The shelf · Cooking for one
Does The Pleasures of Cooking for One hold up?
The Pleasures of Cooking for One, by Judith Jones (2009)
Recipes and a case for cooking properly for oneself, written by Julia Child's editor at Knopf after she was widowed.
The short answer
Its advice holds up, but its opening statistic does not: it confuses a share of households with a share of people.
The claims, checked
Fifty-one per cent of people in the New York metropolitan area live alone.
Does not hold Around 2009, just over half of Manhattan's households were single-person. Manhattan is one borough, and a share of households is not a share of people.
Evidence: DNAinfo, 2009
People who eat alone tend to eat less well, so a person alone should cook proper meals.
Holds with conditions A review of 41 studies found people living alone eat a less varied diet with less fruit, vegetables and fish, more so among men. This is an association.