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Reviews tagging 'Toxic relationship'
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories by Laura Shapiro
1 review
embersonthehearth's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.0
Let me preface this by saying: if you have no idea who the author is, go search her online and read some of her articles/columns/essays. They are fantastic: well-written, funny, witty, informative, and to the point.
This book was not bad, it was just not good. It was too long, and the main premise (how food can show us who someone really is) felt very forced into what are basically annotated biographies of women who have been profiles to infinity already. The author assumes you can make massive assumptions about people because they mention one random meal in a journal.
But, like I said, not everything was bad. If these stories had been written as short articles (the author's strong point in my opinion), they could've been a great read. Trying to extend them into a fully-fleshed book just didn't work.
The intro and epilogue, however, showcase what a good writer the author can be. They are short, snappy, funny, emotional, and make you think. Pity the rest of the book wasn't like that.
This book was not bad, it was just not good. It was too long, and the main premise (how food can show us who someone really is) felt very forced into what are basically annotated biographies of women who have been profiles to infinity already. The author assumes you can make massive assumptions about people because they mention one random meal in a journal.
But, like I said, not everything was bad. If these stories had been written as short articles (the author's strong point in my opinion), they could've been a great read. Trying to extend them into a fully-fleshed book just didn't work.
The intro and epilogue, however, showcase what a good writer the author can be. They are short, snappy, funny, emotional, and make you think. Pity the rest of the book wasn't like that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Religious bigotry, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Genocide, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, War, Racial slurs, Infidelity, Alcohol, and Antisemitism
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