Reichl was born in 1948 and grew up on the East Coast, coming of age with the American food revolution in the 1960s and 1970s. My copy has moved with me from flat to flat, across the Atlantic and back again. Her first memoir, Tender at the Bone, relates her realisation “that food could be a way of making sense of the world” – an idea that has resonated with me ever since I first read the book.

I blame the great American food writer Ruth Reichl for the sorry state of my bookshelves. Everyone has to eat, but no one eats exactly the same thing. It can be about big ideas – history, economics, sociology, psychology, medicine – or the personal and idiosyncratic. The best food writing emphasises a fundamental truth – food is never just about what we put in our mouths. I could see it being made into a movie, but they would need to include Comfort Me With Apples for a more clear picture of the scope of this woman's very interesting life.Reichl said that 'food can be a way of making sense of the world”: an idea that constantly resonated with me. This book needed a professional actress to carry the story along.Ĭould you see Tender at the Bone being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be? Bernadette Dunn does a terrific job on the UNabridged version of Garlic and Sapphires (Reichl, unfortunately reads the abridged- check both samples and see which you like better, though Reichl is more animated there than she is here).

This sounds like it was taken from a tape in the 1980s. Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Ruth Reichl?Īnyone! The sound recording itself is bad, which could be part of the problem. All are funny and touching, while satisfying the needs of bibliophilic foodies. There are great scenes here- some involving her mother, who suffers from bipolar disorder, others overseas in France and Italy, and still others in the hippy age at Berkeley. What was one of the most memorable moments of Tender at the Bone? One can only assume that they leave or arrive in the expurgated sections. Additionally, it's abridged, so there are characters who seemingly pop up out of nowhere and others who disappear. So, you end up thinking that this is a boring book, when quite the opposite is true. Reichl reads her own work and her tone is dull, even though the material isn't. However, I do not recommend this recording. I've read this one before, as well as Comfort Me With Apples and Diamonds and Sapphires. Would you try another book from Ruth Reichl and/or Ruth Reichl? This is Why Authors Shouldn't Read Their Own Books

Tender at the bone by ruth reichl