Customer Reviews

The Warmest Room in the House: How the Kitchen Became the Heart of the Twentieth-Century American Home

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

 

 

Considering how much time is spent socializing in people's kitchens, The Warmest Room in the House is an apt title for this book. And that's before the author explores how the room went from being literally hot (open fires, no ventilation) to the center for family interaction, to the design showplace of today. Gdula's easy writing style makes for an enjoyable read as he goes from our kitchen's humble and dangerous beginnings to it's current ultra-modern state. And he brings along great stories of cooking pioneers and legends like Fannie Farmer and Julia Child, as well as innovations like aluminum foil and tv trays. Considering the issues we are having today with food quality and safety, his exploration of our government's earlier efforts at regulation are particularly timely. It's a fun story, an easy read, and well told.

If you want a 'good feel' read while accidentally learning quite a bit in the process, then this book is for you. Regardless of your age, "The Warmest Room in the House" is written in such a way that it provides you with a colorful and easily grasped perspective of how we got to where we are today in terms of how and what we eat. Being younger than those that truly suffered and sacrificed during the World Wars this country endured, I can only imagine the dedication our not-to-long-ago ancestors put up with in trying to get a meal on the table.

"The Warmest Room in the House" helps paint that picture very clearly.

You will enjoy this book.

I read the review of this book in the Wall Street Journal and thought this would be an interesting Summer read - a look that American kitchen over the last 100 years.

A very breezy read, the coverage of any topic is about at deep as a sheet of Phylo. I would have been interested to see diagrams of kitchen designs and how they have changed over time, a much more detailed discussion of how various items of kitchen equipment changed the America diet (the book discussed this a little, but just skimmed the surface), much more on the changing role of the kitchen as the center of the home, etc....

I can think of dozens of interesting topics that this book never explored in any worthwhile depth. It would have been fun to see a discussion of kitchen utensils of various types that have gone out of fashion. Heck, it would have been interesting to know whether the percentage of space dedicated to the kitchen has increased over time.

To me, a lost opportunity and a fair waste of time to read (even more than I was looking for). Basically, I just wish the book had delivered what the title promised.

I'm a sucker for food history books, particularly those that concentrate on the 20th century so when The Warmest Room in the House: How the Kitchen Became the Heart of the Twentieth-Century American Home appeared in the list of new releases Amazon recommended for me I knew it was only time before I gave it a read. My biggest concern going into it was whether it would be too much like The United States of Arugula: The Sun Dried, Cold Pressed, Dark Roasted, Extra Virgin Story of the American Food Revolution. Having already read that book too many similarities would have been a disappointment.

Lucky for me, and any other United States of Arugula readers, the focus of this book is different enough to justify a read. The most principle difference for me is that while Arugula seemed to be largely about the various players in the US food scene like Alice Waters, James Beard, Wolfgang Puck, The Warmest Room seems to be more focused on things more central to the average American kitchen. Arugula was also much more focused on developments in the restaurant world where as this seems much more about the home cook.

Broken up by decade, the book covers things like new product releases, new kitchen technologies, the impacts of cultural events on American cuisine, etc. Yes there is some similar ground in that the book also talks about influential figures like Julia Child, but for the most part this book compliments rather than duplicates the efforts of The United States of Arugula. The book also does a great job of bringing to life what changes took place in the average American kitchen in each decade.

As much as I enjoyed this book it is worth noting that as other readers have said it really only grazes the surface. There are so many topics in this book that easily could have been broken out into books of their own, such as the effects of the depression on Americans' eating habits or the causes that led Americans to embrace a diet centered around convenience. However, this book is still an entertaining and educational read, particularly if you have not read many food history books before. Yes, books like Food: A Culinary History (European Perspectives) are more comprehensive and global in their focus, but they also tend to be drier and much more academic in nature than books such as this.

The bottom line is that while this book may not be the most detailed account ever written of developments in the American kitchen in the 20th century it still makes for an enjoyable read. What you sacrifice in detail you gain in entertainment value and approachability. It's great for times when you want a historical perspective without having to digest something dry and academic.

I loved the premise for the book - I love all things kitchen. I especially enjoy reading and collecting old cookbooks. While there is some interesting information contained in the book, I wondered about the source of some of it. The book needs editing - it needs to be more cohesive, better organized and less dry. Also, there were conflicting facts in the book. For example, during the chapter on the 1930s, he discussed how Americans were starving because of the lack of food, money, work and all the other deprivations of the Great Depression. Then, he opened the chapter on the 1940s with a statement how Americans enlisting in the armed services in 1941 were mysteriously suffering from malnutrition - in a country were food was plentiful. That was when I put the book down - I have to ask, did the author actually read his own book?

Steven Gdula's book is a surface treatment of kithchen appliances and gadgetry and a light history of foods, attitudes toward foods and general health concerns in the 20th century. After reading it, I was still wondering how the kithchen became the heart of the twentieth-century home.

I was quite surprised at this book, after having read the first few chapters. I found the writing to be entertaining and engaging, but it was mostly fluff, with no real substance. I did not learn anything that I had not known before, either from a "foodie" aspect nor an historical one. If you are well read in either American social history or the culinary arts, pass this one by. There are better ways to spend a winter afternoon. I donated my copy to the library.