Gabrielle Hamilton is the owner of Prune, a restaurant in New York City’s East Village with a cult following. Gabrielle Hamilton’s writing may have its own cult following after the publication of Blood, Bones, & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef – a no-holds-barred memoir of her life up until she becomes chef-owner of her own restaurant and a little beyond. She reads her own memoir for the audio edition with the competent, matter-of-fact tone that I imagine her taking with suppliers, staff, and siblings, not suffering fools gladly but not really letting them disturb her self-possession, either. She doesn’t cut herself any slack in the kitchen or on the page – remembering her childhood and difficult adolescence, describing her various jobs, unusual marriage, failures, and successes, with straight-to-the-bone honesty.
An excerpt from the first chapter of Blood, Bones & Butter was published in the January 17, 2011 issue of The New Yorker as a personal history piece titled The Lamb Roast, in which the author describes the huge, outdoor party the author’s father and mother threw every year, with a lamb roasting on a spigot as a centerpiece. The story of the free-spirited, unhappy family stuck in my mind after reading it, so I was happy when I found out there was more of the story available.
Take The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls; Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain; Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes; and Tender at the Bone by Ruth Reichl (and her other memoirs, too) and roll them into one and you’ll have Blood, Bones & Butter, with the author’s dysfunctional family and issues that go unresolved into adulthood; too many wild, late nights in restaurants and manic cooking jags; summer meals in a crumbling villa in Italy; and plenty of meals and menu descriptions all the way through. The author’s passion and love of food really comes through, but not in an over-dramatized way. There isn’t any gushing or ecstatic renditions of meals eaten. The preparation of good food seems to be what calms the author’s driven spirit, making her years of hard work in kitchens seem in retrospect like a labor of love.
You can listen to an excerpt from the audiobook here. It takes a while for the author to hit her stride in the reading, so an excerpt from later in the book might have been a better sample. At the beginning she sounds more like she is reading than telling the story (which is why I don’t usually like an author to read his/her own book) but her reading becomes more natural as she goes on. Plus, with an author’s reading, you can count on pronunciations being correct.
Found this great list of food-related memoirs on The Literary Foodie blog, if you’re hungry for more.
Disclosure: I borrowed this audiobook on CD from the public library.
For more audiobook reviews from other bloggers, click on the Sound Bytes graphic and visit Devourer of Books.
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This sounds so good, I’m going to have to add it to my list.
I couldn’t remember who originally recommended this audiobook or where I saw it mentioned. I think it might have been a blogger, but I guess it wasn’t you!
This sounds like one I might like. So, ok, I found one book this week that I can add to my to-read list!
I’m not usually crazy about authors reading their own work either with the exception of Barbara Kingsolver, who did a fantastic job on Animal Vegetable Miracle.
I haven’t read any of Barbara Kingsolver’s books! I just saw a recent review of the audio edition of Animal Vegetable Miracle, maybe it was yours? I’m going to have to start keeping notes!
I have this on my audio wish list at Audible! I’ve been debating on downloading it for a while now because I also have an aversion to authors reading their own books. Unless, of course, it’s Neil Gaiman.
I think in this case it works, especially since it’s a memoir. It’s very professionally done, too. I don’t remember noticing any weird noises or mistakes.
I keep confusing this with the butcher book by that Julia who wrote the Julia and me book! I should fix that and just read this.
Oh, no! That one (Cleaving) was a DNF for me. I liked Julie and Julia, but not Cleaving.
I thought about reading this but didn’t even think to consider listening to it on audio. I think I’ll give it a try. Great review.
Thanks! As a chef/writing/family memoir, this book was a little hard to describe, and I ended up leaving a lot out of the review or it would have been even longer!
I tend to like food writing in short spurts (article-length is just about right), but I’m tempted by this one. It sounds like a very human story, and I’m sure the descriptions of food prep are delicious.
I’ve heard such great things about this book and her restaurant; I’m going to have to seek out Prune.
I haven’t read any memoirs by chefs. Will have to check into this area. Thanks.
It’s definitely not all food writing; it’s a good mix of her life, relationships, and education in other areas than cooking, too.
It sounds quite tiny and quirky, and tres expensive!
I enjoyed this on audio, too. I love your description of her memoir as the other 3 you listed, rolled together – perfect!
Sue
Book By Book
She’s had an interesting life so far!
Thanks for visiting and commenting!
I’ve been wanting to read this forever. Im so glad to know it’s good.
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