Phyllis Grant

A memoir with recipes.

And of course everything is not under control from her anorexia as a young dancer to her early relationship with her husband-to-be prior to marriage to her post-partum depression after both children. But running alongside it all is food and how it has moved from generation to generation on both sides of her family.

The text is sparse, set out on the pages like a poem but takes the form of a short chapter. The memories are chronological and draw out the heart of each event but without building on each other. There is sexual harassment in the kitchens, getting married having children and becoming a doula.

I now pronounce you wife and husband. Phyllis, you may kiss the groom.

I rise up onto my barefoot tippy-toes and kiss him hard.

With tongue.

And then we eat twelve cakes.
No page numbers.

Not much is said here but we can see that husband and wife is reversed and Phyllis doing the kissing telling us much about how Phyllis sees the world and a woman's place in it. She's not afraid to show passion, almost as if she is claiming him and why is she barefooted? What does this say about how she was dressed for the occasion? Is twelve an important number? So, only a little text but plenty of work for the reader to do.

Some of the text is italicised, for example the first sentence in the quote above showing speech but sometimes it identifies thoughts or the voices of other people inside her head.

The recipes at the end are the ones mentioned throughout the book, each with an introduction which is part of the memoir. The braised chicken recipe mentions that she goes to her parents' house for roast chicken as theirs is the best. She braises it because she can't compete. You almost find out more about her and her relationship with her family from these introductions than you do from the text.

An amuse-bouche of a book.… (más)

Grant's spare writing accomplishes so much in few words: dancing at Juilliard, working in restaurant kitchens, falling in love, pregnancy and post-partum depression and miscarriages, cooking and eating, fighting, parenting.

Organization: the subtitle is "a memoir with recipes," but unlike a cookbook (My Kitchen Year by Ruth Reichl for example), the memoir is first, with the recipes after. I haven't made any of the recipes (yet) but I read through them and she includes many exceedingly helpful tips that recipe writers often leave out.

See also: Dept of Speculation by Jenny Offill, An Exact Replica of A Figment of My Imagination by Elizabeth McCracken

Quotes

I can't untangle the relief from the grief from the anxiety from the silence. (149)… (más)

At first, did not think I would like this book. It was too disjointed. I couldn't get into it until I did. Then I could not put it down. I was hooked. I was fascinated. The author wants to be a dancer. Moves from California to New York and attend Julliard. She graduates but she can't be a dancer because she can't get through an audition. She decides to become a chef. She works in kitchens. The food scene in New York is brutal. Long hours, injuries, and pain. Like I said fascinating. I have been so sheltered in my life. I live vicariously through other people and their memoirs. So many books. So little time. I digress. She marries. Has kids, many miscarriages, and wicked postpartum depression. Everyone survives. The author, husband, kids, and the marriage. They even witness the twin towers coming down and move to California. The finale is the recipes. Many of the dishes she talks about in the book you can make because the recipes are included. The Tarte Tatin and the vanilla bean custard ice cream are delicious. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.… (más)