“There are two kinds of ham: raw and cooked. Raw ham is cured with salt and/or smoke over time; cooked ham is boiled. Every culture that makes ham has its own unique and various methods.”

American novelist and memoirist

Kate Christensen is an American novelist and memoirist. She won the 2008 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction for her fourth novel, The Great Man, and is also known for her food-related memoirs. Her fiction includes The Great Man, a novel about a painter and the three women in his life. She has also written Blue Plate Special and How to Cook a Moose; the latter won the 2016 Maine Literary Award for memoir. Her eleventh novel, Good Company, is due from HarperCollins in June 2026.