Bon Appetempt
A Coming-of-Age Story (with Recipes!)
-
-
4.8 • 6 Ratings
-
-
- $13.99
Publisher Description
When Amelia Morris saw a towering, beautiful chocolate cake in Bon Appétit and took the recipe home to recreate it for a Christmas day brunch she was hosting, it resulted in a terrible (but tasty) mess that had to be served in an oversize bowl. It was also a revelation. Both delicious and damaged, it seemed a physical metaphor for the many curious and unexpected situations she's found herself in throughout her life, from her brief career as a six-year-old wrestler to her Brady Bunch-style family (minus the housekeeper and the familial harmony) to her ill-fated twenty-something job at the School of Rock in Los Angeles.
As a way to bring order to chaos and in search of a more meaningful lifestyle, she finds herself more and more at home in the kitchen, where she begins to learn that even if the results of her culinary efforts fall well short of the standard set by glossy food magazines, they can still bring satisfaction (and sustenance) to her and her family and friends.
Full of hilarious observations about food, family, unemployment, romance, and the extremes of modern L.A., and featuring recipes as basic as Toasted Cheerios and as advanced as gâteau de crêpes, Bon Appétit is sure to resonate with anyone who has tried and failed, and been all the better for it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a bland look back at her middle American childhood maneuvering between her parents' joint custody, L.A. journalist and blogger Morris found comfort and control in learning how to simplify elaborate recipes for her own use. The daughter of two doctors in Meadville, Pa. her father was one of two ob-gyns in town, her mother one of two pediatricians Morris was five years old when her father had a child by his "mistress." The divorce and split of households that followed meant that she grew up largely feeling unloved in her father's new household in Saegertown. By high school, however, she had moved to her mother and stepfather's place in Pittsburgh, where she was copiously fed and religiously went to church; in Pittsburgh she met her future husband, Matt. She attended Johns Hopkins University and eventually moved with Matt to Hollywood to hustle jobs in film and TV writing. Much of Morris's chronological memoir relays the young couple's valiant attempts to pursue their creative endeavors while forced to find temp jobs. Morris earned an M.F.A., planned a wedding despite some opposition in her family to a Jewish husband, and started a blog exploring how recipes from food magazines turn out in the hands of ordinary cooks like her which was "messy, poorly lit, and falling well short of our aspiration." Unfortunately, Morris's lackluster prose never elevates the story.
Customer Reviews
Excellent finish
I read far too many books that start out strong and fizzle out due to an ending that is sloppy or too perfect or lacking in satisfaction. Amelia's book did not disappoint. Due to her honesty and quirky humor, her story drew me in and kept me engaged. Particularly impressed by the touching epilogue. So sad that I have finished this thoughtful story. I will miss my new friend.