My Delicious Life with Paula Deen [Hardcover]

Michael Groover (Author), Sherry Suib Cohen (Contributor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 3, 2009

• The highly visible “Mr. Paula Deen”: Michael Groover has his own adoring fans, who have gotten to know him from Paula’s shows, books, and personal appearances. Now, five years into their romantic marriage, fans are clamoring for more about Michael and his everyday life with Paula. Michael has his own line of coffees and is poised to have additional products released soon..

• A compelling life story: Michael will share stories of his life from before and after meeting Paula, from his quintessentially southern childhood to his work as a tugboat captain, raising his children as a single dad, to the pleasures and challenges of marrying one of the nation’s biggest celebrities. .

• Delicious recipes: Michael is pretty good in the kitchen himself, and My Delicious Life with Paula Deen will feature some of his favorites, such as Captain’s Deviled Crabs and Blue Water Banana Pudding. .

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Groover is a tugboat pilot in Savannah, Georgia, where he lives with his wife, Paula Deen.

Sherry Suib Cohen has written twenty-one books for major publishers and was a contributing editor at McCall's, Rosie, New Woman, and Lifetime magazines. She regularly writes for periodicals, including Parade, Family Circle, Redbook, Reader's Digest, and Ladies' Home Journal. Cohen is an award-winning member of the American Society of Journalists and Authors and lives with her husband, Larry, in New York City. She makes a great soup.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Prologue

Miss Paula Deen came into my life bringin' blue eyes, beamin' smiles, balance, and butter -- no end of the butter.

All of those great things arrived in one pretty package and standin' on the most gorgeous legs you ever did see.

But among all the kick-ass gifts that Paula gave me, a beautiful balance was the most life changing. Up until we married, my days were spent on local waters, lonely but livin' and workin' at the job of my dreams as a harbor pilot in Savannah, Georgia. It was a wonderful life and all I ever wanted, all I needed.

I thought.

What I never gave a thought to was seein' the Eiffel Tower, zippin' through a jungle along a sturdy sky-high cable, wonderin' how it was to have people ask me for my autograph, bein' the owner of a classic, bright orange, muscle car, hangin'out with Billy Joel, havin' close friends of every race, religion, and sexual persuasion the good Lord made, marryin' and cookin' on television with one of the most famous television cooks on the planet, and then, goin' home with her and curlin' up in our giant bed for a little inspired romance. Inspired by the cook, I might add. That fabulous, adorable cook.

Paula brought the most vivid colors you can imagine into a happy life of mostly soft ocean blues and cloudy-day grays bordered by sameness. The eggy yellows, steaming reds, hot oranges, peacock blues of the whole world suddenly opened up to me. Fame and fortune and good fellowship came to balance a very quiet life. Nothing has ever been the same again.

There have been some bumps, of course. What couple gets through life without a bump now and then? There were also some pretty damn embarrassin' moments, and I'm thankin' the Lord that, knowin' Paula, there weren't a whole lot more.

So, if you've ever wondered how delicious it is to marry a celebrated but also good, funny, smart, and sassy person whom the whole world loves, climb aboard with me. T here's some interestin' sailin' ahead. Copyright © 2009 by Captain Michael Enterprises, LLC

Foreword

by Paula Deen

Hi y'all,

Listen: I felt like it was my place to introduce the world to my Captain Michael Groover. And, of course, I also felt that maybe I need to do a little groundwork to help prepare y'all for that meetin'.

Michael's not old -- he's only fifty-three, but he's a true ol' Southern river boy. Now, ol' Southern river boys may be a little rough around the edges, and so, I want you to be prepared. His language and his jokes may be a little like the water we live on -- salty -- and he can also be rough and gruff and bawdy at times.

But when times are hard, Michael Groover will make the best friend that y'all could ever hope to have in this world.

I fell in love with this salty sea captain. And I guess you could say the first thing I fell in love with was his sense of humor: very dry and very witty.

Michael Groover made me laugh and he makes me laugh every day of my life. He brought laughter and joy into a personal life that was very sad at the time I met him. I will always love him for that.

So get ready to meet this rough-gruff-on-the-outside man who's a teddy bear on the inside. I think by the time you finish this book, you'll know why I fell in love with Captain Michael and why I will love the man until the day I die. Copyright © 2009 by Captain Michael Enterprises, LLC

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; 1St Edition edition (November 3, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1439159998
• ISBN-13: 978-1439159996
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #434,311 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This is his account...let the guy tell it his way, November 29, 2009

By 

Mimi "Mimi" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Delicious Life with Paula Deen (Hardcover)

Groover is as real as Paula Deen herself, and it's nice to hear it directly from him how life with her is. No, this isn't a biography telling of his tugboat experience because....as the title says...it's about his life with Paula. And that is a HUGE plus. The first chapter is about his younger years, but from Chapter two on, we hear about Michael and Paula. We hear, from his perspective, what dating and marriage and maintenance of that marriage consists of. He dishes of behind the scenes of her cooking show, jealousy on both parts...c'mon, if you want to know some things about Paula Deen that you won't hear otherwise, this is the place to read about it.

I'm not sure what the other reviewers were expecting but for this fan and book reviewer, it was a home run. I read the book in one day. So he mentions his boats and other materialistic things they've acquired. Should he feel guilt over working hard and getting just compensation for it? They also give back an insane amount to several charities. (Remember reading that in the book?)

The main problem with the book is related to editing. He does get repetitous and the southern way of pronunciating was draining and got old. However, the content of the book was rich and just as good as any of Paula's dishes. I would recommend this book to any fan of Paula's. Just be willing to overlook some minor editing annoyances.

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Huck Finn, it's not, November 4, 2009

By 

SamIam (South Dakota) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Delicious Life with Paula Deen (Hardcover)

File this under Shameless Marketing Ploy, not Biography. I had every hope that this biography would indeed tell the life story of this tugboat captain (as promised in the promotional material/front flap); instead, it glosses over the first five decades of his life and focuses on the last decade. Horribly. The folksy dialect that worked so well in Paula's memoir fails here. Second, Mr. Groover has no qualms about telling exactly how well off he and Paula are. Repeatedly. Finally, Mr. Groover offers advice, among other things, on how to order presents online and how to shop for diamonds. That's not biography--that's filler.
--I still have 50 pages to read, but this book has so offended me that I couldn't wait another moment to share my disdain. I purchased this book because I truly thought this man might have a fascinating story to tell, not because I wanted to be duped by a shameless marketing ploy. I admire Paula Deen--I've bought into her image (books & TV), and she's brought a little joy into my life. This book tarnishes that image, because someone (who?) so clearly simply wanted to make a buck off her name. Her image would have been much better served if they would have just had him write a cookbook--without opening his mouth.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Someone should have stopped this book!, November 25, 2009

By 

J. Kittel (South Carolina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Delicious Life with Paula Deen (Hardcover)

I love Paula Deen. I think her positive attitude and infectious laugh are so appealing. I have all her cookbooks and get her magazine. I will continue to do so, but in the back of mind, I will be thinking that I am only helping them buy more material items.

I don't lay all of the blame for this book on Michael Groover. Did Sherry Cohen, the contributor, not recognize how this book would look to readers? Michael tells you how to buy expensive items and what they have acquired with all of their money, not very appealing to read.

Michael also hints at the end of the book that there is a family member that they are having problems with. This should have been left out of the book if he didn't want to give facts. I think this was his way of trying to get that family member to understand his position without telling readers the facts.

I wish this had been more about Paula and Michael's life together. The parts that do tell about their life I feel are choppy. I wish this had been a better book and my past opinion of Paula and Michael was still intact.