Rating: 
Summary: Good Information, Mediocre Writing
Review: Substantively, this is a good book. It communicates well the ethos and richness of that which is France with its emphasis on quality of life and simple joys. It has a nice mix of non fiction story telling with actual cooking recipes that the story motivates you to try. All that makes the book a good read.
It is worth reading for those reasons and I would recommend it (with my stated disclaimer below) despite the comments that follow in the next paragraph which I feel compelled to make given the book's problems.It is actually pretty amazing that this book got published in its persent form. As another reader noted in his/her review, the writing is mostly like a first draft. The book is poor as any kind of demonstration of writing ability and style. The writing is in bad need of editing: chronic overuse of compound sentences, excessive gushing descriptions, repeated words like "drool" to convey the writer's excitement (e.g., it tasted so good it made us "drool") or phrases like "I was in heaven". The writer almost never sees any real problems in life and at every turn the world is seen as full of charm...like nothing bad could ever happen. The writer, as far as she lets on, has clearly had a charmed life...one "charmed" stage in her life seems to seamlessly transition to the next "charmed" phase...she never dwells on how phenomenal that is (if true) and how lucky she has been compared to others. As a result the writer comes across as self-absorbed, self-centered and certainly unaware! Certainly not what you expect of a good observent writer of any true depth. Small but not inconspicuous oversights in the book make you question the editorial process, if any, it underwent. A minor problem, for example, appears in a late chapter about a ritual bike ride which the writer and friend take in spring/summer to a local lake. The writer describes how long it takes to take the bike ride and for her to get back home but mathematically the times she describe are impossible. I still standby the recommendation of the book. I feel, however, I must make this disclaimer: I'm a great lover of France and all that is French. Given this bent and hunger, I was highly motivated. For me at least informational it was useful and feeds a key interest of mine. Hope that this is helpful to readers and perhaps to the author herself!
Rating: 
Summary: Mouth Watering
Review: Susan Herrmann Loomis' book on living in the French countryside should come with a warning: Do not read this book hungry!
Not only does she end each chapter with some amazing recipes, but much of the book is spent in loving detail describing all the various types of food in the region.A baguette smeared with butter has never read better.
Similar in tone to Frances Mayes Tuscany books,but this is less about restoring a house and more about daily life in the town with her husband and child. Simple, and satisfying it is a charming and wonderful escapist read. One that when you finish, will make you want to brush up on your French, and book the next flight out.
Rating: 
Summary: French Life and Cuisine
Review: Susan Loomis fell in love with France, the French and French cooking when she was a young student 20 years ago. After an apprenticeship at La Varenne de Cuisine in Paris and her subsequent marriage to Michael Loomis, she decides to emigrate. They buy a dilapidated former convent in Louviers, France in 1994 and their story really gets underway. ON RUE TATIN tells about the renovation of the house as well as the story of their adjustment to French culture, the friends and workmen they encounter, and the life they live as modern expatriots. Having established a reputation and published a cookbook, Loomis writes another throughout the development of this memoir and she includes some of her recipes in this volume. Loomis is a pedestrian writer at best, so the charm of the book rests on the experiences of the author and the usefulness of the recipes. I tried one -- the chocolate cake -- and found it delicious. Sunnye Tiedemann
Rating:
Summary: Good, but not great
Review: Susan Loomis is a Ruth Reichl wannabe. Trouble is, she doesn't write as well, nor does she have as interesting a life. Susan is basically an American housewife, living in France with her family (husband and 2 kids, although the second one doesn't make an appearance til the last chapter), renovating an old house and writing cookbooks (now she teaches cooking and wrote this book, but that I learned from her website, not the book). I enjoyed the descriptions of France and some of the recipes seem to be worth trying. However, on a recent trip to France, when I saw "Louviers" on the exit sign, I had no desire to head into town and track down Susan for her autograph. This book was good, but not great.
Rating: 
Summary: A dish that falls flat
Review: Susan Loomis went to France on a student scholarship and attended La Varenne cooking school in Paris. What a dream! And she became intimate friends with a family in Normandy. I'd give an eye tooth for such an opportunity. Sadly, Ms. Loomis does not possess writerly skills. In fact, her prose is SO BAD, I use segments of this book as examples of how NOT to write. In case I ever write a book, I will be hauling "Rue Tatin" off my bookshelf to remind myself not to make any of these mistakes. Here's an example: Every dish, every one, is "the best I ever tasted"--not only a worn superlative, but not informative. The rest of the writing is in this vein--sophomoric. If you don't believe me, read the excerpt pages for the hardbound edition. The writing problems are there aplenty. To be fair, Ms. Loomis can sometimes be quite funny. But mostly, her writing is too annoying to get anything more than a chuckle from me. So I highly recommend this book as a teaching aid for writing, and I have to say I was still fascinated by her experiences, however I was disappointed that Loomis' authoring skills were so pathetic. I only hope her cooking isn't as bland.
Rating:
Summary: Chapeau Madame Loomis
Review: The best book I read on France.
Rating:
Summary: Food & Literature
Review: The book is an entertaining, quick read, but the real gem in its pages is the recipies. Braised chicken in mustard and white wine sauce, apples stuffed with goat cheese, pear and honey clafoutis...I've made these dishes again and again for family and company, always to rave reviews. Buy the book for the story but keep it for the recipies.
Rating:
Summary: Envy and Enchantment
Review: There are many---perhaps too many---first-person narratives about adventurous Americans falling in love with Provence, with Tuscany, with Portugal, and deciding willy-nilly to move there, to buy and renovate a house. Invariable we laugh and sigh and commiserate with their struggles with the language, the culture, the habits of the natives, the rules and regulations of the government. But many of these, to my mind, fall far short of the ideal---which should be to create a feeling of both envy and enchantment. Ms. Loomis, with On Rue Tatin, does both. This book not only tells a wonderful story but tells it wonderfully. The sights, the sounds, the scents, the tastes, of building a new life in an old, old house in a small French town---a wonderfully-humorous and never-too-self-congratulatory voyage into the fulfillment of one person's life-dream: to live, work, and write in France. If you've ever used one of Ms. Loomis' excellent cookbooks in your kitchen, you'll know how thorough, precise, and user-friendly her writing is---I've never had to struggle with one of her recipes, no matter how obscure and unfamiliar the ingredients---and this memoir (which, joyfully, also includes recipes! Try the mussels in apple cider vinegar) gives further proof to the strength of her writing talents. A really lovely little book, sure to set the romantics among us daydreaming....
Rating:
Summary: More cute than sophisticated
Review: This book is a quick, pleasant read, a series of vignettes appropriate for a vacation or a plane trip. Foodies will like it, though it will disappoint those looking for the arch, self-deprecating, tell-it-like-it-is insouciance of Peter Mayle.
Susan Loomis is apparently a nice person, an avid cook, and absolutely *loves* everything and everybody she comes in contact with. But sometimes she seems a little too pollyannaish, so even (or perhaps especially) when she writes of dealing with difficult people, her musings and descriptions come across as the slightly naive observations of someone viewing the world through rose-colored glasses.
Now and then I wondered while reading this book, why would someone with a small family and (as we are told over and over again) hardly any money, buy, renovate, and plan to live in a massive, rotting old former convent? Although it's not revealed in the book, the answer (through a visit to Loomis' web site) seems to be: so she can run a cooking school.
Rating:
Summary: Charming book
Review: This book is great for anyone who loves France and life's little pleasures. Susan Herrmann Loomis brings you into her daily routine, introduces you to her neighbors, and invites you to her table. I enjoyed fantasizing that I too have the pleasure of early morning market shopping, biking through the French countryside, and indulging in gorgeous pastries and coffees in cafes just paces from my own doorstep. The book sometimes reads as if it comes straight from her journal notes, but her stories are so charming and the recipes so delicious that it hardly matters.
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