Better Than Food
Cliff Sargent is the reader behind Better Than Food, sharing personal book reviews that range from literary classics and philosophy to horror and transgressive fiction.
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Latest
Cliff’s happenings, collected from public sources, plus his backstory and Starbook, where fans write.
Known for
YouTube
YouTube
YouTubeOverview
- Creator
- Clifford Lee Sargent, known as Cliff
- Work
- Book reviewer and video creator
- Background
- Studied filmmaking and worked as a camera operator and editor
- Channel launch
- 2015, according to his Bajada Dialogues interview biography
- Early calling card
- His 2015 Blood Meridian review led interviewer Aaroh Palkar to discover the channel
Mini bio
From film to books.
Clifford Lee Sargent grew up near Portland, Oregon, studied filmmaking, and worked as a camera operator and editor before launching Better Than Food in 2015, according to the biography accompanying his Bajada Dialogues interview. His channel centers on personal responses to books, with a recurring interest in classics, philosophy, horror, and transgressive fiction.
An early way in.
His Blood Meridian review was already bringing readers to the channel in its early years. Aaroh Palkar says he discovered Cliff through that review, watched more of his videos, and invited him to an interview published in July 2016. The channel’s reading conversations also grew into interviews: in March 2017, Cliff’s first BTF Podcast episode asked philosopher Greg Sadler for three books that changed his life.
A reading community.
Alongside public YouTube reviews and annual favorites, Cliff offers patron-only reviews, ad-free reviews, Discord access, and the Better Than Friday newsletter through Patreon. His recent reading moves between writers such as Shirley Jackson, Ryu Murakami, Cormac McCarthy, and Michael Ondaatje.
Creditschronological, newest first
- 2026My five favorite books I read in 2025Host and reviewer
- 2025The Getting Lit Podcast: Better Than Food feat. Cliff SargentGuest
- 2025Bajada Dialogues: Cliff Sargent (Better Than Food)Guest
- 2025Everything Went Black, episode 380Guest
- 2017BTF Podcast #1: Greg Sadler’s Top 3 Books that are Better Than FoodHost
- 2015Cormac McCarthy: Blood Meridian book reviewHost and reviewer
Quotes
Personal opinions about books that I consider Better Than Food.Cliff Sargent, Better Than Food YouTube channel description
His own description of the channel’s approach.
Trivia
- His current YouTube profile picture shows him peering over Fernando Pessoa’s The Book of Disquiet.
- He calls his Patreon newsletter Better Than Friday and describes it as five things he is interested in, sent every Friday.
- His book wishlist promises a thank-you by name when he reviews a book a viewer sends from the list.
- For the first BTF Podcast episode, Greg Sadler chose Plato’s Republic, Aristotle’s Nicomachean Ethics, and Epictetus’ Discourses.
Find Cliff
Follow Cliff’s reviews, reading picks, and book conversations.
Are you Better Than Food?
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