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What Members Thought
Samuelsson has written an engaging biography that takes him from his orphaned childhood to his adoptive home in Sweden to his ascent up the culinary ladder. I ordinarily don't support an author reading his or her own work on audio, but Samuelsson is an exception. His story can only be told by him. Moreover, his passion toward food and the life that he has led comes through strongly in his book. I couldn't help but root for him throughout.
Samuelsson is no saint and has made some bad decisions alo ...more
Samuelsson is no saint and has made some bad decisions alo ...more
More like 3.5 stars. Sometimes the writing felt all over the place and disjointed. However, I love all memoirs, and kitchen ones are particularly intriguing. Marcus Samuelsson is a pretty cool guy.
Samuelsson's story is fascinating, but two themes stand out - the way we use food to forge connections with other people and the sheer single-mindedness required to reach the highest echelons of the food world. While I'll never cook as well as Samuelsson (or likely even have the opportunity to eat his food), the takeaway of food as a unifying element in a family is something I'd like to have in my own life.
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An ok read. Interesting enough peeks into life in the kitchen of a fine dining establishment. At one point the author says that he was conceited when he was younger- I was glad he acknowledged it, but truthfully that’s how the entire book read to me. Even though he’s been immensely successful, and though he’s faced immense challenges, it was still hard at times to shake off this tone of self-absorption.
Jul 06, 2012
Stacey
marked it as to-read
Jul 20, 2012
Annika
marked it as to-read
Jan 09, 2014
O'Rissa
marked it as to-read
May 21, 2015
Saima
marked it as to-read
Sep 11, 2015
Peg
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
food,
biography,
nonfiction,
new-york-city,
memoir,
read-in-2015,
recs-for-janet,
best-reads-2008-2017
Sep 11, 2015
Juliana Philippa
marked it as to-read
Sep 27, 2015
Tanya
marked it as to-read
Oct 13, 2015
Ashley
marked it as to-read
Apr 01, 2017
Michelle
marked it as to-read
Jan 13, 2019
Meghan
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
well-read-black-girl-books
Feb 23, 2020
Anna Ruth FL
marked it as to-read
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
immigrant-stories-grc
Jun 10, 2020
superawesomekt
marked it as bibliocurious
Jun 10, 2020
Grace
marked it as to-read
