S.E. Boyd is the collective pen name of three veteran journalists: Kevin Alexander, Joe Keohane, and book editor Alessandra Lusardi. Between them, they have authored four non-fiction books, edited dozens more, and written for publications including Esquire, The Atlantic, and The New Yorker. Alexander is also a James Beard Award winner for food writing – a fact that, by all accounts, Keohane and Lusardi are thoroughly tired of hearing about.
Their combined expertise in food culture, media, and long-form storytelling made them uniquely equipped to write The Lemon, a debut novel that takes a gleefully sharp knife to the world of celebrity chefs, fine dining, and the culture of fame.
“We wanted to write a book that was a love letter to food culture and a poison-pen letter to everything around it.”
Published in 2022, The Lemon centres on the death of a larger-than-life television food personality – a figure not unlike Anthony Bourdain – during the lavish opening of a new restaurant in the Hamptons. What unfolds is a darkly hilarious and surprisingly poignant satire of high-end cuisine, Hollywood ego, and the ways in which American culture builds up its heroes only to devour them whole.
The novel was a finalist for the Thurber Prize for American Humor and ultimately won the prize – a remarkable achievement for a debut work of fiction.
Quick Facts
- Authors: Kevin Alexander, Joe Keohane, Alessandra Lusardi
- Award: Thurber Prize for American Humor (winner)
- Background: Esquire, The Atlantic, The New Yorker
- Alexander’s credential: James Beard Award for food writing
- Debut: The Lemon (2022)
What makes S.E. Boyd distinctive is the unusual collaborative alchemy behind the work. Writing a novel by committee is notoriously difficult, yet these three have produced a voice that feels singular rather than stitched together – sardonic, propulsive, and deeply knowledgeable about the specific world it skewers.
The Lemon (2022)