false 42 54 53 true 5687277 read 1 true 882619 currently-reading 0 true 882618 to-read http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/25544096 Siddhartha (Mass Market Paperback) by Hermann Hesse
bookshelves: currently-reading
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49759443 to: Why We Suck: A Feel Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid (Hardcover) by Denis Leary
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49759352 to: The Foie Gras Wars: How a 5,000-Year-Old Delicacy Inspired the World's Fiercest Food Fight (Hardcover) by Mark Caro
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49963785 to: Giveadamn Brown (Paperback) by Robert Deane Pharr
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/49759390 to: Marvels (Paperback) by Kurt Busiek
I've read this previously when it was originally published in 1994, but decided to revisit it in the wake of interest over "Watchmen." the story of the evolution of the Marvel Superhero universe, as seen from the viewpoint of an ordinary freelance photographer, has held up very well over the years. The combination of Kurt Busiek's writing and research with Alex Ross's painstakingly artwork (which resembles old photographs at times) still hits the reader with grace and power. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38895591 to: Alinea (Hardcover) by Grant Achatz
As a coffee table book, Lara Kaster's photographs are some of the most stunning food photography I've ever seen. As a cookbook, the over 300 recipes included in this monolith are as addictive and all-consuming as any I've tried recreating.

My issue with the book is with the essays. Given the writing talents of the food writers involved &#151 Michael Ruhlman, Jeffrey Steingarten, Mark McCluskey and Michael Nagrant &#151 the essays are mainly rehashes of better articles each has written about the Alinea dining experience and Grant Achatz's evolution as a chef. With Achatz's much-publicized recent battle with tongue cancer adding a necessary humanizing element to the aloof and overly serious chef, I expected more of Ruhlman's essay than the standard parallels of Achatz's culinary awakening to a existential journey.

The book could have been a chance to break down the barrier separating Achatz the presumed mad genius and Achatz the man. The Alinea team saved that for the complementary Alinea Mosaic website. There, owners of the book can participate in forums and engage in discussions with members of the Alinea team. I wished that this informality transferred onto the page, but understand the rationale for keeping the two separate-but-equal. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/38895654 to: White Trash Cooking (Jargon) by Ernest Matthew Mickler
This book is not a joke. It serves as both an excellent cookbook and a sociological statement of the poor South at its time of publication. I've owned this book for over ten years and it's become a treasure. ]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22997057 to: The Yiddish Policemen's Union (Hardcover) by Michael Chabon
]]> http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/22997106 to: The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever (Paperback) by John Feinstein
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