koldroyd96's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book. I was excited about the idea behind this book, being a native Mainer. However, I don’t think this author was the best person to write it. Not being native to Maine, and then moving to Portland, this is not an accurate depiction of Maine. While she does add in some conversations with real Mainers, a lot of her take is still through the restaurant perspective of Maine, not actual Mainers and how we really hunt, live, and eat, as the title would imply. This book was truly disappointing to me.
jaclynday's review against another edition
5.0
Forgive me the horrible pun, but I devoured this book. It is, without question, one of the best food/life memoirs I’ve read and I mourned the ending. It’s a love story, really–love for food, love for Maine, and love for her post-divorce romantic partner that she describes this way: “Even if I say something oblique and out of the blue, he takes a leap of willing and curious comprehension toward me, and I do the same for him. When I’m angry, I say so. When I want something, I ask for it. When I’m overwhelmed with adoration of him, which happens a lot, he reciprocates unhesitatingly, and he’s often overwhelmed, himself. I’m humbly grateful to be able to love another person so fully and wholly, without being blocked or stymied, without having to suppress any part of myself. This is all so basic and simple, I can’t believe it’s so rare.”
Christensen has a beautiful writing style, lyrical and descriptive–so much so that you feel the chill of the New Hampshire winter and can almost taste the oysters that she describes as “the most sexual culinary experience in the world.” After leaving the hustle and bustle of New York, she falls in love with the wild coast of Maine. Aside from a few personal chapters, she also visits a Maine-based biodynamic farm, many excellent restaurants, and discusses Maine food staples (lobster, potatoes, beans) in their own separate chapters. There are delicious-sounding recipes scattered unobtrusively throughout, and that’s in addition to the simple, but amazing, meals that she and her boyfriend cook together in their cabin or renovated Portland home.
I loved this book. I loved everything about it. Weirdly, it also made me homesick. Maine was often the stopping-off point for our regular trips to Nova Scotia, and the local cuisine in Nova Scotia is similar to the dishes Christensen described. I could smell the air, feel the cold, damp wind, taste the fish cooked over a fire with potatoes and onions. If you want (or need) a book to lift your spirits, this one will do very well.
Christensen has a beautiful writing style, lyrical and descriptive–so much so that you feel the chill of the New Hampshire winter and can almost taste the oysters that she describes as “the most sexual culinary experience in the world.” After leaving the hustle and bustle of New York, she falls in love with the wild coast of Maine. Aside from a few personal chapters, she also visits a Maine-based biodynamic farm, many excellent restaurants, and discusses Maine food staples (lobster, potatoes, beans) in their own separate chapters. There are delicious-sounding recipes scattered unobtrusively throughout, and that’s in addition to the simple, but amazing, meals that she and her boyfriend cook together in their cabin or renovated Portland home.
I loved this book. I loved everything about it. Weirdly, it also made me homesick. Maine was often the stopping-off point for our regular trips to Nova Scotia, and the local cuisine in Nova Scotia is similar to the dishes Christensen described. I could smell the air, feel the cold, damp wind, taste the fish cooked over a fire with potatoes and onions. If you want (or need) a book to lift your spirits, this one will do very well.
asealey925's review against another edition
medium-paced
5.0
My desire to move to Maine is even stronger after finishing this one. City girl I am not and my love of Christensen's story of moving to Maine and pursuing eating pure food is more proof of that.
jeffdonald's review against another edition
Trite, generalized nonsense about how salt of the earth new englanders are
elisecoz's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. I am going to try to keep this brief because I could go on for a very, very long time.
There are a lot of books in the world and not every book is suited to every person- that is part of what makes a person's "top ten favorite books" list so unique. This has made my top ten. As a fiction lover I honestly wasn't expecting to love this the way I did, so fully and with abandon.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly why this book moved me the way it did. I think a lot of it has to do with Kate Christensen as a writer- she is eloquent, down to earth, warm, funny, and her voice jumps off the page. Even when she wrote about a scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee or a simple salad, warmth radiated. With some of my favorite books I often find myself looking to see what page I'm on, but I lost myself in her prose. It was an enchanting experience.
As someone who has never had a "good relationship" with food, reading this was therapeutic in a way. To witness someone who loves food so intensely and never shies away from pleasure in food is an amazing thing. This book inspired me to feel at peace with food and eating, and to cook with good, fresh ingredients, but don't sweat the calories. And the fact that she included so many recipes is even better- I can't wait to bring those recipes to life. Kate Christensen is content in life, and that feeling is utterly infectious as I'm feeling content and full, to use the extended metaphor. This book was like a wonderful meal, one that I intend to experience again and again and again.
There are a lot of books in the world and not every book is suited to every person- that is part of what makes a person's "top ten favorite books" list so unique. This has made my top ten. As a fiction lover I honestly wasn't expecting to love this the way I did, so fully and with abandon.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly why this book moved me the way it did. I think a lot of it has to do with Kate Christensen as a writer- she is eloquent, down to earth, warm, funny, and her voice jumps off the page. Even when she wrote about a scrambled eggs and a cup of coffee or a simple salad, warmth radiated. With some of my favorite books I often find myself looking to see what page I'm on, but I lost myself in her prose. It was an enchanting experience.
As someone who has never had a "good relationship" with food, reading this was therapeutic in a way. To witness someone who loves food so intensely and never shies away from pleasure in food is an amazing thing. This book inspired me to feel at peace with food and eating, and to cook with good, fresh ingredients, but don't sweat the calories. And the fact that she included so many recipes is even better- I can't wait to bring those recipes to life. Kate Christensen is content in life, and that feeling is utterly infectious as I'm feeling content and full, to use the extended metaphor. This book was like a wonderful meal, one that I intend to experience again and again and again.
kgee19's review against another edition
5.0
A love song to my state. I loved this book, the familiarity in it, the comfort. It made me want to move to the woods, stay in the city, spend all day cooking, and go to amazing Maine restaurants, from chapter to chapter. A good way to start off my 2016 reading journey.
msmichaela's review
5.0
I would like to be Kate Christensen when I grow up. She writes beautifully, cooks and eats beautifully, and writes beautifully about cooking and eating. I loved this memoir-in-food-plus-Maine-cultural-history, not least for Christensen's good humor and appreciation of all that my adopted home state has to offer. My next favorite amusement while reading How to Cook a Moose: Deciphering which Portland restaurants she frequents based on her capsule descriptions. Full disclosure: Kate is a friend of a friend, and I recently hugged her when we met in person for the first time.
uberbutter's review against another edition
3.0
How to Cook a Moose by Kate Christensen
298 pages
★★ ½
Ok, this book is subtitled as a culinary memoir but I would more likely subtitle it as an ode to all things Maine. This memoir follows the life of Kate as she moves from New York to Maine to be with her partner. I picked it up because the title intrigued me. But honestly? I was pretty bored throughout. My husband caught me whispering more than once “Yes, I get it. Maine is awesome”. And perhaps Maine is awesome (never been in that direction myself – my memoir would be an ode to Colorado) but that’s not why I picked it up, I picked it up because I expected more culinary aspects. There were foody sections but not as much as I would have liked. On the plus, there were some interesting recipes within (none that I’ll probably actually try making though) and her food descriptions got my tummy grumbling at times. Overall, just an ok read for me. For being its page length, it took me WAY too long to get through.
298 pages
★★ ½
Ok, this book is subtitled as a culinary memoir but I would more likely subtitle it as an ode to all things Maine. This memoir follows the life of Kate as she moves from New York to Maine to be with her partner. I picked it up because the title intrigued me. But honestly? I was pretty bored throughout. My husband caught me whispering more than once “Yes, I get it. Maine is awesome”. And perhaps Maine is awesome (never been in that direction myself – my memoir would be an ode to Colorado) but that’s not why I picked it up, I picked it up because I expected more culinary aspects. There were foody sections but not as much as I would have liked. On the plus, there were some interesting recipes within (none that I’ll probably actually try making though) and her food descriptions got my tummy grumbling at times. Overall, just an ok read for me. For being its page length, it took me WAY too long to get through.
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