I adore Ruth Reichl. I have loved all her books. This book is so disappointing. Where did her humor go? The book is boring . I have struggled to finish it though I bought it the day it got released! I decided today I would finish it. No it did not get any better. Unless you want to read a boring saga of Gourmet magazine..don’t bother!

10 likes · like
6 years ago
11 answers

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Ruth Kambar I loved this book. I was pleasantly pleased. I am also a fan of the magazine. I understood what an important role it played in the creation of our tastes. I loved the synesthesia. I understood the risk-taking. I understood the creativity. I especially cheered Ruth on her journey. I too, am a lover of books. To know that Dandelion Wine was first published in Gourmet, and to see the struggle with the Lobster's lives, and the Goat, is to empathize with the animals and the characters. Absolutely fascinating! I am attending a book discussion, and we are making the recipes. To end with the German pancake also brought forward the passion that holds up this fascinating story. Thank you, Ruth Reichl. I will now browse through my older copies of Gourmet.

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Jonathan Hawkins-Pierot Her other books must be really funny, because I'm only about a hundred pages in and I've laughed out loud several times already.

Her sketches of people are even sharper than her descriptions of food.

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Melissa Levesque I am a fan of Ruth Reichl and this book. I see this as a companion to My Kitchen Year. This is a wonderful audiobook since the narration is from Reichl. Hearing the words in her voice and with her personal emotions made the memoir come alive for me. It was a perfect audiobook for a long road trip. It felt like she was right there with me as part of the trip.

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Nina Gordon I really loved "Tender at the Bone" and "Comfort Me with Apples" so I was looking forward to this book... and I was also very disappointed. I tried very hard to like this book, and stuck with it until the end, but I was totally bored by the litany of name-dropping and the physical descriptions of people who I just didn't care about. Maybe if I were a die-hard Gourmet reader from way back, I'd feel differently, but I am just a person who enjoyed Ruth Reichl's other books, so I tried this one. Totally forgettable... I'm glad I only took it out of the library and didn't spend any money on it.

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Rita Her humor is throughout this book... I laughed a lot...I was fascinated with her leaps of faith in her work life, her humility, her takes on these Conde Nast characters. She has said little in her other books about her son and husband. The history of their eating together [ or not] was so insightful. ... and I finally got a grip on her Mother's disorder and the effects it had on the family. I loved more info about her Father.
But to each her own...!

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Judith Kerr This book was not intended to be funny! Your review was disgusting. This was a sad day for cooking people.

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Francesca Pohlman I agree 100%. I finished the book, but it didn’t get more interesting.

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Pat Padden I'm with you, Bev. I kept waiting for this story to get up and get going - I mean, it's about an iconic magazine and a New York publishing house, so you know it's got a cast of characters to die for, it's about great food and great writers, it's even got a juicy title, and yet... it's as boring as fork, if you'll pardon the groaner. Pass the Pepcid.

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Susan I found the story of how Reichl came to edit Gourmet and kept that position until Conde Naste killed the magazine absorbing and not at all boring. And right after I finished it I went back and re-read My Kitchen Year.

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