Customer Reviews

Against the Grain: The Slightly Eccentric Guide to Living Well Without Gluten or Wheat

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is not a cookbook (although there are a few recipes in the back). It's more like a survival manual or a book-length pep talk, specifically written for people with celiac sprue, which is a severe form of gluten intolerance. But I'm finding the ideas and encouragement are applicable to anyone who is gluten-free or wheat-free for any reason, and in fact they're even worth skimming by anyone dealing with food allergies or other significant dietary changes (such as cutting out dairy or sugar). It's a funny and well-written book, including sections on anti-cheating strategies, restaurant assertiveness training, and etiquette for people with dietary restrictions, along with the expected list of product suggestions (with extensive mail-order information). I've looked at a *lot* of special diet cookbooks and guidebooks in the past couple of years, and have been disappointed by most of them because they frankly haven't had much in them that I hadn't already learned somewhere. This book is a fresh exception. I would have liked to see more specifics on various baking substitutions (maybe in the next edition?), and there is a lot of product information that may be regional or get outdated (so I expect a second edition would be a good idea), but even with those minor imperfections I still would highly recommend this book.

Against the Grain is a must for people with Celiac Disease. I found the book extremely helpful in learning to cope with the gluten free lifestyle. Make note that some products mentioned in the book as being gluten free, are in fact not currently gluten free. (For example, Rice Dream contains gluten.) So be careful when reviewing food recommendations, they quickly become outdated and should be used as a guideline for calling manufacturers to confirm whether they are in fact gluten free.

There is an on-line gluten free list available at:

I was diagnosed with C.D. a year ago and my doctor said I had to buy this book. It was the first time I laughed, as well as cried and it gave me the courage to go right out to the nearest restaurant. I now take a copy whenever I travel and my sister and aunt use their copies whenever I visit. I'm not a victim anymore...Not only was it incredibly informative, it was wonderfully entertaining.

This book has multiple personalities. One is a personal story of coming to terms with having celiac disease. Another is lists of resources for the gluten intolerant. And a third kind of mixes the two -- tells how the author was able to come to terms with things because she developed strategies for living and eating.

First of all, it's really important to know that a lot of the information about what you can and can't eat is just plain wrong. Some of that is because these things become outdated quickly, but some is less understandable than that. For instance, she says that while cream soups are likely to have gluten in them, broths won't. That's totally untrue -- most of the common brands of broth do have gluten in them. And it's a particularly odd mistake to be making given that on other things, she advocates being far more careful than the standard resources do. Like she says don't use distilled vinegar because it MIGHT be distilled from wheat, but again, everything else I've read on this subject says that 1) it's probably not distilled from wheat but more importantly 2) the distillation process removes gluten.

So if you're going to get this book, get it for the personal part, about how she dealt with her diagnosis. It's pretty entertaining and there's some value to being reminded that you're not the only one. That said, while I think it's valuable to have something to read in that area, I'd say she's more than just slightly eccentric. A lot of her stories about how her friends reacted to her diagnosis seem like extreme worst-case scenarios -- suffice it to say that I was diagnosed long before I was as sick as she describes herself as having been, yet my friends were a lot more sympathetic than she says hers were.

Finally, with regard to her strategies for living. Another review here mentions that they're sort of for the caviar set, and I have to agree. These are instructions for someone who not only has a LOT of money to spend on special-ordered foods, but who feels comfortable asking restaurant staffs to go way out of their way to accommodate her.

On the whole, I'd say there are better resources than this book. Some of them are online, others are informational books like Shelley Case's "Gluten-Free Diet: A Comprehensive Resource Guide." But if you want to read everything you can on celiac disease and living gluten-free, this is at least entertaining.

... is the first line of the book. And after reading this book, you'll no longer occassionally wish you were. Bread - wheat - is such a huge part of the American diet that it seems like there's NOTHING to eat without it. This book is wonderfully funny, easy to read, and extremely informative. If you have celiac, or if you're close to someone who does, BUY THIS BOOK!

The only thing it's missing is info for those of us with both celiac and diabetes. (A common combo). Otherwise, I can't praise it enough.

I only received the tentative news of C.D. 4 short days ago and I told my husband I wasn't going to "run out and buy some stupid book" ... However, after 2 well-meaning relatives quipped that C.D. would be the ultimate weight-loss program ... I stomped to the bookstore, looking for some kind of solace ... After nearly 30 minutes, there seemed to be nothing and it seemed cruel to put the books alpha by general cooking subject, so there was Ms. Lowell's lifesaver, snug in between "Perfect Homemade Pasta!" and "Sumptuous Bread, Every Time!" I don't normally read books in bookstores, I feel like its one step from shoplifting. But somehow I sat down and read and read, laughing and crying and nodding and pumping my fist in the air and having such a delightful conversation with my new imaginary friend ... At page 87 and nearly 2 hours later, I realized I owed the nice bookstore people some money. I'm sure I'll have better perspective 6 months from now ... but at this very moment, this book was truly a lifeline.

This book tells you all you need to know to live a rich life without gluten. With gluten-laden products looming everywhere (who would've thought that teriyaki sauce contains gluten?) guidance from an expert on how to avoid contaminated foods is invaluable (the author has been on a gluten-free diet for over 15 years). With great humor, author Jax Lowell Peters explains how to be assertive yet charming when requesting gluten-free ingredients at restaurants and provides invaluable tips on what to do in numerous tricky food situations (what to do when the caviar is served with wheat crackers only?). The multi-language "I'm on a gluten-free diet" cards in the back of the book could prove meal-saving when trying to explain to the french-speaking waiter that you can't have anything made with a "roux". The book also provides detailed information on celiac disease, resources for products and organizations, tips on how to raise a child on a gluten-free diet and delicious recipes (anyone for a gluten-free biscotti?).

I've had this book since late August '03, and already I have probably read through the entire thing about 4 or 5 times..and it's still great! Not only does it have tons of information, tips, & recipes, ...it is HILARIOUS! Reading it makes me feel like maybe i'm not the biggest weirdo for having to dissect my food in front of everyone at a dinner party. I swear, any celiac/wheat intolerant person who reads this will finally be able to laugh out loud at all the funny/eccentric things (i.e. eating caviar w/ a spoon, bringing your own rice pasta to Italian restaurants) that one tends to go through with gluten/wheat intolerance. Especially after you've just been diagnosed (as I had), it's great to know that there's someone else out there who has the same annoying issues as i do (i.e. difficulty eating out at restaurants, dining with friends), and can offer some good advice on how to cope.

So, the next time you're down in the dumps because you had to sit through your neighbor's pizza party by munching on peanuts and carrot sticks (and gathering weird/pitiful looks from others at the same time), don't sit and mope..go and read "Against the Grain" and you'll be a happier camper!

Some of the advice in this book is great, especially on suggestions for enjoying meals socially without feeling like a freak. However, based on the title and the author's condition, it's easy to assume that the only foods recommended in the book are gluten-free, and that's not true. Several of the recipes and purchased-food recommendations are wheat-free, but not gluten-free, and are NOT clearly identified as such. I found the tone to be rather snobbishly superior, as well- perhaps a nice book for those in the caviar-eating set, but not written for the unprivileged who can not expect to be waited on hand and foot or to be able to afford all the specialty foods the author considers necessities.

Along with the words, you have Celiac-Sprue Disease, your GI doctor should hand you this book and tell you to go home and read it. A diagnosis of Celiac seems overwhelming and the diet restrictive. The author uses humor and common sense along with personal experience to ease the pain and educate the consumer reading the book. Although a Gluten-Free diet is unlike any other, you can get a good, basic feel for it using this book. It helps to get one over the hump and on the road to wellness. I highly recommend this book. If you have Celiac Disease do yourself a favor and get it, if you have a friend or loved one with the disease show them that you care.