Customer Reviews

Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

In this breezily written, serious but never morose memoir of her life as it intersects with food, the author connects eight separate episodes of self-realization each with a particular phase in her life, a cook she associated with it, and then a particular recipe (which she includes at the end of the chapter). The book starts off rather conventionally but gets better as it wears on -- as the author herself becomes (relatively) more introspective and we learn that she has dealt with alcoholism and coming out, but the truly interesting parts are the vignettes with the famous cooks. I particularly liked a chapter on Italian food culture in northern Wisconsin. A good summer read, even if (or because) reading this book will not change your life the way cooking did Severson's.

Kim Severson serves up a modern tale of learning to become her authentic-self through life-lessons of those people whom she admires, who just happen to be cooks/chefs. Ms. Severson is a food writer for the New York Times and in this food memoir, "Spoon Fed" she uses her interviews with 8 cooks to weave a very personal tale of becoming an adult, being gay, alcoholism and substance abuse, discovering her passion for writing about food, walking those tricky roads of familial relationships (especially with her mother) and so much more. And like the saying goes; "if you want to make an omelet, you have to break a few eggs"! I found Ms. Severson's story to be refreshingly honest as well as, heart warming.

"Spoon Fed" is an enjoyable book. It's a fast read but that does not mean that it will leave you empty. On the contrary, "Spoon Fed" is a full meal and more. Ms. Severson includes wonderful recipes at the end of each chapter that are touchstones to each story as well as delicious.

I have to admit, that this book is right up my alley and I am a bit biased. Being a native of New Orleans, cooking and food are also my passion in life. I found a kinship with this author and enjoyed her voice, sense of humor and her crazy world of, "food, glorious food"! But you do not have to be a foodie or a chef to enjoy this book. It is a wonderful story of growing-up and embracing your true self, no matter where you come from or what you do for a living, we are all just human. Ms. Severson's life and story shows that we may take different roads but we all pretty much end up at the same place, back to ourselves.

Kim Severson finds a kind of faith by asking for help to a higher power, help to stop drinking and taking drugs, which she feels she receives. She also receives help from women who show her the way to live and they are 8 women who by their cooking and philosophies on life ground her and connect her to a strength to live. The women, with the exception of her mother, Anne Zappa Sverson, are famous: Marion Cunningham, Alice Walters, Ruth Reichl, Marcella Hazan, Rachael Ray, Edna Lewis and Leah Chase. This community of women has lessons for us all....cry and keep on moving, figure out what you have to do in life and do it, look at the world as beautiful and it will be, and it's your job to make it better.
The lessons are mostly related to food and feeding both physically and emotionally. As Kim slowly evolves and has faith in herself and also discovers a wonderful lesson for all...how can you blame someone for not talking unless you talk to them... a great lesson between mothers and daughters especially; you can take these lessons for your own. Her writing style is easy and interesting and no matter what life you lead there are lessons in this book for you.

This book is about food and so much more -- love, home, hearth, family, and all the things that food can mean. Severson has a distinctive, chatty, engaging voice, and she stays completely away from the kind of self-pity that can mar a memoir.

The Northern California and the New York food scenes that she describes are rendered precisely and with telling detail. Although she has met many famous people, she has learned to be unimpressed by their fame; they are human beings like everyone else. This is a book about how an ordinary Midwestern girl found herself and adopted the values that are right for her. It's also a memoir of addiction, but Severson doesn't make a major fuss about that.

Foodies will enjoy the descriptions of Rachael Ray, Alice Waters, Marcella Hazan, and other icons. There are a few recipes here, but they're here to illustrate Severson's points, not to function as a personal cookbook.

Really enjoyed the first half or so. Reading about Alice Waters, Marion Cunningham and Ruth Reichl was entertaining, although the conceit that is intended to link the cameos of these women together ("How Eight Cooks Saved My Life") gets stretched a little thin. May have made for a series of interesting little canapes but when when whipped together the souffle falls a little flat. In an effort to fill some of the spaces and make the whole thing cohere the author narrates more and more of her own life and the concoction verges toward an apologia and coming of age/self acceptance story. I wish she had stayed with the narratives about the women she met along the way because, although she is a good writer, she is a lot less interesting when she writes about her own life. On page 195 she summarizes her faults and talents: "I have a state school education, a drinking problem, and I like girls, not boys. I don't tan well and I'm always about fifteen pounds too heavy. I'm not so great with money and I sometimes act before I think. But I'm also (most days) a helpful citizen of the world. I've got a good sense of humor and a decent softball arm. And I have gotten pretty good at being a daughter, a wife, a friend and, lately, a mother. In other words, I'm me."
At which point I closed the book and thought "I'm done."

Couldn't wait for this to end. I found the tone and content boring, veering towards irritating. Recognizing that memoirs are ego centric, this one took self-absorbed to a new level. Coming from a food writer, this one put me off my feed.

If you can ignore the ridiculously exaggerated sub-title, "How Eight Cooks Saved My Life," you will find much to enjoy in this pastiche of memoir and interviews. For those of us whose passion for cooking has surpassed the hobby stage into something approaching addiction, these interviews add a uniquely personal note to one's previous knowledge of these stars of the culinary world. Ruth Reichl and Rachael Ray are presented as the genuinely nice people they appear to be from their writings and TV appearances, while Marcella Hazan - well, no surprise there, either.

Inspiring is the word that describes the feeling derived from the majority of the chapters, but inspiring is too weak an adjective for Ms. Severson's article about Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock. We cookbook collectors often say that a particular recipe is "alone worth the price of the cookbook." In my opinion, it is this chapter that is uniquely precious and memorable.

The memoir sections are skillfully interwoven throughout the book. In the hands of a lesser author, what could have been clumsy and intrusive is, instead, the "connective tissue" that ties the interviews of these unique individuals together.

Well done!

What attracted me to this book was Kim Severson's choice of the eight women who saved her life. Ranging from notable critics and chefs, (as well as her Mom) to the youngest and newest addition, Rachel Ray, it tempted me with promise.
Severson has an easy to read writing style, coupled with honesty, humor, and pathos (New Orleans Katrina, for example).
Many of her eight women had a privileged introduction to the food world, Kim did not.
I was glad to see Rachel Ray among these women as I truly enjoy her food shows and books.
Loving to cook, and having a repetoire of difficult gourmet ventures on my belt, Rachel encourages that anyone can cook at home, eat healthier, learn to substitute. While she may espouse preshredded cheese, it is real cheese, she uses mostly fresh ingredients. What is there to criticize about that!
Alice Waters, Marcella Hazan, the aformentioned Ruth, Edna Lewis, Leah Chase, Marion Cunningham and Kim's mother all share a small part in Kim's personal growth.
Self limited thinking, lack of confidence, alcohol addiction became a thing of the past.
Kim had it all the time.
A unique feature is Kim's openess about being gay, and that it can be tied with the ability to pray and be loved. Her interpretation of God's love, should you wish to go there, is gentle and forthright.
Some recipes and guidelines tempt me to give them a try, but that is not a cookbook per se, it a growth book.

This is an interesting memoir of the author who finds friends, life, creativity, career, and artistic side of cooking after her own addiction to alcohol. The author journeys from California to Alaska and finally to New York, and narrates her experience in this little book with a style that everyone would enjoy. This is not really a cookbook, but a book about her interaction with eight prominent women in cooking profession who influenced her in her career. The author is a food writer for the New York Times, and previously reported for the San Francisco Chronicle, and The Anchorage Daily News. She has a lucid writing skill which is reflected in text. She does not get into the details of her personal life but at the same time she eases through the pages stressing the finer things in life she learnt from her friends and getting over her personal setbacks early in her life. At the end of each chapter she provides a recipe from each of her cooking friends, as an example what she learnt from them. This is not a recipe book, but I certainly recommend Marion Cunningham's Raised waffles recipe for your sumptuous breakfast on a Sunday morning!

1. The New Alaska Cookbook: Recipes from the Last Frontier's Best Chefs
2. The Trans Fat Solution: Cooking and Shopping to Eliminate the Deadliest Fat from Your Diet

Kim shared some wonderful insights, which I earmarked. But they were overshadowed by the "poor me" tone of the book. After a point, the repetition of her personal struggles became taxing. Not because they weren't real or important, but because in the scheme of things, she fails to adequately acknowledge the ways in which she's been blessed.