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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School in Paris
by
Kathleen Flinn's unforgettable, New York Times Bestselling account of her French culinary adventures
Kathleen Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old middle manager trapped on the corporate ladder - until her boss eliminated her job. Instead of sulking, she took the opportunity to check out of the rat race for good - cashing in her savings, moving to Paris, and landing a spot at t ...more
Kathleen Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old middle manager trapped on the corporate ladder - until her boss eliminated her job. Instead of sulking, she took the opportunity to check out of the rat race for good - cashing in her savings, moving to Paris, and landing a spot at t ...more
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Paperback, 278 pages
Published
September 2nd 2008
by Penguin Books
(first published October 4th 2007)
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Community Reviews
Showing 1-30
Start your review of The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School in Paris
The parts about what it's like to be at cooking school were really interesting. The parts about what it's like to be Kathleen Flinn were not.
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How do you rate a book 5*, what criteria do you use? I can tell you when a book is 10 star, so far above anything else in story, characterisation and writing that you know you probably won't read a better book that year. (view spoiler) This book is not like that.
It is, however, quite well-written, the recipe ...more
It is, however, quite well-written, the recipe ...more
The challenge of cooking at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school; great recipes, and some personal memories in between. Food as art. A memoir.
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn is a memoir, and th ...more
On the look of food, from El Bulli cuisine:This is a great read for cooks and aspiring chefs (I'm not one of the latter).
" A culinary language is being created which is becoming more and more ordered, that on some occasions establishes a relationship with the world and language of art.”
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry by Kathleen Flinn is a memoir, and th ...more
Thoroughly disappointing as a culinary memoir.
I second what one reader said before in that there's absolutely no conflict at the heart of the story. Kathleen begins this novel as a chef and ends it as a chef, albeit one who can now add puff pastry to her repertoire. Even when Mike is in the hospital, or Kathleen experiences a terrifying kidney infection, her carefree voice and sparse prose treat it as a minor annoyance, along the lines of a clogged toilet.
Tra la la, tra la la, we get it. Your ...more
I second what one reader said before in that there's absolutely no conflict at the heart of the story. Kathleen begins this novel as a chef and ends it as a chef, albeit one who can now add puff pastry to her repertoire. Even when Mike is in the hospital, or Kathleen experiences a terrifying kidney infection, her carefree voice and sparse prose treat it as a minor annoyance, along the lines of a clogged toilet.
Tra la la, tra la la, we get it. Your ...more
Sometimes there's more to a story than what's printed on its pages. For example, my copy is stained with wine and chicken stock. And I suspect that's what Flinn intended: to give an experience. Reading the first chapter, I knew that this would sit on my kitchen counter and not in my shelves.
And if the vicarious experience of living in France and falling in love--with cooking and a guy named Mike--isn't enough, consider the discovery between recipes and insider accounts of what happens at a famo ...more
And if the vicarious experience of living in France and falling in love--with cooking and a guy named Mike--isn't enough, consider the discovery between recipes and insider accounts of what happens at a famo ...more
Gosh, it's been a long time since I've read a book I didn't like. Unfortunately, I read this upon returning from France, and so perhaps I had too high expectations for it, but Flinn's narrative is just sort of lame. I got about halfway through the book before deciding that life was too short to waste it on a mediocre read, and I moved on. The recipes and the descriptions of the inner workings of Le Cordon Bleu are really interesting, but Flinn herself is a little annoying. Sometimes you feel she
...more
The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, is a lovely read. No stranger to stories about food, I found this particular piece interesting because it ventures beyond the personal associations we all have with food and channels the deep seeded desire we all have to drop everything and pursue the one thing we love, in this case cooking. The author's voice is clear, while she discusses her daily successes and failures in the kitchen, she leads the reader through a tour of culinary paris, and a trip t
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Already unmoved by it. I am currently attending this said school and i must say there is more drama and "vivre" in the classroom than her writing. its flat. nothing simmers or boils from the pages. i expected it to be transcendent, with language far more flowery and humorous than this. although it is quite accurate in detailing the events of the school,however the plot is vague. I'd recommend it if you really want to know what its like being a culinary student in Paris. Otherwise, pick up eat, p
...more
Jan 31, 2008
Alexa Hamilton
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
give-up-your-job-and-get-a-new-life,
food
I sat down and read this book in an evening because I love food and I love the idea that people go do these crazy, rigorous courses in other countries to learn how to cook incredible food, every time. And they talk about tasty, tasty food a lot. There is a recipe at the end of every chapter and most have some relation to what Kathleen is cooking as part of Le Cordon Bleu's course so most of it is very classic and meaty, which sounds great but isn't really what I cook. Don't read the book for the
...more
Feb 23, 2009
Shelby *trains flying monkeys*
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
foodie-love,
read-2013
I loved the parts about the cooking but the other parts about her life just about bored me to tears. The thing is this is my favorite type of book and it just didn't do it for me.
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I read another book by this author a year or two ago and enjoyed it, so when I was craving a good foodie read recently I decided to look for more. I was not disappointed. Most of her books are memoir-style and very entertaining. This book chronicles her journey through Le Cordon Bleu cooking school after being booted out of the corporate world (isn't this every foodie-stuck-in-a-cubicle's fantasy? No? OK, maybe just mine then. Although after reading about how tough the chef instructors there are
...more
It’s not the first time such an experience is recorded and published. Michael Ruhlman shared his journey in the Culinary Institute of America (CIA), the Harvard of cooking schools in The Making of a Chef. Katherine Darling gave us a glimpse of her life in New York City’s famed French Culinary Institute in her memoir – Under the Table and Dalia Jurgensen showed us the real kitchen scene through her writing in Spiced: A Pastry Chef’s True Stories of Trials by Fire, After-Hours Exploits and What Re
...more
Kathleen Flinn was 35 when she got laid off from her job writing web content. As an American working in London she is far from family and friends. She decides to take this as an opportunity to pursue her dream of going to Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in Paris. Her boyfriend moves from Seattle to live in Paris with her while she attends school. We hear of her lessons at school, including her failures and her successes. Each chapter includes a recipe at the end that relates to that chapter.
The ...more
The ...more
Kathleen Flinn's memoir of her time at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris made me really happy, really inspired to do things I've always wanted to do, and really hungry. Of course, the book is filled with various recipes that feature prominently in the various chapters, and most of them are adapted or at least something that could reasonably be achieved by the home cook.
Flinn's story is really heartfelt; just like a good meal, it is obvious that the author's heart and soul went into its pro ...more
Flinn's story is really heartfelt; just like a good meal, it is obvious that the author's heart and soul went into its pro ...more
I loved this cooking memoir! Kathleen Flinn is a journalist. She went to Le Cordon Bleu in Paris and graduated. She took and passed all three classes-Basic, Intermediate, and Superior. It was so interesting to hear how it all worked. She is a great writer and very funny.
Flinn had met Julia Child on two separate occasions. She had gone to a cooking workshop at a fancy resort before she (Flinn) went to Le Cordon Bleu. A woman came in late and sat next to her saying the salmon at breakfast was so ...more
Flinn had met Julia Child on two separate occasions. She had gone to a cooking workshop at a fancy resort before she (Flinn) went to Le Cordon Bleu. A woman came in late and sat next to her saying the salmon at breakfast was so ...more
While I enjoyed this journey with Flinn to the famed Cordon Bleu Cooking School in Paris, I couldn't help but feel something was missing. She described going to class, the demonstrations, what it is like to live in Paris, etc., but I didn't get a feel for what really goes on when you are a student. She learns all these fancy French dishes, but I wanted the nitty gritty, HOW do you learn how to make these? Some of the students weren't even cooks, how did they learn? There were translators, but I
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We listened to this as a family on a series of highway trips and really enjoyed it. The author decides to attend Le Cordon Bleu, the famous Paris culinary school, after getting laid off from a high-powered job in London. She tells a double story, that of her studies at the school and that of her romance with the man who encourages her to go to Paris, joins her there, and eventually becomes her husband. Highlights include her anecdotes about apartment life in Paris, and her often fraught relation
...more
This memoir was very entertaining and contained lots of interesting stuff about cooking, Paris, and Le Cordon Bleu. But Kathleen seemed extremely confident in her abilities, so her constant assertions that she was insecure and nervous rang extremely false. A bit annoying, actually! Read Julia Child's My Life in France instead.
...more
This book was delicious. Though I'll never cook the recipes Flinn mastered at Le Cordon Bleu (French wine and aspic aren't my things), I loved getting lost in her world of perfect mise en place and sharpened knives. I daydream at least once every few days about packing up and moving to Europe, so this was a perfect escape.
Now if only Julie as in "Julie and Julia" had been this likeable....
Happy reading and happy eating~ ...more
Now if only Julie as in "Julie and Julia" had been this likeable....
Happy reading and happy eating~ ...more
one line review!
alternate title: eat, complain about your non-existent white people problems, love
more lines review!
I’ve been lugging Kathleen Flinn’s “The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry” from undersized East Coast apartment to undersized East Coast apartment for at least three years. Each time I nestled the press galley copy I snagged from a sophomore year internship onto the shelf, I’d consider reading it, then take a nap. (Actually, let’s not kid ourselves with the shelves — what are fl ...more
alternate title: eat, complain about your non-existent white people problems, love
more lines review!
I’ve been lugging Kathleen Flinn’s “The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry” from undersized East Coast apartment to undersized East Coast apartment for at least three years. Each time I nestled the press galley copy I snagged from a sophomore year internship onto the shelf, I’d consider reading it, then take a nap. (Actually, let’s not kid ourselves with the shelves — what are fl ...more
I’d give this 3 stars for sharing moderately interesting tidbits about life in Paris and cooking at Le Cordon Bleu... But Kathleen Flinn is such a shitty person, I want to give this zero stars. Her ignorance and tactless “casual racism” made me cringe so hard. She managed to put down and stereotype every minority/person of color in her cooking class, and quotes their lines in an embarrassingly offensive and over-the-top accent, for example, replacing “l” sounds with “r” for a generic Asian accen
...more
With her journalist background, Flinn is a better reporter than writer. Her prose is sometimes lacking (and sometimes downright embarrassing, especially when she reaches for insight), but her story (a woman in her 30's who's laid off so she uses all her savings to attend Le Cordon Bleu in Paris) is still interesting. Just hearing how the famous school works, with its difficult teachers, competitive students and crazy assignments (so much meat stuffed with meat stuffed with meat!) is good enough
...more
It was probably a mistake to read this so soon after _My Life in France_, as it suffered in comparison. This is the story of a corporate type who gets laid off and decides to pursue a lifelong dream of taking classes at Le Cordon Bleu. Not a bad story, but definitely rather superficial. For those more interested in the actual cooking/classes, try Michael Ruhlman's _The Making of a Chef_; for Francophile enthusiasm, try _My Life in France_.
...more
I give it 5 stars, but a warning. If you're a vegetarian, with a strong constitution, then 4 stars. If you're a squeamish veggie, then 3 or maybe you should skip it altogether.
I liked the writing though and the way it was put together and even though I'm a bit of a squeamish vegetarian, I managed to get through all right. I enjoyed it enough to live with that aspect of it. My favourite chapter is actually the epilogue, but it wouldn't do you any good to skip to it because you have to have the b ...more
I liked the writing though and the way it was put together and even though I'm a bit of a squeamish vegetarian, I managed to get through all right. I enjoyed it enough to live with that aspect of it. My favourite chapter is actually the epilogue, but it wouldn't do you any good to skip to it because you have to have the b ...more
This book is not for the squeamish! I thought it would be interesting to see what it's like for students attending Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Paris and it was...but I had no idea that when they prepare any sort of meat or fish, the creature has not been anywhere near a butcher. The students ARE the butchers. Don't even ask me to explain how they get the eyes out of a dead fish or what it's like to behead small furry creatures that are pets in America. An eerie fascination took over and I r
...more
A nice, light memoir of the author's decision to go to, and time at, Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. Great on details about cooking techniques and living in Paris, pedestrian on insight. Not wrong, mind you, just not exactly a surprise.
I admit one reason that I give it only 3 stars may be that it convinced me that I'd never want to go to Le Cordon Bleu, even if I could afford it. First, too much stress - though she points out that a lot of that is what you bring to it. Second, too much pork and shellf ...more
I admit one reason that I give it only 3 stars may be that it convinced me that I'd never want to go to Le Cordon Bleu, even if I could afford it. First, too much stress - though she points out that a lot of that is what you bring to it. Second, too much pork and shellf ...more
Jun 30, 2013
Kathye Allen
added it
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone who likes to read and cook
Recommended to Kathye by:
Cathy Glinski
While I have never had the urge to live in Paris or attend Le Courdon Bleu, I throughly enjoyed the authors telling of her time there. If you like to cook or travel or both, you will find this a good easy read. For anyone (myself included)who likes to read cookbooks like novels the fact that Ms Flinn includes some very tasyt sound receipes is just the icing on the cake.
I enjoy the I-did-something-crazy-and-wrote-a-book-about-it genre. This book was an interesting glimpse into Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. It didn't make me want to learn to cook, but did make me want to visit Paris and work on my French!
...more
Eh. It didn't suck and I read the whole thing (okay I skipped a lot of the love life stuff) but the book left no positive lasting impressions. I would have liked 80% more cooking-related experiences and 100% less sniping on other women (who were all out to steal her boyfriend [surejan.gif]). Obviously personal relationships are often at the core of our lives, so I understand why Flinn included some of her personal stories; however, just as often the personal stories overshadowed the rest of the
...more
3.5 stars
This mildly entertaining account of a fired exec who earns a degree at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris has one big, fatal flaw: talking down to the reader. We are introduced to translators who repeat the instructions of the French-speaking chefs, which makes sense. But every time they say something, we are reminded that they are translating, or told once again that they are translators. It quickly became quite irritating, as did having very basic, obvious French translated, or having the same p ...more
This mildly entertaining account of a fired exec who earns a degree at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris has one big, fatal flaw: talking down to the reader. We are introduced to translators who repeat the instructions of the French-speaking chefs, which makes sense. But every time they say something, we are reminded that they are translating, or told once again that they are translators. It quickly became quite irritating, as did having very basic, obvious French translated, or having the same p ...more
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Readers also enjoyed
Kathleen Flinn is the author of The New York Times bestseller The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry, a memoir with recipes about her experiences at the famed Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Her second book, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, tells the story of an unusual project in which Flinn delved into the lives of nine culinary novices and tried to figure out what lessons they could learn to beco ...more
Her second book, The Kitchen Counter Cooking School, tells the story of an unusual project in which Flinn delved into the lives of nine culinary novices and tried to figure out what lessons they could learn to beco ...more
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“You can’t hurry love, and you can’t rush puff pastry, either. You can knead too much, and you can be too needy. Always, warmth is what brings pastry to rise. Chemistry creates something amazing; coupled with care and heat, it works some kind of magic to create this satisfying, welcoming, and nourishing thing that is the base of life.”
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“The sharper your knife, the less you cry...for me, it also means cutting those things that get in the way of your passion and living your life the way it is meant to be lived.”
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