melissakuzma's review against another edition
3.0
I had a lot of trouble with this book. It was choppy and disjointed which made it hard to get into. I also feel like the title was misleading as the book had almost nothing to do with food. But I love a memoir about growing up in the 60s/70s/80s, and it had a few satisfying moments.
smrankin5's review against another edition
2.0
This is not a foodie memoir. A bunch of disjointed stories about her life that have food added as an after thought.
patricia_an's review against another edition
1.0
Didn't enjoy the writing style - it felt like reading my high school journal, without many insights added. She had a rough life, which I don't mind reading, but didn't seem to learn from any of it.
kairosdreaming's review against another edition
4.0
**This book was received as a GoodReads Giveaway**
I went from really loving this book, to barely liking it, back to loving it again, with no particular order to my moods or thoughts on it. And I think it kind of reflected the writing within. A lot of emotions all swirled together and laced with a bit of melancholy. But then, memoirs are rarely beacons of happiness so I shouldn't be surprised.
Kate Christensen group up in a family full of hippies. Pot smoking, naked parties, granola, you name it, it was there. But she remembers most of it with happiness, not counting her volatile abusive father. Her true happy memories are those of her mother, who did her best to be kind to her children. Because of the unconventional lifestyle though, her adulthood is rife with difficulties and a sense of wandering. Absorbed in food, alcohol, sex and other fleeting pleasures, she can't seem to grasp what she wants, but has a moderately good time figuring it out.
I like Kate, she's not shy about listing out her faults and her good points and readily admits her mistakes. She's brash and loud and unapologetic about it. And she admits that she wished for a lot of things to be different, which I think we all do. For the beginning of the book she makes her mother seem perfect and while I'm sure she's a good lady, I somehow doubt she was as perfect as Kate made her out to be. But towards the end of the book she finds more fault with her mom and it seems more realistic. Nobody is perfect. And her dad, well, it sounds as it if it was a good thing he wasn't around very much. Her sisters we hear more about in the beginning than throughout the rest of the book and it sounds as if they had pretty interesting lives as well. It would have been nice to hear more about them.
Kate led an interesting life, that's for sure. She did more in her first twenty-seven years of life than I did and I have to admit I'm a bit jealous. Sure, she had a lot of bad thrown in there too, but she lived. But it took her awhile to settle down too and I'm not so sure that's a good thing. Her writing has a nice flowery, but not too detailed feel to it. And her descriptions of food were absolutely wonderful. They were my favorite part of the book. Every time I felt myself feeling a little fed up at her alcohol binges, her descriptions of meals always drew me right back in again.
An interesting memoir, and not as food centered as I thought it would be, but still an engrossing read. If you're a memoir reader, this is a good one to pick up.
Blue Plate Special
Copyright 2013
353 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
I went from really loving this book, to barely liking it, back to loving it again, with no particular order to my moods or thoughts on it. And I think it kind of reflected the writing within. A lot of emotions all swirled together and laced with a bit of melancholy. But then, memoirs are rarely beacons of happiness so I shouldn't be surprised.
Kate Christensen group up in a family full of hippies. Pot smoking, naked parties, granola, you name it, it was there. But she remembers most of it with happiness, not counting her volatile abusive father. Her true happy memories are those of her mother, who did her best to be kind to her children. Because of the unconventional lifestyle though, her adulthood is rife with difficulties and a sense of wandering. Absorbed in food, alcohol, sex and other fleeting pleasures, she can't seem to grasp what she wants, but has a moderately good time figuring it out.
I like Kate, she's not shy about listing out her faults and her good points and readily admits her mistakes. She's brash and loud and unapologetic about it. And she admits that she wished for a lot of things to be different, which I think we all do. For the beginning of the book she makes her mother seem perfect and while I'm sure she's a good lady, I somehow doubt she was as perfect as Kate made her out to be. But towards the end of the book she finds more fault with her mom and it seems more realistic. Nobody is perfect. And her dad, well, it sounds as it if it was a good thing he wasn't around very much. Her sisters we hear more about in the beginning than throughout the rest of the book and it sounds as if they had pretty interesting lives as well. It would have been nice to hear more about them.
Kate led an interesting life, that's for sure. She did more in her first twenty-seven years of life than I did and I have to admit I'm a bit jealous. Sure, she had a lot of bad thrown in there too, but she lived. But it took her awhile to settle down too and I'm not so sure that's a good thing. Her writing has a nice flowery, but not too detailed feel to it. And her descriptions of food were absolutely wonderful. They were my favorite part of the book. Every time I felt myself feeling a little fed up at her alcohol binges, her descriptions of meals always drew me right back in again.
An interesting memoir, and not as food centered as I thought it would be, but still an engrossing read. If you're a memoir reader, this is a good one to pick up.
Blue Plate Special
Copyright 2013
353 pages
Review by M. Reynard 2013
More of my reviews can be found at www.ifithaswords.blogspot.com
kickpleat's review against another edition
4.0
I thought this was going to be a book about food, but it's barely that. I wasn't disappointed because the writing drew me in - though it did feel weird to read a memoir from someone I had no connection to, but that only bothered me for the first quarter of the book. I liked reading about her interesting childhood spent moving around, her adventures and her relationships. There's a few recipes included, but they seemed like throwaways - except for the chicken tagine which seems like something I'd want to make. 3.5 stars but bumping up to 4.
kacovarrubias's review against another edition
4.0
Spoiler
(3.5 stars)Even though I'm an avid memoir reader, since the onslaught of COVID-19, I have stuck mainly to fiction. I picked it up because I started reading [b:Why We Write About Ourselves: Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature|25489389|Why We Write About Ourselves Twenty Memoirists on Why They Expose Themselves (and Others) in the Name of Literature|Meredith Maran|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1445457737l/25489389._SY75_.jpg|45263782] and I loved the chapter about Kate Christensen. I think I have been avoiding reading about how life can be painful and just brutal. And this memoir reminded me why. Without going into too much, the author had a tumultuous childhood, certainly nothing like the authors in Glass Castle or Education, but transient and heartbreaking in its own way. That said, the writing is lovely. And, even though there were times that I wanted to scream at the author to do (or not) something, I was nonetheless rooting for her happiness and fulfillment. I recommend this book, but not if you're looking for something light and summery. Season wise, I think this book might be best read in the winter, sitting by a fire and eating a delicious and hearty soup or stew. (Funny note, at one point, the author is eating copious amounts of granola in order to comfort her homesick self. I texted a friend that I thought that I already read this book -- the granola part reminded me of something that I swear I had already read. I kept reading and didn't recall any of the book after that point. However, I just reviewed my library account, and I checked this book out in 2014, so it is entirely possible that this was a re-read. And obviously, this underscores the awesomeness of Goodreads!)
karenchase's review against another edition
3.0
I almost stopped reading this memoir several times, but something kept compelling me forward. The woman depicted here, though real, almost seems like a character from a novel (and indeed, though I have never read anything else by this author, her descriptions of her own fiction protagonists seem modeled on aspects of herself). Careening from adversity to
adventure and back again, at an almost dizzying pace, Kate Christensen's life seems like a whirlwind, informed by her relationships with food and the place eating has in her life. The book is punctuated by recipes for dishes that hold a particularly important place in her life. The straightforward manner of her prose is almost a little off-putting, as if she wants to recount as much of her roller-coaster life and intimate relationships while still keeping the reader at arm's length; an odd voice for such a tale.
adventure and back again, at an almost dizzying pace, Kate Christensen's life seems like a whirlwind, informed by her relationships with food and the place eating has in her life. The book is punctuated by recipes for dishes that hold a particularly important place in her life. The straightforward manner of her prose is almost a little off-putting, as if she wants to recount as much of her roller-coaster life and intimate relationships while still keeping the reader at arm's length; an odd voice for such a tale.
brussel777sprouts777's review against another edition
2.0
Writing was good. This personal story didn't have strength to merit writing a book about it beyond therapy for the author. I might try one of the recipes.