White Jacket Required: A Culinary Coming-of-Age Story [Hardcover]

Jenna Weber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 4, 2012

What do you do when you've just graduated from college and aren't sure what your next step should be? Jenna Weber, whose Eat, Live, Run blog has a huge following, turned to culinary school--but to become a food writer, not a chef. Jenna's charming coming-of-age story follows her ups-and-downs as she confronts the rigors of training, gets her first job, deals with a family crisis, and enters into a love affair.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jenna Weber attended Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts in Orlando, FL, with the goal of landing a job at one of the top food magazines. Instead, she ended up becoming a hugely popular blogger and writing this, her first book. Visit her blog at eatliverun.com to get an up-to-the-minute look at Jenna's world of food. She lives in Santa Rosa, CA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 216 pages
• Publisher: Sterling Epicure (September 4, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1402777779
• ISBN-13: 978-1402777776
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #332,698 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jenna Weber is the writer and creator of the popular food blog, Eat,Live,Run. For the past five years, she has been welcoming readers into her life and teeny tiny kitchen, serving up delicious recipes for tasty meals and treats.

Jenna graduated from the College of Charleston with a degree in English and Creative Writing in 2007. From there, she attended a travel and food writing course in Paris, where she fell head over heels in love with just about every French bakery and pastry shop that she passed. Upon returning home to the States, Jenna decided to pursue her lifelong passion of food (desserts in particular!), and enrolled at Le Cordon Bleu in Orlando, Florida.

Jenna has worked as a pastry chef, bread baker and food writer. White Jacket Required is her personal story of attending culinary school with the goal of becoming a food writer rather than a chef. She hopes it inspires others to go after their dreams, no matter how big they seem.

Jenna loves yoga, traveling, black licorice, shopping at Target and cuddling with her cat, Dexter. Visit EatLiveRun.com for an up-to-the-minute view of her world of food.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Great recipes, but shallow stories behind them September 29, 2012

By Christina Hayes

Format:Hardcover

I enjoyed the format of the book, with recipes after each chapter- and most of the recipes are quite good. The narrative itself, though, is fairly thinly developed. The first few chapters seem devoted to "what a quirky kid I was!" The rest of the book recounts the few years after Jenna graduated from college, and they lack a coherent narrative. The book tries to shoehorn her experiences into "young woman follows her dreams!" but I think "young woman flails about, trying to find something worthwhile to do with her life" would be more accurate- and a much more interesting read.

The book also suffers from Weber's refusal to let her readers in on the emotions she's feeling; we learn more about the devastation she felt when she got shin splits from running than we do about how she dealt with a real tragedy, and her boyfriend of many years is given the most superficial of descriptions.

As another reviewer mentioned, there are a few inconsitentcies in the narrative, which can be irritating. Worse are the details that seem left out, that I want to know more about: Wait, you were a sorority girl at University of Alabama? Wait, you're a devoted yogi? Wait, who's this best friend that you're visiting whom I haven't heard of until this page? Wait, were you happy and popular with serious boyfriends in high school or a shy new girl?

Overall, a *** read. Interesting and readable enough when you want something light, and there's a kernel of a good book there, but it's just not developed well enough- or Weber doesn't let us in enough- to make it great.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Easy to read but not well written... October 26, 2012

By brit

Format:Hardcover

The reviewers who note the frustrating inconsistencies, erratic pacing, and lack of emotional depth are spot-on. The book is worth reading if you're a fan of the blog. Although you'll have to overlook the vast difference between the writing tone on the blog and the one in the book (among other inconsistencies). Another element that I found extremely frustrating was that many of the recipes are already on the blog and have been for years. It seems as if she tried to copy Amanda Hesser's Cooking with Mr. Latte or Elizabeth Bard's Lunch in Paris but fell drastically short. Both the aforementioned are much more interesting reads. After enjoying the blog for years I expected more from Jenna.

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Proof that a blogger doesn't make an author October 6, 2012

By James

Format:Hardcover

I wouldn't recommend this book.... it's very simple with erratic pacing. I think this is a good example of someone who blogs shouldn't assume they will make a good author. Jenna really should map out the events and people in her life much better to allow proper flow and answer lingering questions.