# Allen Salkin

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{{short description|American journalist, author, and critic}}
thumb|Allen Salkin at his writing desk in 2012
'''Allen Salkin''' is an American journalist,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://muckrack.com/allensalkin|title=Allen Salkin - Freelance Journalist - Muck Rack|website=muckrack.com|accessdate=6 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://forward.com/articles/156031/giving-mom-the-ultimate-art-party/?p=all|title=Giving Mom the Ultimate Art Party|date=13 May 2012 |publisher=}}</ref> author, and critic who has written for the ''[New York Daily News](/source/New_York_Daily_News), [New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times),'' and other publications.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/15/books/review/biting-through-the-skin-by-nina-mukerjee-furstenau-and-more.html?_r=0 | work=The New York Times | first=Jenny | last=Rosenstrach | title='Biting Through the Skin,' by Nina Mukerjee Furstenau, and More | date=13 December 2013}}</ref>

== Education ==
Salkin earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California%2C_Berkeley) and a Master of Arts in journalism from [New York University](/source/New_York_University).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Allen Salkin |url=https://www.thespruceeats.com/allen-salkin-907172 |access-date=2022-03-18 |website=The Spruce Eats |language=en}}</ref>

== Career ==
His 2013 book, ''From Scratch'',<ref>[http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780399159329,00.html http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,<span class="bnc-biblio"><span class="bnc-ean">9780399159329</span></span>]</ref> gives a behind-the-scenes look at the history and personalities who created and staffed the [Food Network](/source/Food_Network).<ref name="NY Daily News">{{cite news|title=Allen Salkin's 'From Scratch' is the definitive account of the 20-year-old Food Network| url=http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/allen-salkin-scratch-tells-food-network-article-1.1474583 | location=New York | work=Daily News}}</ref> He is also the author of the book ''Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us''<ref>{{cite book | isbn=0-446-69674-9 | title=Festivus: The Holiday for the Rest of Us | last1=Salkin | first1=Allen | date=26 October 2005 | publisher=Grand Central }}</ref> about the parody holiday of [Festivus](/source/Festivus). Salkin spent three years as a staff reporter at ''[The New York Times](/source/The_New_York_Times)'',<ref>{{cite news|title=Articles by Allen Salkin| url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/s/allen_salkin/index.html?inline=nyt-per | work=The New York Times | first=Allen | last=Salkin}}</ref> hosted a video series on [AOL](/source/AOL)'s former blog Slashfood,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.slashfood.com/bloggers/allen-salkin/|title=AOL Food - Recipes, Cooking and Entertaining|last=AOL|publisher=|access-date=2010-08-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100909210218/http://www.slashfood.com/bloggers/allen-salkin/|archive-date=2010-09-09|url-status=dead}}</ref> and appeared on a number of reality TV series.

Published in hardcover on October 1, 2013 by [G. P. Putnam's Sons](/source/G._P._Putnam's_Sons) and in paperback on October 7, 2014 by [Berkley Books](/source/Berkley_Books) with a new afterword and subtitle, ''From Scratch'' is based upon extensive inside access, documents, and interviews with executives, presenters, and former and current employees of the [Food Network](/source/Food_Network).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://allensalkin.com/fromscratch|title=About the book From Scratch: The Uncensored History of the Food Network|first=Allen|last=Salkin|work=Allen Salkin |publisher=}}</ref> Salkin interviewed over 200 people<ref name="NY Daily News" /> who have been involved with the network's history. Salkin takes an in-depth look at the business side of how early executives managed to create a television network out of an idea that some called "the worst idea ever".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.wnyc.org/people/allen-salkin/|title=People - Allen Salkin|publisher=}}</ref>"From Scratch" was named by [NPR](/source/NPR) as one of the best books of 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2013/#/book/from-scratch-inside-the-food-network|title=NPR's Book Concierge|publisher=}}</ref>

He has written for various publications on subjects including [Annie Leibovitz](/source/Annie_Leibovitz)'s financial troubles,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/24/arts/design/24artloans.html?ref=allensalkin | work=The New York Times | first=Allen | last=Salkin | title=That Old Master? It's at the Pawnshop | date=23 February 2009}}</ref> the last true waterbed salesman in the [San Francisco Bay Area](/source/San_Francisco_Bay_Area),<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/14/garden/for-water-bed-holdout-california-dreaming.html?smid=pl-share | work=The New York Times | first=Allen | last=Salkin | title=For Water Bed Holdout, California Dreaming | date=14 August 2003}}</ref> the lives of [R.](/source/Robert_Crumb) and [Aline](/source/Aline_Kominsky-Crumb) Crumb in France,<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/21/fashion/21crumb.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 | work=The New York Times | first=Allen | last=Salkin | title=Mr. and Mrs. Natural | date=21 January 2007}}</ref> [''The Secret''](/source/The_Secret_(Byrne_book)),<ref>{{cite news|last=Salkin|first=Allen|title=Seeing Yourself in Their Light|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D04E4DA1130F933A1575AC0A96F9C8B63&ref=allensalkin|accessdate=23 July 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=20 September 2009}}</ref> [Sri Sri Ravi Shankar](/source/Sri_Sri_Ravi_Shankar),<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.yogajournal.com/lifestyle/738|title=Emperor of Air - Yoga Journal|date=28 August 2007|publisher=}}</ref> and the NYU Suicides.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thevillager.com/villager_46/nyucopeswith.html|title=N.Y.U. copes with another student suicide|publisher=|access-date=2014-01-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130902014520/http://thevillager.com/villager_46/nyucopeswith.html|archive-date=2013-09-02|url-status=dead}}</ref>  In the 1990s as a political and investigative reporter at the New York Post, he was on a team with Maggie Haberman and Jack Newfield that exposed corruption in the city's Surrogates Court. He also covered politics and real estate, writing dispatches on Eliot Spitzer's first race for New York Attorney General and on the business structures of Donald Trump's buildings.

He appeared on the reality TV show [''#1 Single''](/source/Number_1_Single). On episode two of this show, he is shown meeting [Lisa Loeb](/source/Lisa_Loeb) on an airplane date, and then having a second date where he takes Lisa to the [Donut Plant](/source/Donut_Plant). The relationship ends in the same episode, when Loeb's date "eventually turns sour when the guy uses her fame to boost his own career."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0777306/ |website=IMDB |title=#1 Single / Welcome to New York |access-date=23 December 2023}}</ref> He appeared on two episodes of ''[E! True Hollywood Story](/source/E!_True_Hollywood_Story)'', one which featured [Chris Farley](/source/Chris_Farley) and another with [Paula Deen](/source/Paula_Deen), made an appearance as an expert on the trendiness of monocles for [''Q''](/source/Q_(magazine)) with [Jian Ghomeshi](/source/Jian_Ghomeshi), and has done media interviews as an expert on [celebrity chef](/source/celebrity_chef)s and food media for [NPR](/source/NPR)'s ''[Weekend Edition](/source/Weekend_Edition)'', ''[Morning Joe](/source/Morning_Joe)'', ''[Reliable Sources](/source/Reliable_Sources)'' with [Brian Stelter](/source/Brian_Stelter), [ABC News](/source/ABC_News_(United_States)) ''[Nightline](/source/Nightline)'', and on other outlets.

In the documentary ''City of Gold'', Salkin compares the restaurant critic [Jonathan Gold](/source/Jonathan_Gold) to [Raymond Chandler](/source/Raymond_Chandler).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/movies/la-et-mn-sundance-city-of-gold-20150129-story.html|title=Sundance 2015: 'City of Gold' documents eclectic Times critic Jonathan Gold|first=Sam|last=Adams|website=[Los Angeles Times](/source/Los_Angeles_Times) |date=28 January 2015 |publisher=}}</ref> Salkin also appeared in the documentary series ''[Eat: The Story of Food](/source/Eat%3A_The_Story_of_Food)'' and, uncredited, in the documentary ''[Bill Cunningham New York](/source/Bill_Cunningham_New_York)''. He was featured in ''[Bad Vegan: Fame. Fraud. Fugitives.](/source/Bad_Vegan%3A_Fame._Fraud._Fugitives.)'', a [Netflix](/source/Netflix) documentary series about restaurateur [Sarma Melngailis](/source/Sarma_Melngailis).<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=2022-03-17 |title=Sarma Melngailis, Netflix's "Bad Vegan," Stares Down Her Past—And Future |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2022/03/sarma-melngailis-netflixs-bad-vegan-stares-down-her-past-and-future |access-date=2022-03-18 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}</ref>

Starting in 2015, Salkin began writing film reviews for the ''[New York Daily News](/source/New_York_Daily_News)'', and is listed on [Rotten Tomatoes](/source/Rotten_Tomatoes) as a "Top Critic".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/critic/allen-salkin/|title=Allen Salkin Movie Reviews & Previews - Rotten Tomatoes|website=[Rotten Tomatoes](/source/Rotten_Tomatoes) |publisher=}}</ref> In 2018, Salkin signed a deal with St. Martin's Press to co-author, with political reporter Aaron Short, ''The Method to the Madness: How Donald Trump Went from Penthouse to White House in Fifteen Years--An Oral History''.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trump-book-frenzy-is-gaining-momentum-1105438|title=Trump Book Frenzy Is Only Gaining Momentum|work=The Hollywood Reporter|access-date=2018-07-17|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
* [http://www.msnbc.com/morning-joe/watch/why-the-food-network-is-at-a-crossroads-107929155729/ Salkin video on ''Morning Joe'']
*[http://allensalkin.com/ Official Website]
*[http://allensalkin.tumblr.com/ Website for ''From Scratch: Inside The Food Network'']

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Salkin, Allen}}
Category:American investigative journalists
Category:Living people
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:University of California, Berkeley alumni
Category:New York University alumni
Category:The New York Times journalists
Category:New York Daily News people
Category:American film critics
Category:21st-century American journalists

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Allen Salkin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Salkin) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allen_Salkin?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.