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Summary: I can smell and taste every sentence
Review: This book is a sensory treat for those of us who love to eat. You can't go more than a page without having the sensation of smelling and tasting something she has described. And the story of her life is tender, candid and enchanting. I loved every minute of it and intend to quickly send my book on tape of this great story to my father, a truer gourmand than I. Thanks to Ruth for a great read and a wonderful time.
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Summary: Good luck, Ruthie
Review: I first heard of Ruth Reichl during her radio interview on "Fresh Air" with Terry Gross. Later, a friend told me that Reichl also has a radio show in New York. Ah, those lucky New Yorkers...In this book, Ruth Reichl's stories cut across the many planes of her world: food, family, self, cities, friends, and last but definitely not least -- mental illness. Though each story in this set of memoirs is nominally "complete" with a starting and ending point that lets it stand on its own, there is nonetheless a sense of skittishness and patchiness that permeates the collection. Characters enter and exit the book with scarce, absent, or post-facto introduction. Episodes end abruptly, and suddenly Ruth is somewhere else -- in a different place and time. These effects are surely intentional. Because they are a part of how Ruth has lived and continues to live in a life influenced by her mother's manic depression, her own emerging mental crises which! ! are mentioned in the closing chapters, and the places and times within which she lives. Most of the stories-with-crises that Riechl tells from childhood through adulthood end on hopeful notes, but you often don't find out what happens afterward. The same with the greater story of Riechl's life -- we are hopeful that she will come out of this ok, but we can't be sure. Readers of this book may also be interested in Ron Suskind's _A Hope in the Unseen_ (also reviewed by a few folks on this website) which ends in a similar way.
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Summary: Anyone in a service business should read this book!
Review: Worth the price of the book is Ruth Reichl's story about learning how to walk that razor's edge - as a waitress - between restaurant customers and chefs. An experienced waiter tells her that the chefs are in a constant state of war with the customers. If a customer wants to send back an overdone steak, the waitress must remember that the chefs are not at war with her. If she goes into the kitchen and confesses, humbly, that she should have written "medium," but mistakenly wrote "well done," she will get some grief from the chefs, but at least will get a new steak. If she goes in and says the customer said the steak was overdone, she will get only ranting, and may not get another steak at all. I work in the advertising business, and the relationship is identical between clients and creatives. The only way an account executive can succeed as a go-between pretend that he or she was mistaken about the client's desires. Once in a while, you lea! ! rn something truly insightful. This was such a lesson. Beyond that, this book is delightful, warm, witty - and even has great recipes.
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Summary: Absolutely Delicious
Review: I loved everything about this book. Reichl knows how to bring color to life and how to make you feel as though you were experiencing life right along side of her. This talent that makes her the best restaurant reviewer writing is the same talent that makes this book one of the best biographies written. For foodies, as well as for anyone that is interested by the pleasure and pain experienced in everyone's life, I can't recommend this book highly enough. PS I just made the Oleron Tart for the second time to rave reviews. The recipes are a good reflection of the passages in the book and shouldn't be ignored as side bar. Cook them to inspire the mood that Ruth was trying to capture in the chapter in which they are found. You won't be disappointed.
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Summary: C'est superbe!
Review: J'adore ce livre pour la vie que tombe des pages. This book was funny, real, and full of life. I will recommend this to my friends and you.
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Summary: I hated to see this book come to an end
Review: Like a deeply satisfying meal, the taste of this book lingered long after it ended. Ms. Reichl's portrayal of the people in her life was done with love and forgiveness. Her humor and warmth made this a book I will read again - only more slowly!
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Summary: A "delicious" read!
Review: This book is funny, poignant, and hard to put down. She cooks as well as she writes, the recipes are all worthwhile and an added bonus to an already entertaining book. Even non-"foodies" will love it. It ended too soon - hope she writes a sequel.
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Summary: A beautiful book
Review: It's an inspiring, hauntingly beautiful description of a childhood, adolescence, and finally adulthold molded by the love of the people around her and their love -- or indifference -- to food. I've loved her restaurant reviews for years, the book leaped off the shelves of my local bookstore into my hands, and from there into my heart. Brava!
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Summary: funny, sad, interesting, intelligent.
Review: this is a great book. I just picked up while browsing through the bookstore. i fell in love with it when I started it. It is amazing. This book makes you laugh, cry, want to try the recipes and be amazed at the life this woman lived. I really like how I could enjoy it and my 80 something parents could also enjoy it. the recipes make me want to race into the kitchen and start cooking while the book makes me want to sit on the couch and keep reading.
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Summary: The queen of mold bore a princess of a writer
Review: I picked up this book to read a chapter during lunch and finished it by dinner, laughing all the way. Not only are the meals tender but so are the characters. A grand tale of family life rife with passion, with eccentric behavior taken for granted. The stories are delightful and unusual, flowing easily as if Reichl were sitting in the next chair bending your ear over a tray of iced oysters. From her first souffle to dumpster diving, each meal left me hungry. The progression slowed a bit for me when she came to her early wine education. The rhythm felt out of joint with the rest of the narrative. But, overall, I highly recommend Tender at the Bone to anyone who likes to cook, eat, or read a good book.
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