The ramen king and I

by Andy Raskin

For three days in January 2007, the most e-mailed article in The New York Times was Appreciations: Mr. Noodle, an editorial noting the passing, at age ninety-six, of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant ramen. The very existence of the noodle inventor came as a shock to many, but not to Andy Raskin, who had spent nearly three years trying to meet Ando. Why? To fix the problems that plagued his love life. The Ramen King and I is the true story of Raskins colossal struggle to confront the truth of his dating life, and how Momofuku Ando served as his unlikely spiritual guide. Raskins quest leads him to some unexpected placesfrom the Wharton School and Kmart headquarters to the Instant Ramen Invention Museum and a funeral in a baseball stadium and he eats a lot of Japanese food. Along the way, hes spurred on by cinematic samurai warriors, manga-based chefs, and the author Haruki Murakami. Charting Raskins pursuit of the elusive Ando, The Ramen King and I unfolds partly through frank, rev