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A review by worldlibraries
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya von Bremzen
4.0
This was a very fun read about the history of the Soviet Union as experienced through what people ate in each decade of the Soviet Union's history. It started with a meal fit for the Tsars for contrast, and then explained how people ate and prepared meals in communal kitchens under communism.
Two things Anya von Bremzen does particularly well in this book is explain Gorbachev from the Soviet point-of-view at the end of the Soviet Empire. Westerners celebrate the end of the rivalry (short-lived, it seems), but it wasn't any fun to live the end of a system with nothing to replace it.
The second thing she does particularly well is celebrate the 'Family of Nations' that makes up the multicultural Soviet Union. It makes one very curious to see and meet these people and their places.
This is a fun book for book clubs, especially if you have friends who are former Soviets to hear their perspectives and to enjoy a potluck with of Soviet delicacies.
Two things Anya von Bremzen does particularly well in this book is explain Gorbachev from the Soviet point-of-view at the end of the Soviet Empire. Westerners celebrate the end of the rivalry (short-lived, it seems), but it wasn't any fun to live the end of a system with nothing to replace it.
The second thing she does particularly well is celebrate the 'Family of Nations' that makes up the multicultural Soviet Union. It makes one very curious to see and meet these people and their places.
This is a fun book for book clubs, especially if you have friends who are former Soviets to hear their perspectives and to enjoy a potluck with of Soviet delicacies.