I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti [Hardcover]

Giulia Melucci (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 8, 2009

From failure to fusilli, this deliciously hilarious read tells the story of Giulia Melucci's fizzled romances and the mouth-watering recipes she used to seduce her men, smooth over the lumps, and console herself when the relationships flamed out.

From an affectionate alcoholic, to the classic New York City commitment-phobe, to a hipster aged past his sell date, and not one, but two novelists with Peter Pan complexes, Giulia has cooked for them all. She suffers each disappointment with resolute cheer (after a few tears) and a bowl of pastina (recipe included) and has lived to tell the tale so that other women may go out, hopefully with greater success, and if that's not possible, at least have something good to eat.

Peppered throughout Giulia's delightful and often poignant remembrances are fond recollections of her mother's cooking, the recipes she learned from her, and many she invented on her own inspired by the men in her life. Readers will howl at Giulia's boyfriend-littered past and swoon over her irresistable culinary creations.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Melucci, a publicity executive, clearly knows her way around the cucina, and her clever memoir of being loved and left includes the recipes she associates with her exes. The recipes are mostly Italian, and the men are mostly losers, but listeners will have a good time laughing with Melucci at her various boyfriends' foibles (even as they wonder why such a smart and funny woman chooses the same type of childish man over and over). Melucci does a wonderful job narrating; her voice carries the listener through the first flush of new romance to the final indignities of a relationship gone wrong. The audio format does not work well for the recipes, however; listeners eager to cook these fabulous meals should get a copy of the print version to keep from rewinding the audio book repeatedly while jotting down recipes. A Grand Central hardcover (Reviews, Jan. 26). (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

From Booklist

This little Italian girl from Brooklyn’s Bay Ridge surely did go through a lot of men in her search for Mr. Right. She also went through a lot of pasta. By day, Melucci worked as a publicist in a glamorous but poorly paid Manhattan job. One by one, she found boyfriends, fed them well, and established relationships. Thus, she recapitulates the hoary truth about the path to a man’s heart lying through his stomach. Hard as she tried, her relationships didn’t last, foundering over serious issues such as alcoholism or fear of commitment. It’s not for lack of her trying. She even took off work to create an Italian-influenced seder for a Jewish suitor. One reason for her constant disappointment lies in her affection for her late father, who gave her more love and support than she realized in her youth. Recipes included. --Mark Knoblauch

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (April 8, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446534420
• ISBN-13: 978-0446534420
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #840,737 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Giulia Melucci was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York where she still lives, but in a more fashionable neighborhood. She is the former Vice President of Public Relations for Harper's Magazine and previously worked at Spy Magazine, domino, Atlantic Monthly Press, Viking, Dutton and Scribner. She graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1988. I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti is her first book.

Contact Giulia Melucci at [e-mail]

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Chick lit meets Food April 13, 2009

By Deborah VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

I'm normally not a fan of memoirs or even most non fiction. Unless I have to read a book for school, you can usually find me with a fiction book in my hands. However, this book was totally able to capture my attention and may have made a convert out of me. Reading it was like reading about my own life. It made me laugh, cry, cringe, and be hungry all at the same time. Giulia's writing makes you feel like you're sitting at the table after dinner with a glass of wine and catching up on old stories. As Giulia goes through each relationship, my heart ached for her and I really felt like I was there and needed to console her. There are times when you want to be like "No! He's a jerk, get away!!" and others where you're in love with the guy too because he's so sweet and kind. There are some scenes where I just burst out laughing at how Giulia attempts to win the guy over because it was exactly how I used to act. They're so reminiscent of my life that it's almost painful to read.

The highlight of the book is all the food that is mentioned. The recipes are interwoven into each relationship as Giulia talks about the different meals and dishes she would make for each guy. Never one to eat a same meal twice, Giula takes pride in the way she cooks and each dish has a special meaning. The food mentioned in here are to die for. They are simple to make, with easy ingredients that aren't hard to find, yet they are a step above the norm. You can make them for a dinner party and will totally impress your guests. The titles of the dishes range from normal (Grilled Marinated Flank Steak) to fancy (Linguine with Friendly Little Fish) to hilarious (Spaghetti and Meatballs for Cooking Sluts and Those Who Love Them).... They all sound delicious and I'm eager to try out a few of these in the future.

This really was an enjoyable book to read. It's perfect for both chick lit and foodie fans. It's a charming, relatable and mouth watering read. Do not read this book on an empty stomach and be prepared to whip up a feast when you are done reading. HIGHLY recommended. Read more ›

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Recipes, So-So Read July 8, 2009

By Transplanted New Yorker

Format:Kindle Edition

This book is worth buying for the recipes -- but the narrative didn't work for me. There are FAR too many minute details about each relationship. For me, it bogged things down and prevented it from being the funny, light-hearted book I was expecting.

Another thing that surprised me ... Giulia Melucci is obviously a very pretty, stylish, intelligent woman (at least as far as I can see in the jacket bio and photo) -- but she comes off as desperate and very, very naive about what she wanted, or thought she wanted. That's ok, if it's coupled with some funny self-reflection ... but that seemed to be missing.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Most disappointing November 24, 2009

By Jane B. Pond

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found this personal journey repetitive, depressing, humorless, and annoying self-deprecating. I could find no warmth, just neediness in the main character. And the recipes were not unusual enough to add interest.

18 of 23 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars I hope the recipes are better than the romance... June 22, 2009

By D. Evans

Format:Hardcover

Sorry. I really wanted to love this book. But, this woman makes intelligent women everywhere look really naive (or, should I just say "stupid".) The recipes look great and I will try some...eventually. I was just so disappointed in this book that I can't bring myself to open it back up. I wouldn't even call it a good beach read for the summer. There were a couple of instances of witty writing that made me laugh out loud, but for such a slim book, those were few and far between.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars 3 and a half stars - good but not great October 8, 2009

By Mom of Sons VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This is a cute book, but it has the feel of a journal more than a book. It doesn't clip right along, making me want to turn pages. It's more like a record of what happened, and could have benefited from some judicious editing, because there's good stuff here. She just goes on too long, like a friend who tells long stories. You're interested, you care...but you wish she'd get to the point.

For example: "The weekend was cloudy, and I was trapped in that mental prison known as waiting-for-the-phone-to-ring. I checked my cell phone every two minutes. Saturday night, I called him. He had groused about my never calling, after all. I got only his voice mail. Sunday morning, I went to Mass to try to get some peace, but nothing worked. I scratched and scratched at a mosquito bite I probably got at that silly game."

She goes on to describe what she did the next day, the day after, and the day after, finally getting to the interesting part: the bad breakup email from the boyfriend on Wednesday.

I'd like to hear more from this author as I think she has real promise, and I love the focus on the food. But the narrative needs to be tighter. I liked the book, but I was not thinking about it during the day and looking forward to getting back to reading it each night. It just kind of sat there on my nightstand.

Rating: 3 1/2 stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy Read, Nothing Special in Story or Recipes April 2, 2010

By Emily

Format:Hardcover

Interesting enough to read through to the end. Nothing satisfying in the finish, as the story really isn't finished. I won't comment on the main character, since she is the author, except to say that she doesn't seem to learn from her experiences. Half the recipes are from epicurious.com which comprises the recipes of Gourmet and Bon Apetit magazines. The chapter titles and recipe names try too hard. I like memoirs that read like novels and include relevant recipes, but this book is not an appealing addition to the genre.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Don't believe them March 7, 2011

By Too much music

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

It puzzles me when I read the good reviews for this book. I'm a real fan of both memoirs and cookbooks and this book is boring in either genre. It's the memoir of a rather shallow woman who tells the stories of her uninteresting love affairs. I'm a cook and I can tell you that even her recipes are uninspired.