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Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table
by
Ruth Reichl
In this delightful sequel to her bestseller Tender at the Bone, Ruth Reichl returns with more tales of love, life, and marvelous meals. Comfort Me with Apples picks up Reichl’s story in 1978, when she puts down her chef’s toque and embarks on a career as a restaurant critic. Her pursuit of good food and good company leads her to New York and China, France and Los Angeles, ...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
April 9th 2002
by Random House Trade Paperbacks
(first published January 1st 2001)
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This followup to Reichl's first memoir, Tender At the Bone, is as lush as its predecessor, if a little sickening as a comforting marriage splinters, a self is reinvented, and a longed-for child is gained and lost.
Though she's well-known for writing about food, Ruth Reichl is just as adept at writing about the self, particularly when the self is caught in unfamiliar, transitional phases.
In the beginning of Comfort Me With Apples, Reichl finds herself embroiled in one extra...more
Though she's well-known for writing about food, Ruth Reichl is just as adept at writing about the self, particularly when the self is caught in unfamiliar, transitional phases.
In the beginning of Comfort Me With Apples, Reichl finds herself embroiled in one extra...more
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I would be embarrassed to read this in a public place, but it's a mindless read and I have a hard time resisting descriptions of food. This is a good break-up book so far: all the romantic relationships Reichl describes crumble, and her writing is too cheesy for me to feel like she's a real person (see: Made From Scratch, the Sandra Lee memoirs), so it's pleasantly cathartic. Plus- recipes!
I shouldn't speak too soon, though. Maybe she'll meet some amazing guy she's still with in an inspir...more
I shouldn't speak too soon, though. Maybe she'll meet some amazing guy she's still with in an inspir...more
Ruth Reichl, food critic and former editor of Gourmet magazine, is a fluid and engaging writer. Her stories about the early days of California Cuisine were interesting, as were the anecdotes involving people like Wolfgang Puck, Alice Waters, and the Aidells sausage guy before they became household names. But too much of the book is about her personal life, which at this phase involved living in a commune in Berkeley and pursuing several extra-marital affairs. Even if all her descriptions of mea...more
I thought the writing was solid. The book was well paced and easy to move through. But, ultimately, I was left wondering, "So what?" It was relatively entertaining, yes, but the book, on the whole, felt self-indulgent. Another example of someone thinking their life is interesting enough to write about. (Which seems to be everyone and their mother these days.)
Unlike, say, Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential," which weaves its way through the restaurant business...more
Unlike, say, Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential," which weaves its way through the restaurant business...more
Having just read "Garlic and Sapphires", I enjoyed reading this account of how Reichl's late 20's/early 30's period led her to becoming the critic in "Garlic..."
In fact, I gained a distinct pleasure from having read "Garlic.." first, even though chronologically (both in terms of subject matter and author date) it comes afterwards. Reading "...Apples", I got to anticipate and wonder what changes would take place to bring her from where she be...more
In fact, I gained a distinct pleasure from having read "Garlic.." first, even though chronologically (both in terms of subject matter and author date) it comes afterwards. Reading "...Apples", I got to anticipate and wonder what changes would take place to bring her from where she be...more
A beautifully written, inspiring book, full of amazing descriptions of food (though some foods, like boiled brain, don't sound all that appetizing) along with recipes that are woven into this story. This book is an autobiographical account of the author's early life as a restaurant critic. I found it compelling, but perhaps mainly because I had already read her second volume of life in NYC. This book I read chronologically out of order, but had already fell in love with the author, so her descri...more
I read this book on one part of a flight, and ended up in tears on the plane. Oh, she is such a beautiful writer, and just the type of writer that I love. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. I kept reading sections to my foodie husband, and it was just a delight to, on top of that, read about berkeley and boonville and truckee... living in oakland, my husband cooked at the boonville hotel, and my parents live in tahoe.
Her love stor...more
Her love stor...more
I liked the real foodie parts of this book, but it pretty quickly devolved into the sort of memoir where I felt somewhat aghast for Ruth’s friends, family, former and current spouses, and lovers. Yikes!
TMI!
It would have comforted me if she had stuck an apple in her mouth rather than telling me quite so much about her infidelities.
[SPOILERS….]
I don’t know why this is so…she just seemed so stupidly self-destructive at some points and yet constantly f...more
TMI!
It would have comforted me if she had stuck an apple in her mouth rather than telling me quite so much about her infidelities.
[SPOILERS….]
I don’t know why this is so…she just seemed so stupidly self-destructive at some points and yet constantly f...more
This is the second of three books about Ruth’s life. I loved this one as much as the other two. This was a fun book to read because it reminded me of life in the 70’s and the values that were being explored. Ruth lived in a commune where one roommate recycled EVERYTHING and everyone showed up on Sundays for her great cooking. As a young woman she is married and starting her career working at Alice Water’s restaurant and getting her first food review gig. The book is also filled with great recipe...more
This is the story of the famous restaurant critic's beginning in the business through her eventual job as the Food Critic for the L.A. Times. It chronicles the disintegration of her first marriage, the beginning of her 2nd marriage, her beginning independence, her struggles with infertility, among other things. Reichl is at her best when she's actually writing about food--sometimes the periphery is not as fun to follow.
Although it was interesting to me to hear her often funny stories...more
Although it was interesting to me to hear her often funny stories...more
So I guess the Julie and Julia girl was on solid food writer territory when she wrote about cheating on her husband, as Ruth Reichl devoted much of this book to the topic.
I've previously read Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise and Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way, which feature a wise, comforting, almost grandmotherly Reichl writing about food and her relationship with her mother, respectively, so I was taken aback by her...more
I've previously read Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise and Not Becoming My Mother: and Other Things She Taught Me Along the Way, which feature a wise, comforting, almost grandmotherly Reichl writing about food and her relationship with her mother, respectively, so I was taken aback by her...more
I love foodie books, and if I could give half-stars, this would get another half, but alas I cannot round up. This biography of the beginning of Reichl's career is not as compelling at the books of M.F.K. Fisher, of whom Reichl speaks so highly. Perhaps because it is so biographical, it feels limited in scale.
Reichl tells the story of her life from the time she lived in a post-60s Berkeley commune until she became the food columnist for the LA Times. In this, it's sort of an inter...more
Reichl tells the story of her life from the time she lived in a post-60s Berkeley commune until she became the food columnist for the LA Times. In this, it's sort of an inter...more
Warning: don't read this book on an empty stomach! My first book by Reichl and I am a fan. Her descriptions of food and her food adventures as a food critic in early California (with side trips to Paris, China, and Bangkok) had my mouth watering. Along the way, it's a sort of look at the famous people I found early on-- here's Wolfgang Puck before we knew him!
This story is also about her relationships with her husband, lovers, and parents. I found her self-reflection of these relatio...more
This story is also about her relationships with her husband, lovers, and parents. I found her self-reflection of these relatio...more
Comfort Me with Apples, a line taken from Proverbs, is a fitting name for a food book; however, not sure I saw where the comfort food came in so much in this book. But cooking does tend to ground the author and I could identify much with her reasons for cooking what she was cooking when she was cooking and why she was cooking it.
Love Ruth Reichl as a writer and as a cookbook author of sorts. Since I read the third book first followed by her first and now this one last it was intrigui...more
Love Ruth Reichl as a writer and as a cookbook author of sorts. Since I read the third book first followed by her first and now this one last it was intrigui...more
Seldom does a book stir up such conflicting emotions in me! I picked this up because I read "Garlic and Sapphires" last year and so enjoyed Reichl's writing. I also enjoyed the bizarre situations and food she wrote about - I personally hope never to sample calves' brains or caviar, or any of the other weird but fancy dishes Reichl waxes eloquent about, but it sure is fun to read about it.
This book was, to put it mildly, not what I expected. Sure, Reichl's writing was still ...more
This book was, to put it mildly, not what I expected. Sure, Reichl's writing was still ...more
Pikachu
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As a rule, I don't normally like memoirs about women who cheat on their husbands because they are generally so exploitative and self-aggrandizing. COMFORT ME WITH APPLES is the exception to this rule. It shows how Ruth Reichl became a well-paid foodie and came to have the husband and son she has today. Before coming to New York, she lived in a humble commune home in Berkeley with her first husband, Douglas Hollis (a modern artist). Berkeley is pretty much the polar opposite of New York, so this...more
I bought this book maybe a year ago, stuck in on the shelf, and though I did bring it to Canada with me, I have not given it much thought. That is, until I heard to dreaded news that Gourmet magazine will no longer be in print. Gourmet is the only magazine I subscribe to. I love it. Though I cannot afford to make many of the recipes right now, I have them all filed away for a later date in life when I can. So I grabbed my dusty copy of Comfort Me with Apples one evening to read in honor of Ruth ...more
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Comfort Me with Apples has many of the same appeals as Garlic and Sapphires but about half the charm. Where in the latter book there were amusing and poignant adventures, in Comfort Me with Apples there was adultery and unhappiness. The period about which this book was written was not an altogether pleasant one in the writer's life. For this reason, Comfort Me with Apples shows the nuances of Reichl's character better than Garlic and Sapphires which will be nice when reading more of Reichl's boo...more
In a nutshell, this is Ruth Reichl's story of how she became a famous restaurant critic. But beyond that, she describes how she changed in her 30's, how her love affairs shaped and reflected the various phases of who she is as a person, and all that she went through in order to fulfill her wish to have a child.
This book can also be viewed as loosely drawn together anecdotes concerning Reichl's random run-ins and experiences with other famous people, some of whom you might expect a re...more
This book can also be viewed as loosely drawn together anecdotes concerning Reichl's random run-ins and experiences with other famous people, some of whom you might expect a re...more
I am reading all three of her books and pretending they are one long book. I like them more than most memoir-type books since the author lacks the typical need to jam in every story that might seem interesting or impressive. Slow-paced, easy reads. Lots of food and wine talk, which I can get behind.
This was a brutal book to read with a 5 month old baby. It fails the baby rating system! Her life falls apart in every possible way-- relationships get rearranged or forcefully pulled out of her arms (see above about failing the baby rating), everything is upheaval and rearrangement, but ultimately life goes on, food stays the constant comforter, and she grows through her problems.
There is something frightening to me about this middle book in her unofficial series-- the cataclysms of adul...more
There is something frightening to me about this middle book in her unofficial series-- the cataclysms of adul...more
Entertaining, but shoddily written and kinda trashy. Ruth Reichl's like the paperback romance novel writer of the professional food writing world. Buy this book (and Tender at the Bone) at the airport, finish it on the plane, then leave it in the seat pocket in front of you.
I've read two other books by Reichl, Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise and Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table. This book was weaker than either of those. It also contains as much information about her infidelity as it does about food. But if you enjoyed her other books and have an interest in the California cooking scene, you'll probably like this as well, where Reichl befriends Alice Waters, follows Wolfgang Puck and learns that Danny Kaye is not only an ...more
This book was fun to read because it was all about good food, and all aspects of it: cooking, eating, writing about it. The descriptions were evocative enough that you felt you were at some of these meals. Made me wonder, though, how on earth these foodies weren't huge! And whether beeing a food/wine editor or critic was just a way to support one's gourmand tastes and lifestyle.
It was also about relationships, namely Ruth's crumbling marriage and her two affairs. I was actually ...more
It was also about relationships, namely Ruth's crumbling marriage and her two affairs. I was actually ...more
I read Tender at the Bone a few years ago and liked it - this tells Reichl's story from her early adult years. In the first part, she is living in a hippie commune in Berkeley, but working as a restaurant critic going to expensive restaurants - I loved the writing about how she negotiated her way between those two diametrically-opposed worlds. She has a few love affairs in there, and she eats a lot of amazing food. (Some recipes are included - I need to copy down a handful of them.) The end ...more
This book focuses on a woman who became a food writer in the 1970's when gourmet food was changing from a familiar spread of doing familiar things well to a much more adventurous slow-food foray into the unknown. It had a little bit of the Eat Pray Love esque self-indulgence of a woman who feels that she has everything only to find that everything can be really disappointing sometimes but she doesn't try to justify her actions in the same way that I found so irritating in that book. This book ...more
I just could not get into this book--I have very little patience for people who want sympathy while living obviously self indulgent and absorbed lives.
I didn't like this quite as much as Tender at the Bone or Garlic and Sapphires. There wasn't as much food description, and I wasn't as interested in the details of Reichl's personal life here as I was in her childhood (in TatB) or her restaurant reviewing and sociological observations (in GaS). Still, there's much food goodness, and I like how she conveys her sense of comfort in food and eating.
I picked up this memoir of the former editor of Gourmet magazine because the title was so appealing and because she was so interesting and articulate when I heard her interviewed on NPR last year. I spent some time being horrified at some of the things she did, but I also respected her candor in telling things that didn't always make her sound like a hero. And good gracious, the woman really does know how to write--especially about food. Her very words were often delicious. Even I, the relu...more
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Ruth Reichl is an American food writer, the editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine and culinary editor for the Modern Library.
Born to parents Ernst and Miriam (née Brudno), she was raised in New York City and spent time at a boarding school in Montreal. She attended the University of Michigan, where she met her first husband, the artist Douglas Hollis. She graduated in 1970 with a M.A. in art h...more
More about Ruth Reichl...
Born to parents Ernst and Miriam (née Brudno), she was raised in New York City and spent time at a boarding school in Montreal. She attended the University of Michigan, where she met her first husband, the artist Douglas Hollis. She graduated in 1970 with a M.A. in art h...more
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“I felt that I was really living in the moment. I did not know where my life was going, but right now the future did not trouble me.”
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