Morais keeps the plot both basic—a young man’s journey to become a top French chef—and elegant, as the book’s three main locations (Mumbai, London, and Paris) add a touch of the exotic. Hassan tells us about himself more through his experiences in the kitchen than anywhere else. He lives, he loves, he mourns the losses of his parents and mentors, but his greatest love is his kitchen.
Tag: memoir
A review of Just Kids by Patti Smith
The book is written simply, with a tender humility that shines the light on Mapplethorpe and other tragic geniuses of that era, tracing their guiding hunger, their successes, and ultimate failures. The book isn’t sad though—it’s transcendent. Smith is the survivor, her story extending well beyond the pages of the book.
A review of by Résistance by Agnes Humbert
All in all, despite any questions about her methodology, Humbert ‘s account of her wartime experience is a remarkable book, a testament to at least one woman’s ability to maintain her humanity when inhumanity is all around her.
A review of Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman
Besides the obvious obstacles—an extreme communication barrier, a culture so completely opposite of Western values and practices, and hoping to not get on your traveling companion’s nerves—these two innocent, naïve college girls were walking in utterly unknown territory. But in the end, mental anguish turns out to be the biggest danger of the trip.
A review of Ivan: from Adriatic to Pacific by Coral Petkovich
Without that inner life coming to the fore, without more psychological depth, he comes across as self-centred, bullying, and insufferably sexist. The author hints at these problems, but she needs to have explored them more deeply to bring out the special character of Ivan that drove her to write this book.
A review of Are You Famous? Touring America With Alaska’s Fiddling Poet by Ken Waldman
The reader can’t help liking the author for his honesty. He is unashamed to admit to occasional physical or mental breakdowns, and his efforts to maintain a positive attitude in the face of an indifferent public and the even more indifferent (and occasionally vicious) publishing and music industries is laudable.
A review of Send Yourself Roses by Kathleen Turner
Send Yourself Roses is not at all like these recent memoirs, but more like the kind of celebrity hagiography produced as a movie tie-in or short-term career booster. This represents a lost opportunity for Turner, one of whose purposes in releasing this memoir seems to be to garner more of the respect she has worked so hard for.
A review of From London to New Delhi by Car by Dean Warren
Warren’s memoir is short on words but the pictures that fill the oversized paperback are fascinating. The blue mosque in Istanbul is glorious while the Roman ruins in Baalbek are haunting. Reviewed by Robin Landry From London to New Delhi…
A Review of Eat First –You Don’t Know What They’ll Give You
The memoir was written as a book of remembrance for the author’s parents and for her daughter. Its readers will react to it in many ways. First it is a family document. It depicts the immigrant experience, specifically a Jewish…