Customer Reviews

The Cheese Chronicles: A Journey Through the Making and Selling of Cheese in America, From Field to Farm to Table

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Can you imagine having a tour of a great museum, looking at wonderful artwork but whenever the guide shows you a piece and explains it they stand in front of the piece, blocking your view of the art such that all you can see is the guide? That is what reading this book is like. A great author can make you feel like you are part of a place and experience without thrusting themselves into the scene. Not so with this book. At first it was tedious and then it just became annoying. That is a shame really because there is a lot of good info about cheese and cheese makers is in this book, it just takes too much effort to continually shove the guide out of the way so you can see the art behind her.

I absolutely loved The Cheese Chronicles. The writing was so compelling and colorful that I found myself devouring a hundred pages at a time.

The Cheese Chronicles by Liz Thorpe is hard to categorize. It's part cheese guide, part travelogue, part cheese history, and part memoir. Whatever it is, Thorpe manages to make it all work and it flows like a well written story. The bulk of the book is focused on the cheesemakers and the cheeses they produce and Thorpe does a great job of bringing the people and their products to life. This includes a lot of smaller producers in less known cheese producing regions (like the southeast) and some that mostly sell at farmers' markets. Even though she tells you about a lot of cheese that are similar (i.e. strong blues, bloomy rinds, fresh goat cheeses, etc.) she does an amazing job of describing what makes each cheese unique. Because of this you can almost taste how the cheese are different and you never get bored hearing about another goat or bloomy rind cheese, no matter how many she has told you about. I also loved her descriptions of the cheeses. They are very colloqueal and unpretenious, but without being silly. I especially love that she was honest about her descriptions and unafraid to mention when the quality varied over time or when it was a cheese in a style that she didn't particularly like but she thought others would enjoy.

She also does a nice job of weaving in a lot of the science and history of cheese without making the book dull or dense. It's the right blend of storytelling, science, and history. You learn a lot without realizing it because she makes it so approachable and entertaining. My only nit on the book is that some information is repeated several times throughout the book as if she hasn't told you before and it gets a little annoying. However, it is a VERY slight nit and doesn't take away from the quality of the book or the enjoyment I got from reading it.

Overall, I can't say enough good things about this book. I've read varying qualities of non-fiction food writing and Thorpe has distinguished herself as one of the best. You'll buy this book for her entertaining desciptions, vivid storytelling, and educational facts and you'll keep it because it makes a great guide of unique cheeses to check out. Highly recommended.

I enjoyed the writers background story very much. She should write another book just of her travels to the cheese or even food places/restaurants she visits. This book has made me get ready for a trip to Vermont to actually make cheese for a couple of days. If you like cheese, this is an interesting and informative book. Bravo on the subject finally! You will want to be a cheesemaker after reading this.

This book started out great, and I was excited to have what felt like a very thorough reference of American artisanal cheeses. However, by 2/3 of the way through I realized Liz was repeating herself and not really adding anything new to the discussion of American cheese. I will still keep it around, because she has some excellent tasting notes to help guide you through your cheese purchases, however it could have been 100 pages shorter and been just as valuable.

It was interesting for the first half but then it all got to be about the same the rest of the book

Cheese Chronicles is a well-researched, personable and tantalizing review of American cheeses. Be forewarned - if this book is "up your alley," you will rush off to your local farmer's market or cheese shop as I did to sample the extensive repertoire of cheeses given consideration. The author is an adept story teller, relating many captivating stories of her encounters with American cheese makers, small and large. It's a serious book as well, with a genuine appreciation of Cheese as a sustainable food connected with responsible land and animal management. Liz Thorpe's genius is her characterization of cheese tastes, smells and texture - it's sensual, almost Proustian.

I have really enjoyed reading this book. The author obviously knows cheese and she manages to pass that enthusiasm on to the reader through the stories in her book. It is very readable and will really turn you on to the subject of fine cheese. I personally keep a small herd of dairy goats myself and sell handcrafted farmstead goat milk soaps. I am still left with an abundance of milk and have considered learning the art of cheesemaking...After reading this book, the thought of enjoying fine cheese from my own farm is more appealing to me than ever before. Even if you don't want to make cheese, you will still enjoy this book. I highly recommend it! It's entertaining and educational.

I am not a cheese fanatic but The Cheese Chronicles may make me one. Liz Thorpe gives a vivid description of the tastes and textures of many uniques artisinal cheeses made in the US. But that is only part of the story. Liz weaves into her narrative the history of artisinal cheese manufacturing in the US and the unique stories of the devoted people who have made these wonderful products to eat.

You learn about the dedication of the early cheese makers to the art of making cheese and also appreciate the hard work that goes into making the cheeses we should love. This book gives you a real appreciation for the diversity of choice in selecting cheeses for your pleasure and the background of those who have made them.

The format for this book cleverly weaves personal anecdotes with outstanding reference material.

The stories are almost a coming-of-age story, chock full of embarrassing moments, learning experiences, sublime eating experiences, and vignettes of the food world.

The reference portions give fantastic advice on which cheeses are worth trying and why - in fact I went on a cheese shopping spree about halfway through the book and in the process discovered several new favorites.

Best of all, the writing style is loose and confident, funny, and informative without being pedantic.

Excellent book written in an informal chatty style. Very readabe. Author is extremely knowledge about cheese.