[.ca] Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table (ISBN 0375758739)

From Amazon.com:
Ruth Reichl's first book, the autobiographical Tender at the Bone, disarmed readers with its droll candor. The former restaurant critic of The New York Times and editor in chief of Gourmet magazine told great stories about growing up and loving food. Comfort Me with Apples begins where the first book ended, tracing Reichl's evolution from chef to food writer while detailing the dissolution of her first marriage, the start of a second, and motherhood at the age of 40. The book also limns a sensual journey, Reichl's awakening to the pleasures of sex as well as food, and also to love. Reichl interweaves her diverse coming-of-age narratives with passion (especially on the subject of food), wit, and a no-nonsense grace, all of which add up to a wonderful read--entertaining, but moving, too. The story begins when Reichl, living in a '70s Berkeley commune, gets her first real job as a restaurant reviewer. Despite the incredulity of her in-the-movement roommates ("You're going to spend your life telling spoiled, rich people where to eat?" asks one), Reichl persists, traveling widely to polish her palate. In the doing she meets food luminaries such as Wolfgang Puck (a mad encounter in a produce market), M.F.K. Fisher (lunch and sweet reminiscences), and Alice Waters (a garlic feast), among others. Her trip to China, which includes clandestine dealings with a former chef, is particularly well handled. The ungluing of her first marriage is depicted in adroit emotional counterpoint to her soaring career, as is her discovery of love with her second husband, unspooled against her father's death. Reichl also provides recipes, such as Fall Mushroom Soup (made to comfort herself and her mother) that, unexpectedly and delightfully, deepen the narrative. --Arthur Boehm

Disappointed:
I was SO disappointed-- this woman, for all her publishing credits, does not write well about food! All those descriptions of how cheese and foie gras "explode" in her mouth (as if to emphasize that the author is a "sensualist", sensualist with a capital S-- yeah, we get it, especially after she describes how she passionately falls in and out of affairs...) By the last hundred or so pages I was skipping over all the meal descriptions because I knew what was coming: first, surprise; then, the feeling of something exploding in your mouth; then, either a fight or a love interlude... I was also wondering whether, in the food publishing world, it is considered OK to sleep with your editor--? And she was getting really plummy assignments from him. This DID bother me... Oh well, at least she was honest. I hope the editor was apprised that his role in her career was going to be laid out for all to see in the pages of her "memoir"...

bland on the palate:
Worth reading, if just barely, for the dishy (pun intended) anecdotes about Wolfgang Puck, Danny Kaye, and Other Celebrity Chefs I Have Known. Otherwise, this book reads like a soap opera. If you actually want to read about food, sample M.F.K. Fisher instead.

appetizer not a main course:
This book, which I gave one star simply for the delicious recipes it provided, was an evocative read. The smells and tastes of the various dishes prepared and consumed float off the page. This sequel to "Tender at the Bone" finds Reichl continuing to review restaurants, as well as deal with her demanding mother. She's also good at describing the characters she met while touring restaurants. However, while I admire her for her willingness to try any dish (even armadillo!), I wish less had been in about her various affairs. While I may be overly judgmental, I found her ruminations about her love life distracting and irritating. While the author is an adult, I just felt like she should have concentrated more on her professional life. When she sticks to food, Reichl is on more secure footing, I think. When she is wondering about her lovers, the book takes on a more teen magazine feel. However, I had to hand it to her when she finally decides to stop being manipulated by her mother. That description, short as it was, was priceless. No more pussycat, for her!

Well, at least she cooks:
Tender at the Bone was a good book. Comfort Me with Apples was not. I finished Bone wanting more, and finished Apples wishing I'd stopped after one course.

Reichl imparts hope and inspiration:
This book is beautifully written. The honesty with which Reichl shares the joys and pains of her early professional career, and her ongoing exploration of food and of herself, will offer comfort, hope and inspiration to any reader, regardless of their understanding or passion for food. This is a book that reaches beyond the kitchens' of "foodies" and into all of our lives to offer us an outlet to contemplate the place of confusion, pain, and longing that so often co-exist along side happiness, excitement and fulfillment. Through Reichl's writing, readers are offered an example of how to look inwards at ourselves, and outward at the world, with compassion.