Laura Kalpakian
Hardcover | Pages: 419 pages Rating: 3.6 | 111 Users | 29 Reviews
Describe Of Books American Cookery
| Title | : | American Cookery |
| Author | : | Laura Kalpakian |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 419 pages |
| Published | : | September 5th 2006 by St. Martin's Press |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Historical. Historical Fiction |
Rendition Supposing Books American Cookery
Animated as a family reunion, intimate as a lovers' picnic, American Cookery serves up tradition and innovation in a family novel based on the joy of cooking. The story is complete with twenty-seven recipes from the life and tumultuous times of Eden Douglass.Eden was born in 1920 into a contentious California tribe, and the ingredients of her life include her grandmother's reserve, her aunt's instinct for action, and her mother's foggy warmth. Seasoned with spicy herbs, and a few bitter ones, simmered and stirred over time, these instincts shape her destiny.
Two strong-willed women--her grandmother Ruth Douglass and her aunt Afton Lance--struggle to pull Eden from the comfy sloth of her parents' home. Her ill-matched parents drift toward financial collapse, and her father, pursuing phantom wealth, takes the family to an Idaho mining town. He finds fulfillment in Idaho, but Eden's mother breaks down, and Eden must shoulder the household drudgery, burdens not in keeping with her aspirations to be a journalist.
Eden's adventurous spirit takes her far from her faith and family. She falls in love in wartime London and rides a motorcycle across war-torn Belgium. After the war, still reeling from a devastating loss, Eden returns to Southern California and is hired by a newspaper, only to confront insidious opposition, yet find an unexpected ally.
Then, in 1952, fate puts Eden Douglass in the path of a runaway horse at Greenwater Movie Ranch, where they're filing a B-movie Western. She falls flat on her face, and Matt March lifts her from the dust. Charming and charismatic, with good looks, cowboy boots, and appetite for life, and his VistaVision of the Western, Matt ignites Eden's passion. Three months later, they elope to Mexico.
In these exuberant California boom years, Eden nourishes Matt's dreams, even though they are sauced with secrets and larded with debt. He tests Eden's strengths and his children's love.
A big-cast book, American Cookery fulfills the wide embrace of its title. The novel chronicles the stories behind family recipes and the lives that touch Eden's--lives of horse thieves, ranchers, railroad men, developers, dreamers, migrants, immigrants, natives, Latter-Day Saints, sinners, silent-film stars, sidekicks, and stunt people.
The good, the bad, the ugly and the beautiful emerge in these pages as American Cookery serves up the whole gorgeous banquet of life.
Itemize Books In Pursuance Of American Cookery
| Original Title: | American Cookery: A Novel |
| ISBN: | 0312348118 (ISBN13: 9780312348113) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Rating Of Books American Cookery
Ratings: 3.6 From 111 Users | 29 ReviewsWeigh Up Of Books American Cookery
I loved the first half of this book so much it was headed for a 5. The second half seemed to have been written by another author, and I found it boring. It bored me, even though it was about movie-making, and I usually love books about movies. Her writing style is great, and I will try more of her books for that reason. But this one puzzled me.I'd like to give this four stars, mostly based on the unusual format. I loved the little "snapshots (and recipes)" at the end of each chapter. It was a good story that tended to drag from time to time and got pretty melodramatic. All that being said it was a thoroughly enjoyable read.
Finished this on the plane ride back from Boston...haven't read a real "American Epic" in a long while and was thoroughly satiated by this book. Set in the American West (mainly St. Elmo, CA; but also Idaho, Europe during WWII, and Washington State), it narrates the story of Eden Douglass, a lapsed Mormon in a family with women who have very strong personalities. One of the best parts of the book was all the recipes that ended each chapter...A Christmas Pie looks good pretty much anytime of the
I rated this book just ok because while I thought the book was well written and the story was engaging, I was frustrated by the character's choices in the book. The author's portrayal of Morman's was also off. It's obviously fiction, but I couldn't help wondering what people not of my faith would go away thinking after reading this book. I did like the recipes.
Wonderful story and good writing based in the Northwest. Ever since I've finished reading American Cookery I keep thinking about the story and the characters. The author has a great use of foreshadowing, character development and works in great food and recipes into everything.
Loved this! Americana family epic full of characters and plenty of great cooking.
You'd think a novel centering around food would be, for a foodaholic like myself, completely absorbing. However, this sadly did not prove to be the case. I seem to be in the minority though because this book has apparently been well received by a number of people.It centers around Eden, a girl growing up in an Mormon family with a strong grandmother and aunt, an alcoholic mother and a father who is more interested in his genealogical studies than in his own family. She develops an interest in
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