Rating: 
Summary: Delicious Reading; Fascinating Life...
Review: The friend that I borrowed this book from was devastated when I returned it and she (subsequently) couldn't find it. Synchronously, I received it in a recycling effort from one of her dear friends. Imagine how excited she's going to be to receive it back!
With good-humored perspective, Ruth Reichl, NY Times Food Editor, lovingly introduces the significant people in her life and the way she managed to find a path for herself and build a wonderful life in spite of a tumultuous childhood. A childhood that was filled with emotional trauma and rather ghastly home experiences, (imagine) Ruth's Mother picks her up from middle school, and without any preparation or explanation, drives to Canada, where she deposits Ruth in a Catholic boarding school where only French is spoken. When Ruth begs not to be left there, her Mother reminds her that she is the one that wants to learn French!
Reichl introduces us to quirky, memorable characters that thankfully guided the development of her love of fine food. A story filled with wit, sadness, resourcefulness and occasional mishap, Ruth will tell you she learned early in life that the most important thing in life is a good story!
You will be as amazed as I by the life Reichl led and discover a range of cooking and eating possibilities way beyond today's lifestyle. Excellent!
Rating:
Summary: A memoir that is inpiring to read!
Review: One of my favorite books, far more than just a memoir written by a food writer. Absolutely delightful, full of humor and charm ( and a few great recipes), this is the story of an amazing woman who was born into a chaotic family and managed to break away and find her own identity. Ruth Reichl's mother was an unpredictable woman who literally left chaos in her wake - she was later diagnosed as a manic-depressive. What's more, she was a terrible cook, often preparing not just inedible meals but many that were actually dangerous to eat; she was rather absent-minded about food storage. Instead of being discouraged by the chaos in her life, Reichl learned to cook - probably as much for her own survival as anything else and eventually became a celebrated food writer. But all I've said so far is really a bare-bones sketch of a remarkable book. I was amazed by the life Reichl led and the way she managed to find a path for herself and build a life in spite of a tumultuous childhood.
Rating:
Summary: First of Two Scrumptious Memoirs. Highly Recommended
Review: Ruth Reichl is one of the most influential figures in American culinary journalism today, as Editor in Chief of 'Gourmet' magazine for the last several years. Her influence may not be as great as that of Craig Claiborne, but that was probably a once and gone opportunity. The American culinary scene is too big for any one or two people to dominate it the way Claiborne and Beard did in the 1960's, 70's and 80's.This book, 'Tender at the Bone' is the first of two memoirs by Reichl. Their charm will be eagerly anticipated by anyone who reads Reichl's monthly editor's column in 'Gourmet'. These two books are cut from the same primal stuff, with the additional spice of material too personal to warrant the pages of a national magazine. Reichl grew up with a mother with habits which offer as compelling a motive to land in the food business as the very skillful cook / hospitality businesswoman who bore James Beard. In Reichl's case, her mother was just the opposite. She was quite capable of serving food so poorly preserved as to poison her guests. Reichl, as a little girl, had to become skillful in preparing food just to protect her own life and the lives of visitors to her family's house. In many other regards, as one reads this tale of Ruth's life as a small girl in the early 1960s through her start in culinary journalism in San Francisco in 1977 just at the time when the zeitgeist was leading people such as Alice Waters and Jeremiah Tower to create California Cuisine at Chez Panisse and other venues. Two fascinating questions are raised in my mind by this book and its sequel 'Comfort Me with Apples'. The first is what it is about Reichl that compels her to reveal so many intimate details about her life and family. I am wondering if there is a writer's gene that propels one to lie out for all the world to see what an odd life one has lead. In spite of the wonder, I am immensely grateful that Ms. Reichl has done so, as the revelations are immensely entertaining. The second question is the wondering of how I may have turned out with the same experiences. I encourage you to bring Ms. Reichl and her very odd family into your experience. You will be richer for the encounter. Since I regret I cannot know Ruth personally, this is the next best thing. Like many other culinary memoirs, this book includes recipes to highlight incidents in Ms. Reichl's life. As Ruth also happens to be an excellent cook, the recipes simply spice up an already very filling meal.
Rating: 
Summary: A lovely souffle of a book
Review: Light, yet rich and tasty. Restaurant critic Ruth Reichl's memoir is all of these. Easy to read, yet filled with insight and well-rounded characters. The author's mother suffered from manic depression, and one way it manifested itself was in bizarre - and often downright poisonous - culinary creations. The author describes herself as having been shaped by her mother's handicap, beginning at an early age to use food as a way of making sense of the world. She effectively conveys this food-sense in a series of funny and poignant tales that take us from her childhood in New York up through young adulthood in California. She lovingly introduces the significant people in her life, revealing them to us in how and what they cooked. Her stories are punctuated by recipes (I didn't cook any of them, but they look like they should work). The author is equally effective when she moves away from the table to tell more directly of her relationships with friends and family. She describes some episodes that could be seen as time-bound clichés - living in a commune, working in a collectively managed restaurant - with a perspective sometimes lacking in baby-boom memoirs. She brings similar good-humored perspective to her mother's mental illness and her own struggle with anxiety attacks, never wallowing in graphic description of symptoms. You don't have to be a "foodie" to enjoy TENDER AT THE BONE, just a lover of warm, tender memoirs.
Rating:
Summary: Worth a read
Review: A memoir about a food writers coming of age through her experiences with food. Her descriptions of food are tantalizing and the recipes sprinkled throughout tempting. I enjoyed reading about the variety of her exposures to food and found it a well written and easy to read memoir. However, the parts about her early life were much more interesting and engaging. She seems to back off on detail and engagement as she grows older and her adult wanderings and accidental entry into the world of food writers is less interesting.
Rating:
Summary: coming of age around the dinner table...
Review: Overall, TENDER AT THE BONE is a lovely coming-of-age story with hilarious vignettes that could be woven into a heart-warming comedic drama. All the elements are there, eccentric characters, witty dialogue, over-arching mother-daughter tension and a good meal. The author's childhood is more fascinating, more poignant than her adult transitions, but entire films can be made from many of the short stories. Fantastic characters people this story, including Ruth herself. Her awkwardness and self-esteem issues are painfully obvious, and make her sympathetic and endearing. She smoothly arcs from innocent child to rebel teen to competent woman. Good read!
Rating:
Summary: Ruth Reichl writes a perfect food-lovers tale
Review: Funny family innuendos meets pleasant field trips on culinary excursions. A great little story about growing up and discovering the rewarding, sometimes almost sinful, pleasures of cooking and food. I enjoyed every lavishly written page! Ruth Reichl has proven her sympathetic nature towards gourmet. Sensual and elaborate, I recommend this book to anyone who has experienced culinary ecstacy, and if you haven't, try one of the remarkable recipes sporadically placed between chapters, and prepare yourself for take-off!!
Rating:
Summary: even vegans can love this book.
Review: i don't eat any animal products, and there are only two or three recipes in this book that i can even relate to, but despite this, i love this book. there is something about people's relationships to food -- how it may enrich their lives or what the food represents to them -- that is fascinating, and in ruth reichl's life, it is no different. this is a light memoir, and a book that i have read multiple times (i'm probably working on ten). as someone who doesn't read many narratives, it says a lot when i recommend this book so highly.
Rating:
Summary: A tasty treat
Review: Why I like this book can be best summed up by the beginning of the second-to-last chapter: After reading Reichl's first restaurant review, her editor remarks that she was born to do this, and she replies softly, "No, but I was very well trained." Although she was gifted with an appreciative palate and a knack for cooking, Reichl acquired her knowledge of foods from a series of good teachers, ranging from the eccentric quilt-maker Mr. Izzy T to exacting French winegrowers and tart-makers. Her ease with a wide variety of people, and her willingness to learn, were as crucial to her success as her way with words. She's a good storyteller, but there's genuine warmth beneath the engaging (and sometimes scary) portraits of her friends, family, and mentors. (I was a graduate student at Berkeley during some of the time she lived there, and her picture of commune living and the restaurant business was dead on -- but, unlike many other writers who came out of the same milieu, she neither romanticizes the hippie lifestyle nor sneers at the political mind-set.) The book is like having lunch with a friend who's knowledgeable about food and wine, but not pretentious or smug, and I found it perfectly delightful.
Rating:
Summary: 4 1/2 stars. A tasty treat
Review: Reading this book was a pleasure. Ms. Reichl is an amazingly sensual writer. Her stories are emotional, funny and very interesting. This is a life worth writing about and worth reading about. I enjoyed the details about her family life, especially her often painful relationship with her mother. Best of all is that we get recipes! Both an informative and bittersweet read.
|
