Eat a Peach in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Feb 03, 2021 Ryan rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, borrowed, z2020-published, 2021

DC spends a lot of this book opening up about his journey through anxieties and his own mental health. A few times over, he frames his actions as a chef and businessman through this lens.

It’s tough to say if he’s owning his shortcomings or using it as an excuse to explain away bad behaviour.

Well-written and always engaging...but that question will hang heavy around a readers neck

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Jun 12, 2021 Meghan rated it it was ok

Shelves: nonfiction, audio_book, dnf

Reminder to self of why I DNFed this book:

"Later, at Trinity College, I had designs on studying comparative economics, Asian studies, or philosophy, but I realized early on that I couldn't follow any of those tracks unless I actually showed up for the classes. I changed my major every semester before settling on religion, because that stuff was still a breeze for me . . . I made it a point to learn as much as I possibly could about religion, partly so I could defeat Esther during our arguments. Reminder to self of why I DNFed this book:

"Later, at Trinity College, I had designs on studying comparative economics, Asian studies, or philosophy, but I realized early on that I couldn't follow any of those tracks unless I actually showed up for the classes. I changed my major every semester before settling on religion, because that stuff was still a breeze for me . . . I made it a point to learn as much as I possibly could about religion, partly so I could defeat Esther during our arguments. In my sophomore year, while studying abroad in Europe, I met up with her in Switzerland. I hadn't seen her for a while. I should have told her about being moved by Buddhism or explained how I had finally discovered that the right faith for me was secular humanism. But the security Esther had in her own beliefs made me angry. She wasn't exactly smug about it, but she was so damn sure. In my anger toward her, I felt righteous. I came prepared to unload all the worldly wisdom I had picked up in two years of college. I told her that if her omnipotent god had allowed for all the famine and tragedy in the world, for Stalin and Pol Pot and genocide, I would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven. I topped it off by saying that if I had been alive two thousand years ago, I'd probably be crucifying Christians too. I don't think she had ever viewed us as combatants. The battle was completely in my head."

He then changes the topic to discuss how moving to a new home 20 minutes away was "as close to traumatic as my childhood ever got."

To be clear, I'm not Christian and I don't object to justified critiques of Christianity. I just think the excerpt above is one of many examples where David Chang sounds absolutely insufferable.

This reminded me of slogging through Marcus Samuelsson's memoir in that both feel like they're trying to be honest about their flaws, but in not making any real attempt to grapple with those flaws or give any evidence that they've made efforts to do better in the future, they just come off like the stereotypical self-absorbed, controlling chef. The strangely emotionless way that some of these events are retold further contributes to the sense that the author doesn't regret his behavior. To be fair, maybe if I'd stuck it out I would have found that the book (and the author?) gets better, but I DNFed because I decided I didn't need to read another book that was essentially a famous person summarizing the reasons why he is an asshole. ...more

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May 26, 2021 Jana rated it really liked it

Shelves: kindle, non-fiction, 2021

This book was trying to be too many things and would have benefited from stronger editing. I really like Dave Chang's media work and listen to most of his podcast episodes, where he does an exceptional job acknowledging his struggles, his past mistakes, and what steps he's taken for his personal growth as an adult. None of that was present in this book, and that seems like a real missed opportunity. Chang also makes numerous references to how much he didn't want to write this book and how little ...more

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Apr 08, 2021 Jennifer rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, memoir, netgalley

I flew through this memoir- it hooked me first because I live right near where Chang grew up, but I stayed with it because his tone is hilarious even when he’s describing some terribly dark pieces of his life. I would never want to work for him, and this book doesn’t really glamorize the life of a chef, but it’s something of a love note to living your life the best way you can. Even when your brain chemistry makes it both extra challenging and superlatively rewarding. Four stars, and man do I wi ...more

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