I’m the first person to admit I am addicted to cooking. I am, dare I say it, obsessed. I cook, and bake, and talk nonstop about what I’m cooking and baking. I’m sure my friends are sick of hearing about my latest pesto adventure, or how an undercooked loaf of pumpkin bread actually made me cry. One time I was making caramel and it seized up, hardening prematurely, and I freaked out…but that’s another story for another day.
I attended an AAP Seminar last week, and we were talking about how the cookbook market is seeing a lot of growth among 20somethings. Why do you think that is? The last few years have seen Top Chef, Iron Chef America, Chow, Eater, Grub Street, dessert trucks, and hot-shot chefs with anger management issues…Food has become a part of popular culture where it wasn’t before. Maybe it’s that third wave feminism told women that we should have the option of getting back in the kitchen, for fun and not as housewives. Maybe it’s just a cultural fad that will gradually shift out of style again…I have no idea.
So between episodes of Top Chefand my next pot of butternut squash soup, I’m asking my 20something readers the following question: Why do you cook? The most thoughtful comment wins one of the following books: Kitchen Confidential, Ace of Cakes, or The Pleasure is All Mine.
While most of Manhattan is dressing as Lady Gaga this Halloween, I decided to go with an easy costume: Sookie Stackhouse of True Blood and the Sookie Stackhouse series by Charlaine Harris. It got me to thinking about book-inspired costumes, so here's a quick list of my most random (and cost-effective) suggestions for a literary Halloween.
Boo Radley from To Kill a Mockingbird. I know, I know, this is totally inappropriate. But you can paint your face an ashen white and carry a pair of scissors--cheap and easily done!
Sabina from The Unbearable Lightness of Being. Wear a bowler hat and take a lover. Actually, take two lovers.
Randle Patrick McMurphy from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Requirements for this one include mental instability, a straitjacket, and a great Jack Nicholson impersonation.
Henry DeTamble from The Time Traveler's Wife. Go naked and carry a library card.
Dolores/Lolita from Lolita. Tiny white socks, a pair of Mary Janes, a short skirt, and a lollipop. Ask a man to buy you a drink because you're underage.
What do you think? Any book-inspired costumes I missed? What are you going as this year?
Allow me to rhapsodize a bit on this Monday morning. I am smitten. Last week I caught a showing of Coco Before Chanel with my very fashionable friend, Sonya. Four days later, I still can't stop talking about it, and am very close to buying this Chanel-inspired sailor shirt from J.Crew. I've always been a devotee of Audrey Tautou (a poster of Amelie graced my college dorm room), but Coco Before Chanel proves what a powerful and versatile actress she is. The film avoid the pitfalls of a standard biopic, and instead focuses on some meaty issues: love and relationships, individuality vs. conformity, and the role of women in the 20th century. We see Gabrielle, "Coco," fight her way, tooth and nail, from destitute beginnings to the empire she founded. Watching her passionately, even recklessly, take control of her destiny was both exhilarating and inspiring. So I was beyond thrilled when I heard that we have a new biography on Chanel coming out next April, Justine Picardie's Coco Chanel: A Life. I don't usually read non-fiction, but you can bet I'll be checking this one out. What do you think? When's the last time a movie inspired you?
Here in New York, the Urban Outfitters hipster contingent seems to have majorly latched onto Spike Jonze's adaptation of Where the Wild Things Are--there's even an article in the New York Observer about it. I got lucky last week and scored a ticket to the star-studded premiere at Lincoln Center (not sure what Edward Norton was doing there, but he is gorgeous in person). Besides the celebrity sightings, I thought the movie was incredible. For the most part, I agreed with the New York Times, which called it "intensely original and haunting." I have a bit of trouble seeing how the movie would appeal to kids, but it was visually stunning, emotionally moving, and Karen O's score was lovely.
Readers, have you seen Where the Wild Things Are yet? What did you think? Did it do the book justice? Do you think it works as a movie for children, or is it more adult-oriented? The most thoughtful comment earns a copy of Heads On and We Shoot: The Making of Where the Wild Things Are.
As you can see, I have no problems giving my posts cheesy titles. The response to my entry on classics we can't stand was so incredible, I've decided to do a giveaway to celebrate. I noticed that no one has dared to hate on one of my all-time favorites, Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, so I am raffling off 50 copies of the upcoming edition of the book. To be eligible, all you need to do is comment down below with your name, email address, and the classic novel you think everyone should read. The giveaway closes on Wednesday, so comment away! And in case you missed it, here's the original post, the best reader comments, and the shout-outs I got from The Star Tribune and The Dayton Daily News.
Well, it's Columbus Day, and some of us intrepid bloggers are still working. While we wait for that first cup of coffee to kick in, let's review the best comments I received on classic novels we can't stand. By popular vote, Steinbeck is the author with the most works no one wanted to read. Anyway, here are the highlights of our fun-filled foray into negativity:
I absolutely *HATE* John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. A whole chapter dedicated to a turtle crossing the road! Kill me!
[On Madame Bovary] This sister bored me with her constant mental complaints about the countryside, her life of comfort, her boredom.
[On Moby Dick] I'd like to slap Raymond Weaver for instigating the Melville Revival.
I have listened to Jane Austen and seen a movie or two. I keep waiting for something to happen. It never does.
Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure. I HATE SUE!
here's another vote for Portrait of the Artist of a Young Man. More like Portrait of How to Make Me Fall Asleep Instantly. Plus he has lice? em, ew.
I threw "Of Mice and Men" across the room.
Ulysses by James Joyce. To quote Coleridge (Biographia Literaria), "reads with the grace of a ship afloat on a warm, moist sea of glue."
[On The Killer Angels] It reads like a list of names and dates and as for taking place during a war, the most exciting moments are when General Lee has indigestion!
And my absolute favorite: Ethan Frome. Sorry - suicide by toboggan is just lame.
What do you think? Did we miss any? Are there any of these classics you'd like to defend? Make your stance in the comments.
