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on December 20, 2012
I did like this book. However, I don't remember the last time I got a 10 lb. book in the mail aside from the old school Sears catalogs or a hardcover Webster's Dictionary.
I appreciate why the book was so long since it includes a lot of "how-to" with recipes and other nitty-gritty information about food including how things are made (i.e. the process in which balsamic vinegar is made, how to kill a chicken, etc.). But, quite honestly, I didn't buy the book to learn how to cook. I hate cooking and I still do.
What I did like about this book would be about the first 100 pages or so that teaches you how to learn anything at super fast speed. This includes languages, dancing, cooking, or anything else you want to learn...and fast. Tim is the first one I've ever seen to illustrate that you not need to have 10,000 hours of practice to become good at or an expert in almost anything provided that you understand how the "crash course" methodology works and Tim puts methodology together for you.
And he explains it quite well.
What I wish he would have done was split this into 2 books where he could teach people how to cook in one book and teach people "how to learn anything in 6 weeks or less" in another book. I would have bought the 2nd book and not bothered with the cooking book at all. It seems that the cooking part actually got in the way. Just when he was getting into the swing of things with how to learn something at a super fast speed, he'd throw some cooking crap in there and I'd have to find myself skimming through it just to continue on with what he was talking about with learning faster.
I really did like his 2 principles of learning fast which are:
1) Failure points - addressing the tripping points and how to work to eliminate/overcome them. These are the points in which people give up on any endeavor because it's too hard, complicated, etc.
2) Margin of safety - picking the most important elements of whatever you're trying to do and making sure that if you choose well, even if your execution is off, you'll still be successful. He illustrates this by having you choose recipes well so that if you fail to make it even near perfect, the result will still be awesome.
He also makes it clear that if you are going to become successful in anything, you have to give yourself an ultimatum of sorts. If you fail, what are the consequences? People who have no consequences for not meeting their goals usually don't meet their goals.
He has some pretty awesome points on success that I've never read in any other type of book before, and I read a lot of success books.
For that reason, I recommend this book. Even if you have no interest in cooking, read the book anyway for the first 1/4 of it where you can really learn how to change your life through learning and becoming successful at anything you want to in the shortest amount of time imaginable.
I appreciate why the book was so long since it includes a lot of "how-to" with recipes and other nitty-gritty information about food including how things are made (i.e. the process in which balsamic vinegar is made, how to kill a chicken, etc.). But, quite honestly, I didn't buy the book to learn how to cook. I hate cooking and I still do.
What I did like about this book would be about the first 100 pages or so that teaches you how to learn anything at super fast speed. This includes languages, dancing, cooking, or anything else you want to learn...and fast. Tim is the first one I've ever seen to illustrate that you not need to have 10,000 hours of practice to become good at or an expert in almost anything provided that you understand how the "crash course" methodology works and Tim puts methodology together for you.
And he explains it quite well.
What I wish he would have done was split this into 2 books where he could teach people how to cook in one book and teach people "how to learn anything in 6 weeks or less" in another book. I would have bought the 2nd book and not bothered with the cooking book at all. It seems that the cooking part actually got in the way. Just when he was getting into the swing of things with how to learn something at a super fast speed, he'd throw some cooking crap in there and I'd have to find myself skimming through it just to continue on with what he was talking about with learning faster.
I really did like his 2 principles of learning fast which are:
1) Failure points - addressing the tripping points and how to work to eliminate/overcome them. These are the points in which people give up on any endeavor because it's too hard, complicated, etc.
2) Margin of safety - picking the most important elements of whatever you're trying to do and making sure that if you choose well, even if your execution is off, you'll still be successful. He illustrates this by having you choose recipes well so that if you fail to make it even near perfect, the result will still be awesome.
He also makes it clear that if you are going to become successful in anything, you have to give yourself an ultimatum of sorts. If you fail, what are the consequences? People who have no consequences for not meeting their goals usually don't meet their goals.
He has some pretty awesome points on success that I've never read in any other type of book before, and I read a lot of success books.
For that reason, I recommend this book. Even if you have no interest in cooking, read the book anyway for the first 1/4 of it where you can really learn how to change your life through learning and becoming successful at anything you want to in the shortest amount of time imaginable.
on November 15, 2016
I dig tim's books and really wanted to love this book because I love tim's approach to living and I love cooking. But I found myself getting severely agitated and frustrated about the randomness of topics that interest me none. I'm just skipping page after page waiting for it to get good again, but am of the mind that I only enjoyed the 200 pages that actually dealt with cooking. Bummed.
on December 26, 2013
I started out liking this book a lot and tried disciplining myself to not skip ahead and to read through the meta learning sections...and at first they were quite interesting but after awhile they became tedious and uninteresting and repetitive and worst of all I didn't learn much. It seemed overdone and almost to the point of arrogance that basically he can master anything.
The cooking sections are first I Was excited about and even tried a few of the recipes with varying success; this book could have been decent if he would have actually focused on the title of the book or just cooking but he reminds me of my 3.5year old son who can never focus on one thing for very long before jumping into something else. When he went off on his hunting spree that was when I finally gave up on the narrative and checked out a few more recipes and finally traded the book in to my favorite local bookstore. To be fair there were a few things I liked in the book, a few of the recipes and for example his topic of finding the perfect cup of coffee and all the nifty devices out there, I even purchased one and found it to be excellent. But overall too much was jammed into this book just for the sake of...just for the sake of jamming it in I suppose because I can't imagine he ever considered all this would be useful and informative to the reader...I also don't like books that ask me to skip sections.
The cooking sections are first I Was excited about and even tried a few of the recipes with varying success; this book could have been decent if he would have actually focused on the title of the book or just cooking but he reminds me of my 3.5year old son who can never focus on one thing for very long before jumping into something else. When he went off on his hunting spree that was when I finally gave up on the narrative and checked out a few more recipes and finally traded the book in to my favorite local bookstore. To be fair there were a few things I liked in the book, a few of the recipes and for example his topic of finding the perfect cup of coffee and all the nifty devices out there, I even purchased one and found it to be excellent. But overall too much was jammed into this book just for the sake of...just for the sake of jamming it in I suppose because I can't imagine he ever considered all this would be useful and informative to the reader...I also don't like books that ask me to skip sections.
and the presentation of concepts sometimes feels out-of-sequence such that it begins to read more like a magazine than a useable
on September 5, 2016
It's actually 2 books in 1.
The first part is a clever "learn how to learn." It's not exactly scientific in nature, and the presentation of concepts sometimes feels out-of-sequence such that it begins to read more like a magazine than a useable guide. For me, subjectively, this actually added to my enjoyment rather than detracted. I stayed curious and intrigued while reading this topic (metalearning) that COULD have been REALLY boring!
I'm writing this review 4 years after having read the book and can tell you that I STILL use some of the elements taught in the metalearning portion of this book.
The second part of the book is merely an example of "how to learn," with cooking chosen as the example skill. Really, he could have used any skill as an example (Gun shooting, archery, swimming, you name it). I personally don't enjoy cooking and so I didn't read this part of the book. However, my girlfriend has, recently, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a truly trustworthy culinary guide, I can't promise anything. If you're familiar with Tim Ferris and hoping for an enlightening read with new concepts, then I AM promising everything!
The first part is a clever "learn how to learn." It's not exactly scientific in nature, and the presentation of concepts sometimes feels out-of-sequence such that it begins to read more like a magazine than a useable guide. For me, subjectively, this actually added to my enjoyment rather than detracted. I stayed curious and intrigued while reading this topic (metalearning) that COULD have been REALLY boring!
I'm writing this review 4 years after having read the book and can tell you that I STILL use some of the elements taught in the metalearning portion of this book.
The second part of the book is merely an example of "how to learn," with cooking chosen as the example skill. Really, he could have used any skill as an example (Gun shooting, archery, swimming, you name it). I personally don't enjoy cooking and so I didn't read this part of the book. However, my girlfriend has, recently, and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.
In conclusion, if you're looking for a truly trustworthy culinary guide, I can't promise anything. If you're familiar with Tim Ferris and hoping for an enlightening read with new concepts, then I AM promising everything!
on June 25, 2013
This book is interesting...I'm not a stranger to cooking, but read through the book cover to cover and am working my way through many of the recipes in the book. There are a lot of interesting tidbits that seem thrown out from left field but that I got to read aloud to Erin so she could enjoy some trivia along with me. There are definitely some things I'd like to try out for myself apart from the cooking. It's a good manual for how to learn and I expect to reference it quite a bit at least in the near future; this seems the most immediately useable by anybody of his 3 books.
I'm not sure that this book would be worthwhile for somebody that isn't interested in cooking at all, but if you are willing to experiment a little then it does lend itself to a good medium for education.
I'm not sure that this book would be worthwhile for somebody that isn't interested in cooking at all, but if you are willing to experiment a little then it does lend itself to a good medium for education.
on November 20, 2012
Tim Ferriss tells you right off that this isn't a book about cooking, just like Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance isn't about Zen or changing oil. He'll teach you how to handle a knife and make a few interesting dishes, but mostly he takes you on a long, strange, self-indulgent, and sometimes useful trip.
What I enjoyed:
-- Ferriss's storytelling. He has a nice way with words: "Mangalitsa acorn-finished woolly boar tasted just like acorns. I was chewing on fall, clear as crystal, in a sliver of cured ham."
-- His emphasis on the slow food movement and local, organic farming. (But strangely, his "Clean 15" foods include sweet corn, which is mostly genetically modified.)
-- His language hacking tips, which are gold. I've always wanted to master several languages and found his methodology solid and logical.
-- The 140-character Twitter recipes from almost every country in the world: fun, simple, and intriguing.
What I didn't like:
-- Ferriss's tangential teaching style. At one point he goes from braising to English's 100 most common written words to kickboxing to chess to tango spins in order to emphasize the importance of selection and sequencing. It didn't work for me, because I often lost track of the original concept.
-- His foray in into survival and hunting skills, just so you can make your own venison burger. (If you want some cricket protein bars, however, you'll need to mail order the crickets.) This section could have been a separate book and might have been fascinating as a metaphor/methodology for learning entrepreneurial skills.
-- His unrealistic (for the busy person) science experiments, such as making arugula spaghetti using a syringe and flexible tubing just to avoid that dreaded white flour. (Though some of his cocktails in the same section sound delicious.)
If I were to sum up this book in one word, it would be "manic": excessively enthusiastic and somewhat disorganized. Ferriss is obviously a curious and driven guy. I came away feeling he gets satisfaction from the ability to tackle and master anything, but not joy.
What I enjoyed:
-- Ferriss's storytelling. He has a nice way with words: "Mangalitsa acorn-finished woolly boar tasted just like acorns. I was chewing on fall, clear as crystal, in a sliver of cured ham."
-- His emphasis on the slow food movement and local, organic farming. (But strangely, his "Clean 15" foods include sweet corn, which is mostly genetically modified.)
-- His language hacking tips, which are gold. I've always wanted to master several languages and found his methodology solid and logical.
-- The 140-character Twitter recipes from almost every country in the world: fun, simple, and intriguing.
What I didn't like:
-- Ferriss's tangential teaching style. At one point he goes from braising to English's 100 most common written words to kickboxing to chess to tango spins in order to emphasize the importance of selection and sequencing. It didn't work for me, because I often lost track of the original concept.
-- His foray in into survival and hunting skills, just so you can make your own venison burger. (If you want some cricket protein bars, however, you'll need to mail order the crickets.) This section could have been a separate book and might have been fascinating as a metaphor/methodology for learning entrepreneurial skills.
-- His unrealistic (for the busy person) science experiments, such as making arugula spaghetti using a syringe and flexible tubing just to avoid that dreaded white flour. (Though some of his cocktails in the same section sound delicious.)
If I were to sum up this book in one word, it would be "manic": excessively enthusiastic and somewhat disorganized. Ferriss is obviously a curious and driven guy. I came away feeling he gets satisfaction from the ability to tackle and master anything, but not joy.
on January 29, 2013
I didn't realize this was like a survivalist how-to book with tons of really weird and unusual and for me generally useless information. I thought it was going to be a regular how-to cook book, like The Joy of Cooking or something like that. Instead it has chapters on how to slaughter a rabbit, how to start a charcoal cookstove in the woods--so maybe it would be useful for grown-up eagle scouts or hardline campers or something. But I just don't get it, I don't like it, I don't want it, I'm going to try to send it back. If you're some kind of back country geek or survivalist or I don't know what, you might like it. But it's big, it's got a lot of pages, it's heavy, it's hard-bound, it's probably good for a doorstop if you need one.
on March 10, 2017
Bought as a gift for one of my best friends who is into cooking and liked The 4 Hour Body after I lent it to him. Every week he has some new great thing to tell me that he read in this book. If you liked The 4 Hour Body or are into cooking, check it out. **Please note, it will not literally teach you to be a chef in 4 hours**
on April 20, 2017
Great book. Much more here than I expected. Only problem is that it's a little older and many of the URLs inside that are supposed to link you to useful information, gear reviews, etc. are no longer working. Would have been 5 stars if someone would check the links once a month or so and make sure they don't 404.
