Customer Reviews

Comfort Me with Apples: More Adventures at the Table

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

 

 

** spoiler alert ** For me this was a much more difficult book than "Tender at the Bone," emotionally speaking. I have an eight-and-a-half month old daughter, which is very near the same age Reichl's daughter, Gavi, was when they had to give her back to her birth parents.

I was also more deeply troubled than Reichl probably wanted her readers to be by her affairs. Even as she seemed happier with Michael, I never felt quite settled, and wanted things to be back the way they had been earlier in her relationship with Doug. I do appreciate that she was unwaveringly candid about her affairs, but the months (years?) of dishonesty were almost surreal for me to imagine (but then, I'm applying that to my relationship).

My very favorite parts were Reichl getting used to her job as a restaurant critic, learning what things were "expected" of her position and how that conflicted with her hippie lifestyle, and, as always, her writing about her family. Her writing about her father is so tender and realistic that I really got invested in their relationship. She also writes about her relationship with her mother well, and I think she does a good job of making the reader understand their old arguments and the roles they make the other fall into -- like "PussyCat" -- on a very emotional level.

I would give this three-and-a-half stars if I could, because I felt troubled throughout the book by her (and her husband's) affairs in a way that wasn't ever really resolved for me. Not that I expected it to be taken care of neatly -- these are real human lives, after all -- but I just never felt comfortable because of it.

I love Ruth Reichl. One of the reasons I subscribe to "Gourmet" is to read her editorial in each issue. I even have her "mmmmm:A Feastiary" cookbook, a sort of tribute to the group living days of the late 60's and early 70's. The truth is I love everything Ruth Reichl, from her lifestyle through everything she writes. I'm a total fan and not the least bit objective, but if you've never read her books, you should. She is bright, bluntly honest, funny, and always a good ride. Linguistically speaking.

This book went by fast! I took it with me on a 5 hour train ride and was pretty much able to finish the whole thing. She is such a charming, smart writer and her wit really shines in her hilarious yet genuine stories. This is a part 2 to her Tender at the Bone and it's incredible how much she has gone through to be to where she is today. It's quite an enchanted life and book and other than a few parts that are a little cumbersome, this is a great find!