"In a captivating blend of culinary history and popular culture, award-winning author Laura Shapiro shows us what happened when the food industry elbowed its way into the kitchen after World War II, brandishing canned hamburgers, frozen baked beans, and instant piecrusts. Big business waged an all-out campaign to win the allegiance of American housewives, but most women were suspicious of the new foods--and the make-believe cooking hey entailed. With sharp insight and good humor, Laura Shapiro shows how the ensuing battle helped shape the way we eat today, and how the clash in the kitchen reverberated elsewhere in the house as women struggled with marriage, work, and domesticity. This unconventional history overturns our notions about the '50s and '60s offering vivid portraits of some of its most fascinating icons, including Poppy Cannon, Shirley Jackson, Julia Child, and Betty Friedan. "--Publisher's description.