Let's be honest: I didn't love this book. It's a memoir, which I do love. Jason Epstein was the editorial director at Random House for 40 years. He was responsible for the publication of authors like Nabokov, Doctorow, Mailer, Philip Roth and Gore Vidal. Fantastic. Except here he barely talks about any of that. Jason Epstein loves to cook, loves to eat, and loves the memories associated with certain foods. Awesome. Except here half the book is storytelling, the other half is recipes. The basic premise of the book is that Epstein believes in cooking as storytelling. So the recipes are told as if spoken to a friend, with no exact measurements. For someone who doesn't cook often or experiment much beyond what has worked before, this is not stimulating. I found myself throughout the book thinking of people in my life who would love this book.
There were a few bright spots. The early chapters that correspond with Epstein's childhood and young adult years in the Mid-Atlantic do evoke a sense of whimsy. I also wrote a few worthy quotes in my journal, which I'll share below. I don't discount this book, I only discount it for an untalented and uninspired (un)chef like myself.
"Without books you would not know who you are or where you came from or where you might be going."
"Perhaps my New York neighborhood with its multitudinous temptations is at fault. But I chose to live here. There is no escaping one's self."
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