Zarina. Zarina is elated at the chance to become closer with her idol, and at first, their friendship is everything Zarina’s ever dreamed of. Zarina’s confidence grows, their world gets bigger, and opening their own restaurant doesn’t feel quite so impossible. But as the weeks fly by, Zarina starts to feel more like Sierra’s unpaid personal assistant and relationship counselor—and her desire to make Sierra happy eclipses their own goals and threatens everything they’ve worked for.

Deliciously unsettling and ultimately uplifting, Appetite is about the unique torture of being a twenty-something who’s torn between the person someone else wants you to be and the person you really are.

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PRAISE:

“Peerless in its wily and humorous blend of back-of-house restaurant life, internet fan culture, and the extravagant pageantry of pro-wrestling, P. Paramita’s Appetite holds a mirror to the puzzling ways humans sometimes find themselves connecting with one another, on and offline. It’s as comforting as a warm hug—prepare to be captivated, and hungry.”—Jinwoo Chong, author of I Leave It Up to You

“P. Paramita’s Appetite is a love song to fusion, to kitchens, to wrestling, to mustard, to FaceTime across time zones, to risks on all scales . . . and most of all, it’s a love song to dreaming and friendship, and the ways care and creativity and hunger make everything else possible. This is a deeply modern story about the relationship between our digital and embodied lives, and also a tale that feels timeless, told from the heart, about heritage and reinvention and hope.”—Leslie Jamison, author of The Empathy Exams

“I flew through Appetite in one hungry sitting—chest racing, mouth watering, and seriously questioning if I should make women’s wrestling my new personality. Appetite examines cult-fandom in the era of questionable parasocial relationships and the compromises we make at the chance to meet our heroes. A delicious debut full of warmth, ambition, and what it means to peel back the mask of performance and take the stage anyway. Warning: have snacks on hand before reading. A lot of them.”—Haley Jakobson, author of Old Enough

“At its core, Appetite dissects the funny intimacy between a searching brown immigrant woman and the wealthy, enigmatic white celebrity she idolizes. Paramita examines this dynamic with scalpel-sharp insight, revealing how admiration and power can blur into something more dangerous. Here, hunger is never just about food.” -New Haven Independent

“Sometimes a book comes along that hits all the right notes and makes all the right moves. Paramita’s ode to wrestling and food is a deliciously fun book. The novel digs deep into what happens to a person who finds fame and the fandom that comes along with it.”—Debutiful

“For fans of The Bear and WWE wrestling, pop culture reporter Paramita’s debut novel is a tautly told story about an up-and-coming young chef whose life explodes when she crosses paths with her favorite professional wrestler.”—The Seattle Times

“What is it they say about never meeting your heroes? With reflections on parasocial relationships and lots of delicious food descriptions, [Appetite is] a story you’ll love sinking your teeth into.”—Susie Dumond for Book Riot

“Heartfelt and original . . . Both unsettling and uplifting, Appetite makes all of us question where we are in the torture of discovering who we might become.”—Electric Literature

“This novel could be easily described as a love letter to Bangladeshi cuisine and to professional wrestling. But to say that would be an oversimplification. Zarina’s love for both cooking and professional wrestling bring so many other kinds of love into their life. Both wrestling and cooking give Zarina an avenue to build community, make art, support their friends, and deepen their love for their adopted city. Cooking and wrestling work to infuse Zarina’s life with joy and hope for a better world. And at the end of the day that’s exactly what our obsessions should do.”—Autostraddle

“A tender debut . . . reckoning with fame, fandom, race.”—Tanaïs, author of In Sensorium: Notes for My People

“Women’s wrestling and high-end cooking collide in Paramita’s delightful debut. . . . Paramita tackles myriad themes with aplomb, from the hazards of one-way friendship to the class and racial differences Zarina has difficulty navigating at Zero’s. This offers plenty of rewards.”—Publishers Weekly

“Paramita's gorgeous, hilarious, and deeply relateable debut is ultimately about claiming identity, forming meaningful connections, and discovering what true passion means in a world where one often has to make their own place.” – Booklist