"Yes, Chef," by Marcus Samuelsson

Readers of this blog know that one of the genres I enjoy is books about the restaurant world, and especially memoirs of chefs. I just finished a new example of this genre, “Yes, Chef: A Memoir” (Random House, 2012), by Marcus Samuelsson. This is the story of a man who was born in Ethiopia, was adopted as a toddler by a Swedish family, loved to cook with his Swedish grandmother, started working in restaurants as a young teenager, and at the practically unprecedented age of 24, became the chef at New York’s Aquavit and earned a New York Times three-star review for the restaurant. He was the youngest chef ever to receive a three-star review from the Times. Along the way, he worked in restaurants in Europe, and while in New York and elsewhere, he roamed the various neighborhoods and explored the cuisines and markets of many different countries and cultures. He also recently won the Top Chef Masters television competition, and planned and cooked for the first state dinner at the Obama White House. At a certain point, he felt the need to reconnect with his Ethiopian birth family and background, and with his black identity as well, so he went back to Ethiopia several times. His own path to success was not as direct and easy as the above description might indicate; he overcame many challenges and missteps along the way, both in his professional life and his personal life. Now, bringing together many aspects of his life, talents, identity, and character, he is the creator, owner and chef of the successful and well-reviewed Red Rooster restaurant in Harlem. One of his goals in life is to bring more attention to Harlem and its rich history and culture; another goal is to bring more black chefs into the restaurant world. This story is well written. Although no co-author is listed on the title page, the author mentions in the acknowledgements that “the real work of writing this book began when my friend Veronica Chambers agreed to help me tell my story….This is my story, but the fine touch on the words is all hers,” so it is not clear how much of the writing is his and how much hers. In any case, it is a readable and compelling story. Samuelsson has a unique and inspiring story, and his “voice” is both proud and humble, a good balance. He seems very likable, although I did question his decision for many years to support his illegitimate daughter financially but not see or communicate with her. Fortunately, he eventually, as he became more mature, established contact with her and built a belated relationship with her. I like the fact that he often acknowledges and thanks the people in his life who helped him succeed, not only as a chef but as a person, most notably his beloved and admirable Swedish parents. Now, back to the reason Samuelsson published a book in the first place: his life in and love of cooking. He is obviously a tremendously talented chef, and has been able to blend various aspects of his background, identity, and gifts to produce amazing, creative food and a wonderful experience for those who dine at his restaurants. A few years ago, I was fortunate enough to eat at Aquavit while he was still the chef there, and it was an impressive and memorable meal and experience.

"Gossip," by Beth Gutcheon

On 2/8/10, I wrote about “middlebrow literature,” and gave as examples of middlebrow writers Anne Rivers Siddons, Anita Shreve, Elizabeth Berg, Nancy Thayer, and Joanna Trollope. I would add Beth Gutcheon, several of whose novels I have read in the past, and whose new novel, “Gossip” (HarperCollins, 2012), I just listened to on CD (Books on Tape/Random House, 2012). She, like the other authors I just mentioned, writes solidly and well, and although her novels are not "great literature," they “give good value,” as the English say. They give readers an entertaining read, and the escape that they (we) are often looking for; at the same time, they move us, inspire us, and make us feel connected to humankind. “Gossip,” although in some ways light, deals with some serious issues as well: relationships over the years and how they can go right or wrong, the human tendency to want to gossip about others, loneliness, fractured families, friendship, and more. These issues are presented in the entertaining context of New York, posh apartments and country homes, private schools, society, money, fashion, and the entertainment world. So we readers get the best of both worlds: enjoyment and emotional connection. The three main characters met at an elite private school for girls, and the novel follows their lives, and the lives of their spouses, ex-spouses, lovers, and children over perhaps 40 years. One of the three, Luvia, narrates most of the story, and acts as the calm center and confidant for the others as they live out their more tempestuous lives. Again, this is not great literature, but it is not trashy or badly written either, as is so much on the market today. It does the job it sets out to do well, and provides satisfaction. And what’s wrong with that? I for one am grateful for these middlebrow authors and their novels; they have provided me with many hours of enjoyment over the years.

"A Sensible Life," by Mary Wesley

I was slightly familiar with the English author Mary Wesley’s name and reputation, but don’t remember actually reading any of her novels before. At the local library sale that I have written about several times, I recently picked up Wesley’s 1990 novel, “A Sensible Life” (Penguin). It looked like one of the kinds of novels I like: English, about a group of young people and their families who meet on vacation in France, just before World War II, and their intertwined lives over the following 35 years. Country houses, hotels, parties, dinners, romances, family dramas, friendships, jealousy, loyalty, and more…wonderful! I did, however, feel a bit uneasy about the first part of the novel, because of the sadness of the main character, Flora, a 10-year-old whose parents in their utter self-absorption neglect her unforgivably. But Flora is a strong, observant girl, and I wanted to know what would happen in her life. Slowly the story caught me up, and my fascination with how people’s lives work out over time, and with the relationships among those characters, kept me interested to the end. A few unexpected twists and turns along the way also kept me engaged.

"Bookshelf," by Alex Johnson

A few days ago, I was at our university library to pick up an academic book I had requested from Link-Plus, a service that allows us to borrow books from other libraries in a consortium. While I was at the library, I checked out the “new books” display in the lobby area, as I usually do when I am in the library for any reason. I never know what I will find. This time, a square, brightly colored book picturing a curved bookshelf on its cover caught my eye. Titled “Bookshelf” (Thames & Hudson, 2012), by Alex Johnson, it beautifully features one or more unique bookshelves on each of its 269 pages. There is a brief description of each illustration, listing the designer, materials, etc., and these are interesting and useful, but the illustrations are the stars of the book. What a wealth of gorgeous, creative, artistic shelves! What a variety of materials, sizes, shapes, and colors! Some of them are both practical and beautiful; others look more artistic than realistically usable, but all of them blend art and an unspoken tribute to the power of books in people’s lives and homes. The colors, layout, and thick, coated paper all contribute to the aesthetic pleasure of perusing this book. A bonus enjoyment for those of us at USF is that the book includes a picture of the Cable Car Book Cart that was custom built by students and staff at the USF Gleeson Library two years ago. This cart is made of wood, and “was built in homage to San Francisco’s iconic cable cars.” The cart is occasionally displayed in the library lobby. Book lovers and artists alike will enjoy this book.

"The Essential 'Dykes to Watch Out For,'" by Alison Bechdel

What a feast “The Essential ‘Dykes to Watch Out For’” (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008) is! It is a generous selection from over 20 years of Alison Bechdel’s comic strip (and from several earlier collections) portraying the lives of a group of lesbian friends and lovers, parents and children, neighbors and coworkers, and their friends and families. The book is physically large, to accommodate the 10-12 panel comics, each filling a page, which are crammed with drawings and dialogue, so that it is easy to read them and to enjoy all the wonderful details in each. The facial expressions alone are priceless. The book is full of life, of observations, of politics, of social history, of romance, of flirting, of sex, of commitment, of breakups, of gossip, of issues about money and housing and education, and best of all, of friendships and relationships as they shift and grow and change and sometimes end. Getting lost in the book is like getting blissfully lost in a sprawling Victorian novel. Why is Mo (who seems to be the author's alter ego) so fixated on the state of the nation and of politics? What is it like to be estranged from one’s parents, or to take care of them as they age? What are the lives of the pioneer lesbians who started raising children like? Why does Sparrow take up with Stuart, a man? Do Clarice and Toni get tired of being the married couple role model? How about the child who is born a boy but knows she is a girl? Somehow Bechdel manages to seamlessly weave together the social history of the times with the stories of the individual characters and their families, communities, and relationships. This book and its characters are variously funny, moving, sympathetic, maddening, unpredictable, charming, annoying, informational, illuminating, and inspiring. And whatever the reader’s own sexual identity is, she or he will identify with some of the characters, and want others of them for friends.

"Mending," by Sallie Bingham

I had read good reviews of “Mending: New and Selected Stories” (Sarabande, 2011), by Sallie Bingham, but when I read the collection, I only mildly enjoyed reading the stories. The adjectives that kept occurring to me were “pensive” and “plaintive.” When I look again at the stories, I see that they are perfectly good ones, but somehow they didn’t engage me. So that is all I will say about “Mending.”

"The House of Tyneford," by Natasha Solomons

Did you love “Upstairs, Downstairs”? And “Downton Abbey”? If so, you will love “The House of Tyneford” (Plume, 2011), a novel by Natasha Solomons, as well. It is one of those very English stories, and tells of a lovely, rather isolated area on the coast of England, with its old English country house and all its traditions, along with the village people nearby, fishing and tending sheep. It is all very charming, old-fashioned, and idyllic. But it is also very serious. The time is just before World War II, and Elise, a young Jewish woman from an educated and well-off family in Vienna is sent to the English house to be a housemaid, a common event during that time period, used as a way to keep the young woman out of harm’s way during the increasingly brutal treatment of Jewish people in Austria and elsewhere. She is separated from her novelist father and her opera singer mother, who are hoping for visas to the United States, and from her older sister, who has already emigrated to the United States with her professor husband. Elise soon begins a romance with the son of the house, and she moves in and out of various strata of people in the house and in the village, not quite belonging anywhere, but making friends and connections nevertheless. She also falls in love with the area, and especially with living by the sea. Meanwhile she is constantly worried about her family members, misses them desperately, and is consoled just a little by her possession of a family viola with her father’s latest novel manuscript stuffed into it. As the war begins and proceeds, there are many twists and turns to the story. There is danger, sweetness, romance, sadness, loss and redemption. This is an affecting story, one that I enjoyed very much.