Dirt: Adventures in Lyon as a Chef in Training, Father, and Sleuth Looking for the Secret of French Cooking by Bill Buford

3.67 AVERAGE

laurenfishercat's profile picture

laurenfishercat's review against another edition

5.0
adventurous informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

kmerms's review against another edition

4.5
adventurous funny informative relaxing fast-paced

mattsolarz's review

4.0
adventurous emotional informative inspiring lighthearted medium-paced

duranceau22ced's review against another edition

3.25
funny informative inspiring slow-paced
dianewreads's profile picture

dianewreads's review

3.5
adventurous challenging emotional funny informative inspiring reflective relaxing tense slow-paced
I felt the subtitle “looking for the secret of French cooking” was the gist of this book. There were parts I loved (personal relationships he built and the stories) and parts I felt were very slow and boggy (some of the history of cooking and the region). Upon finishing, I felt like he found the secret and it was rewarding to have it all pulled together. 

mustardsucks's review against another edition

4.0
adventurous funny informative slow-paced

kelstad's review against another edition

2.0
slow-paced
Some interesting tidbits, but parts were extremely rambling

that_silly_ginger's review against another edition

4.0
The only thing that prevented this book from being a 5 star for me was a tendency to ramble off on random tangents throughout the middle of the book. There were times he lost me, but the stories of the cutthroat nature of the kitchens, the descriptions of food he experienced, and above all, the sweet baker whose story absolutely stole my heart, ultimately drew me back in. I think listening to the story in audiobook format really helped.

Some other reviewers mentioned finding the author to be awful, because it seemed like he had a tendency to totally toss his family aside in his pursuits, and to that I ask if we read the same book? I did not get that impression at all when reading, and I really did try to look out for that when listening to the audiobook since it had been mentioned in so many reviews. The only thing I can imagine gave that impression was the hard adjustment his sons had when they moved back to the states towards the end of the book, and the fact that his family was not the focus of the overall book.

ailbhem's review against another edition

3.5
adventurous informative reflective medium-paced
momey's profile picture

momey's review against another edition

5.0
not as crazy joyous as Heat but still pretty great. has made me unbelievably hungry for bread