[Editor's note: The following is a reprint of our 2005 interview with John Irving, whose new novel, Last Night in Twisted River, has just come out...
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As a reader of Heather Armstrong's blog Dooce®, I already knew about her sharp sense of humour and self-deprecation. She brings all that and so much more to her book. In describing her pregnancy and the birth of her first daughter mixed up with her mental health and anxiety, she makes it digestible for everyone - in a similar fashion to Doug Fine in Farewell My Subaru, disarming and accessible. While I was hoping to get more of a picture of Heather in the vein of Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, there is plenty enough substance to help the reader understand what is was that Heather (and many other women) go through.
A good, but tough book to read. It's the kind of book you struggle through not because it's poorly written, but because the author does such a good job of making you feel her anxiety, frustration and zillion other emotions. It still blows my mind how colossally the government (federal, state and local) screwed up on Katrina and the rippling effects, even years later, that has had on the people of New Orleans and the other hard-hit Gulf-coast regions effected by this massive storm. Nothing like this should EVER happen again
Overall an enjoyable book... The heavy drawbacks are the amount of information to process - it basically gives a year by year account of Julia Child's life until the publication date. Plus, there are enough parenthetical statements to fill up their own book. A bit slow in the middle, yet still compelling enough to finish til the end.
Funny and exceedingly descriptive. At times the author comes across with varying degrees of self-pity and snobbery but is mostly exuberant and eager to convey his cooking adventures through France and Italy. It's like you're right there with him on his journey of culinary and self-discovery. If you don't own the book, are a novice or amateur cook - some of the recipes are defintely worthy of photocopying.
Funny and exceedingly descriptive. At times the author comes across with varying degrees of self-pity and snobbery but is mostly exuberant and eager to convey his cooking adventures through France and Italy. It's like you're right there with him on his journey of culinary and self-discovery. If you don't own the book - some of the recipes are worthy of photocopying.
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i8pixistix has commented on (38) products.
It Sucked and Then I Cried: How I Had a Baby, a Breakdown, and a Much Needed Margarita by Heather Armstrong
i8pixistix, November 11, 2009
As a reader of Heather Armstrong's blog Dooce®, I already knew about her sharp sense of humour and self-deprecation. She brings all that and so much more to her book. In describing her pregnancy and the birth of her first daughter mixed up with her mental health and anxiety, she makes it digestible for everyone - in a similar fashion to Doug Fine in Farewell My Subaru, disarming and accessible. While I was hoping to get more of a picture of Heather in the vein of Kay Redfield Jamison's An Unquiet Mind, there is plenty enough substance to help the reader understand what is was that Heather (and many other women) go through.Plenty Enough Suck to Go Around: A Memoir of Floods, Fires, Parades, and Plywood by Cheryl Wagner
i8pixistix, November 9, 2009
A good, but tough book to read. It's the kind of book you struggle through not because it's poorly written, but because the author does such a good job of making you feel her anxiety, frustration and zillion other emotions. It still blows my mind how colossally the government (federal, state and local) screwed up on Katrina and the rippling effects, even years later, that has had on the people of New Orleans and the other hard-hit Gulf-coast regions effected by this massive storm. Nothing like this should EVER happen againAppetite for Life: The Biography of Julia Child by Noel Riley Fitch
i8pixistix, October 14, 2009
Overall an enjoyable book... The heavy drawbacks are the amount of information to process - it basically gives a year by year account of Julia Child's life until the publication date. Plus, there are enough parenthetical statements to fill up their own book. A bit slow in the middle, yet still compelling enough to finish til the end.The Saucier's Apprentice: One Long Strange Trip Through the Great Cooking Schools of Europe by Bob Spitz
i8pixistix, September 28, 2009
Funny and exceedingly descriptive. At times the author comes across with varying degrees of self-pity and snobbery but is mostly exuberant and eager to convey his cooking adventures through France and Italy. It's like you're right there with him on his journey of culinary and self-discovery. If you don't own the book, are a novice or amateur cook - some of the recipes are defintely worthy of photocopying.The Saucier's Apprentice: One Long Strange Trip Through the Great Cooking Schools of Europe by Bob Spitz
i8pixistix, September 28, 2009
Funny and exceedingly descriptive. At times the author comes across with varying degrees of self-pity and snobbery but is mostly exuberant and eager to convey his cooking adventures through France and Italy. It's like you're right there with him on his journey of culinary and self-discovery. If you don't own the book - some of the recipes are worthy of photocopying.1-5 of 38next