I have a theory about why Marcus's Daughter, Zoe, wasn't thanked in the acknowledgements, when he thanks just about everyone, including the whole of HI have a theory about why Marcus's Daughter, Zoe, wasn't thanked in the acknowledgements, when he thanks just about everyone, including the whole of Harlem. (view spoiler)[What if Zoe was a pseudonym to partly protect her identity? He thanks "For the leading ladies of my life: Anna, Vanessa, and Linda." This is the only place where the name Vanessa appears, right in the middle of his sisters. Maybe that's her? (hide spoiler)]
When I was in college in nineteen *cough*, guys liked to take girls on dates to the Ethiopian neighborhood. The idea was to *test* whether we'd freak out with an unusual new food and particularly eating without western cutlery. I guess to make sure we weren't fussy? After several dates like this, I was an old pro, and laughed when it was suggested yet again. Yeah, I'm the last person to panic at new food, particularly Ethiopian wats, injara, or tibs because they are so damn delicious.
Anyway, I have a Groupon to a local Ethiopian restaurant, and that's pretty much all I'm thinking about now that I've finished this book. The descriptions of the international foods, building the layers of flavors and the presentations made my mouth water.
Luckily, that's not all there is to Yes, Chef. Samuelsson delves fairly deep into his own mistakes and motivations, personal and professional. Some of them are really hard to read about, and personally I struggle to understand some of his decisions and motivations.
But I will say this, Samuelsson is a focused, some might say obsessed individual when it comes to food. He spends an overwhelming amount of time honing his craft, thinking about food, inventing recipes, and planning, cooking, chopping, training....more
Sojourner Truth had to be one of the most charismatic people ever to walk the Earth.* Charisma is hard to convey in any mode that's not face-to-face. Sojourner Truth had to be one of the most charismatic people ever to walk the Earth.* Charisma is hard to convey in any mode that's not face-to-face. This book might be as close to capturing raw charisma as I have ever seen. She stands out even in an era of incredibly charismatic people.
My edition had both The Narrative of Sojourner Truth, and the Book of Life. The latter was Sojourner's scrapbook and autograph book she carried around as she traveled preaching and telling her story.
My reaction to her Narrative is that it is an absolute 5-star read. Holy guacamole, what this woman endured! Multiple things surprised me. First, it's not told in Sojourner Truth's voice. She remained unable to read or write her whole life, and relied on a friend to retell her story. That woman was Olive Gilbert. Gilbert injects quite a bit of her own commentary on both Truth and the abolitionist movement. This makes it quite difficult to ascertain what were Truth's own words, and what were manipulated by Gilbert. Second, Truth grew up in a Low Dutch farm in New York, and didn't learn to speak English until she was 10. She never had a formal education, and didn't even hear a preacher until she claimed her own emancipation in 1826.^ Despite all this, she wandered the eastern seaboard (and later beyond) preaching about God, Jesus and plight of enslaved peoples by relating her own story. Third, her story doesn't dwell on the physical hardships and punishments she endured while a slave. In fact, she only hints at most of them. Yet the slave part of her story is horrific.
On to the Book of Life - I would give it 3-stars for putting Truth's Narrative into context and continuing her story to the end of her life. This is mostly newspaper clippings telling about how Sojourner Truth came to speak at this church, or that meeting, and how she had everyone in rapture with her stories and songs. Those parts get extremely repetitious, but it's amazing to see how many places she traveled and how she was warmly welcomed. Perhaps even more amazing is the number (not all) that describe her in non-racial tones. They almost all mention her race, but only a few tack on "...for her race" when they mention that she is forceful, commanding, impressive, etc.. Considering the times, she transcended many racial lines. Truth's Book of Life also contains letters and signatures from famous people - including Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S Grant, Frederick Douglass and Susan B Anthony.
Perhaps most fascinating between the two - her Narrative and The Book of Life - is the discrepancies in her personal story. The story of her life partially evolved as she traveled around retelling the narrative. Most likely, though, is that it was variations in the retelling. The big stand-out is Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1863 article in the Atlantic Monthly, titled: "Libyan Sibyl". This article not only propelled Truth into nation-wide fame, but gave her a nickname that she she grew tired of. Stowe takes many liberties in the article, including quoting Truth in a Southern US slave dialect that Truth never had. (She had a slightly Dutch accent, and often described as a "peculiar" way of speech.) What's worse, Stowe claimed Truth was dead, when in fact she went on to live another 20 years. Perhaps all those changes developed the persona of Sojourner Truth and aided in her popularity? According to the editor of my edition, Truth herself might have been guilty of perpetuating un-truths, in order to present a persuasive argument and be the larger-than-life character of Sojourner Truth.
One of the funniest, most witty anecdotes about Truth goes something like this: Truth was speaking in front of a large meeting that contained friends and foes alike. There were grumblings in the audience that she wasn't who she claimed to be -- that in fact, she was a man. Truth was six feet tall, very muscular, wore her short hair under a Quaker cap, and was by all accounts an imposing presence with a booming voice. When she heard the accusations, she said (paraphrasing the paraphrasing): "You think I'm a man? Let me tell you something. I suckled many white babes at my breasts, often to the neglect of my own children. And those white children turned into finer men than you could ever be!" She then proceeded to whip our her bare breast and said: "Suck this!"
Sojourner Truth was awesome.
*(If there are humans hanging out somewhere else in the Universe, they are just boring sacks of carbon. Thanks a lot for not contacting us. Losers.)
^(Seriously, her emancipation is a story you need to read for yourself. It shows the kind of woman she was at heart.)...more
I'm not sure if it's just Mark Vonnegut's style, or if this indicative of someone living with mental illness, but the writing hA book with no segues.
I'm not sure if it's just Mark Vonnegut's style, or if this indicative of someone living with mental illness, but the writing had this staccato quality. Ideas jumped from one paragraph to the next. There would be sentences in the middle of paragraphs that didn't seem to connect to much around it.
It's kind of like the old-timey comedians whose routines were: Set-up, Punchline, Laughter...Set-up, Punchline, Laughter... lather, rinse, repeat. Except this book isn't exactly funny. It was small anecdote, pithy sentence, small anecdote. All this is wrapped up in chapters that revolve around an event or idea.
That's not to say that there aren't great, quotable sentences in the book. I was just hoping for more of a narrative to the musings.
I'm always interested in diseases of the brain, insights into how that lump of gray matter functions, and particularly stories of how it can all go wrong. Things have gone wrong in Mark Vonnegut's brain - he's a highly intelligent guy who also happens to have bipolar disorder. He's suffered several major breakdowns, although not for years, and he also grew up in a weird, somewhat abusive family. And yet he's been able to become a practicing pediatrician, have a family, recover from alcoholism.
It's that recovery and coping I was most curious to read about. You do get a few insights into the doctor's life and coping mechanisms. Unfortunately, you also get long, multiple rants about the poor state of the US healthcare system, particularly insurance companies. You're preaching to the choir, Mark.
Funnily, those medical rants were the most coherent and well-strung together parts of the book....more
Watching "America: The Story of Us" on The History Channel, and discussing A People's History of the United States with my husband made me search for Watching "America: The Story of Us" on The History Channel, and discussing A People's History of the United States with my husband made me search for Douglass's writings. I'm sure I read pieces of his writings in school, but I must re-read this....more
Part of my May/June 2010 British Invasion. _______________
Lots of fun and an extremely silly recount of Fry's childhood up to his shenanigans at 18. ItPart of my May/June 2010 British Invasion. _______________
Lots of fun and an extremely silly recount of Fry's childhood up to his shenanigans at 18. It feels more like you're having a snifter of brandy and cigars while Stephen is telling you the stories. As you go on, and imbibe more, the stories seem to meander fairly far from the clear plot. That's okay, because I quite like Stephen Fry. My curiosity in his background and amusement at his anecdotes overcame any deficiencies in the overall story line, as it were - which makes it more like real life than a traditional fictional novel. Although, I couldn't help but think that more than a few details in his stories read like The One Big Fish That Got Away.
He is a self-absorbed, deprecatingly funny, obtusely verbose navel-gazer in the extreme.
I might add that there were many references to English customs and culture that dovetailed nicely with the last book I read, Watching the English....more
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