Books & All Things Literary

I am reading Andrew Todhunter’s A MEAL OBSERVED. It’s a magazine-length idea that he’s turned into an amusing little book, combining history and experience with a sheaf of helpful culinary notes. The book recounts their meal at Paris’s Taillevent, “a Michelin three-star restaurant considered by many critics to be the finest in France and thus the world”.

Interestingly, Todhunter is not a ‘foodie’ — indeed, his first couple books were about extreme sports – though I think he downplays his ignorance of the food world for the purpose of the book. The first few chapters of this book irritated me because Todhunter would provide a bit of information about the restaurant and then launch into a recollection of dining with his father as a child or other nostalgic claptrap that I feel is unnecessary and misplaced in this book. Happily, the latest chapters I’ve been reading have gotten away from this indulgent approach; I hope this trend continues.

In Letters to a Young Chef, Daniel Boulud, cookbook author, chef, and owner of Daniel, Café Boulud, and DB Bistro Moderne in New York City, briefly covers what he believes are the most important building blocks to becoming a great chef. I bought this book for $1 at a used bookstore and was delighted to find that the previous owner had underlined some passages and written extensively on the endpapers and in some margins. Some of their writing is difficult to read, but I enjoy the peek into their life and thoughts.

This was a very informative book and one that I wish I had read some time ago, when I was a young chef. Boulud discusses, with compelling support, the framework of thinking and approach that can set a great chef apart from a so-so chef. When I teach a Basic Cooking or Theory of Cooking class, this book will be on the reading list.

I was ready for a lighter book (both in terms of subject matter and overall weight!) after thoroughly enjoying House of Leaves, so I picked up ARTEMIS FOWL: THE LOST COLONY by Eoin Colfer and am enjoying it very much.

  These are fun books and are enjoyable by young adults and “old” adults, too!

A couple friends and I are working our way through House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski. This is the predecessor of ONLY REVOLUTIONS, which I attempted to read a couple books back and failed to finish. House of Leaves is, itself, a difficult book, but it is an engrossing story very deftly told.

 

  

Oh, Wendy & I adore Christopher Moore! He’s one funny writer, as nice as he can be in person, and writes enjoyably messed-up stories.

YOU SUCK is a follow-up to BLOODSUCKING FIENDS that Mr. Moore has written at the request of his readers. I’m only 80 pages in and have laughed out loud several times already.