Reviews

Blood, Bones and Butter: The inadvertent education of a reluctant chef by Gabrielle Hamilton

erinthelibrarian's review against another edition

4.0

I listened to this book which was read by the author - which gave it a special quality. In particular it was fun to hear Gabrielle do an impression of her husband's Italian husband. This was a compelling and fascinating read. Hamilton had a pretty edgy life after the age of 13 or so when her parents divorced and pretty much abandoned her and her younger brother (the older ones made it out ok). Listening to her talk about food and the role it plays in her life is the best part. Her family, her experiences and her visits to Italy with her husband really make for a great read. She also spend some time in Ann Arbor while getting her MFA so it was fun to hear her impressions of the experience from an outsider. Fans of food, and memoirs will love this book.

wicked_sassy's review against another edition

3.0

A bit too gory for me at times, and a bit hard to follow due to liberties with her personal timelines but otherwise well-written and evocative. Loved the bits about Ann Arbor being full of beautiful buildings and overly-educated folks!

mshaposhnikov's review against another edition

adventurous emotional funny informative fast-paced

5.0

tmath's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.5

mcumoletti's review against another edition

reflective relaxing medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death

slui02's review against another edition

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

heatherawatson's review against another edition

3.0

This book was okay. Perfectly acceptable for pre-bed reading.

In general, I enjoyed her story. But it didn't really capture me until Italy. I started looking at food differently as Gabrielle took us through her time in Puglia. It's definitely on my travel list.

buddy524's review against another edition

3.0

Meh. Some good writing at times but many times it was too stream of conscience for me. It wasn’t as much on food as expected.

reflectiverambling_nalana's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

3.5

I confess, this is a book I almost DNFed not because of the overall content, but reader be warned there is a early scene describing the traditional butcher shop with all the details of the items for sale and the process. There's also a scene later involving the demise of a chicken. I hadn't realized I was quite so squeamish on the topic. 

that aside, this was a serviceable memoir that truly shows the grit and determination, the struggles, and the passion of quite a notable person. i think where I struggled to really connect with this is that while each important segment of her journey and life was full of passion and animation. But much as in the case with strung together short stories, sometimes this makes it for a lack of cohesion. 

i will say I have full respect for the author and I'm so happy they finally got to delve into their other dream as a writer. I am impressed with how earnest and unapologetic they are about the decisions they made. truly and inspiring and intimidating person. If I were someone with a true passion for food and cooking this would have probably at least been a 4 1/2 star read. 

kirstenrose22's review against another edition

3.0

I liked the first half - but in the second half she just gets grating. Her adolescent insistence that her mother is a horrible person (for no obvious reason) really bugged me. And the whole Italy / sham marriage bit was just too much. There is also no end - it just stops (I hate that).