Comfort Food for Breakups: The Memoir of a Hungry Girl

by Marusya Bociurkiw

An elegiac memoir about food, family, and the thorns of personal history written by a Ukrainian Canadian lesbian, whose family recipes connect intimate vignettes in which food nourishes, comforts, and heals the wounds of the past, including those of a father haunted by memories of time spent in a concentration camp during World War II. The author, both at home and in her travels through North America and Europe, also reconciles her family life with her queer identity; food becomes her salvation and a way to engage with the world. Thoughtful, sensual, and passionate, Comfort Food for Breakups muses on the ways in which food intersects with a nexus of for intimacy, for family, for home. Marusya Bociurkiw is a filmmaker and the author of three previous books.

Genres: Memoir, Food, Queer, Nonfiction, Canada

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[M S]

This uni read made me hungry, that's it, that's the review

[Tiff]

Comfort Food for Breakups doesn't disappoint. As its title indicates, reading this book is like wrapping yourself in a warm blanket while chowing down on a favourite childhood dish. Bociurkiw intermingles memory and food in such savoury language that you really taste her words, smell each described dish, and feel each emotion bubbling up from the pot. I'd recommend picking this up on a lazy, winter day--but not if you're on a diet!

[Stephie Beck]

Once again, another food autobiography-memoir, which I enjoy just for the genre itself. This book main dialogue lies in the interesting history of the author's pre and post WWII Eastern European family, which is captivating but becomes morose early in the book. The author reflects on the way food and family interact in her turbulent life, as well as her families. I found this book lacking in humor and somewhat depressing.

[Irina]

Попри доволі депресивний сюжет (непрості відносини з родичами, я не люблю такий жанр, саме тому зняла одну зірочку), книга знов дуже мені сподобалася через прекрасний стиль авторки та її особистість, яка сяяла крізь строки немов місяць на небі 😌. Вона сама про це згадала в одному з оповідань і я так само згадала, що літературний прийом, який вона використовує, це juxtaposition, мені він дуже подобається. У цій збірці вона використовує juxtaposition більш традиційно, ніж у першій свої книзі, за це я би зняла ще одну зірочку, але все одно вийшло гарно. Як кулінарну книгу, особисто я би її не розглядала, бо рецепти тут, імхо, використовуються як асоціації.

[Em]

I hold this book close to ny heart- the way the author speaks of food, of cooking related to family, of grief- so much of this book is relatable and all of this book manages to reach inside you and pull forth emotions or memories you may have forgotten. Definitely buying this book, definitely recommending to others.

[Keri Murcray]

I enjoyed these stories, and really enjoyed the food and emotion descriptions.

[Mahikā]

Simple, memorable recipes and an extremely relatable voice. A reminder to give into the simple, delicious, quiet moments amidst the chaos.
Inspired me to host a beach potluck!

[Felicia]

i had to read this book for a class over spring break so i approached it with apprehension but once i opened this book, i could not put it down. the book felt like crying in h-mart in a different font with the ways in which food is intertwined with the grief of losing a parent. as a child of an immigrant, i felt and resonated so deeply with the way food and culture write our stories. somehow this book was both so deeply personal to bociurkiw while also incredibly relatable. i wish i could read this again for the first time, to feel everything i felt in my first read through. i felt the pain of an imperfect relationship with a parent, food as a love language, both platonic and romantic, and so much more. bociurkiw's descriptions and imagery is stunning. stories and food exist in tandem and this book so beautifully accentuates that.

[Sarah]

Mmmmmmmm . . . This is (rare) sort of book that I don't want to read too quickly. I can tell that it's going to blend into I Am a Red Dress for me, because it also features a lot of food (recipes!) and family history, but I'm really excited about it. It also reminds me of Crescent Dragonwagon and all the stories that accompany her recipes.

[Kyla]

My enjoyment of this book was substantially increased by having lived in two of the places she extensively references: Vancouver and Edmonton. So from the pirogies of Edmonton, to the delis of Commercial Drive, I was with her but you may not be. I'm coming to the realization that if you write about food and stick some recipes in your book, I will almost certainly read it.

[Erika Nerdypants]

This was a second time around read for me, and while I enjoyed and devoured this food memoir the first time I read it, this time it was just okay. There are already lots of food memoirs out there, this one differs in that it's also a book about negotiating life as a queer woman, and in that Marusya offers up her favorite recipes at the end of each chapter.