Tuesday, November 17, 2009

gastronomy of marriage

"The Wordy Shipmates" by Sarah Vowell was a delightful foray into Puritan history - not exactly a burning topic of interest for me these days, but I still liked the book. She intermixes pop culture in clever and witty ways. I loved her discussion of how sitcoms treat the Puritans and Indians in their obligatory Thanksgiving episode - Brady Bunch, Happy Days, etc. I haven't read "Assassination Vacation" because my brain cannot treat assassinations in a ironic way these days. Her next book is about Hawaiian history, that does sound fascinating.

"The Ocean Inside" by Janna McMahan was well-written, right on the line between commercial and literary fiction. I loved her depiction of sultry South, the family brought to the brink. Each story line - the little girl's cancer, the older sister's temptation into drug dealing, the parents' dissolving marriage - kept me hooked. I wish they all came together in a big bang, though. The story just drifted away and I was still waiting for all these ingredients to coalesce into something hair-raising. (For instance... the older sister uses the drug money to pay off her sister's medical bills and the parents use this dark knowledge as a secret that seals them together again.)

"The Gastronomy of Marriage" by Michelle Maisto is a book I just want to hug or maybe marry. I loved it, it definitely makes the cut for a space on my bookshelf. The dull way of describing it is a memoir about making dinner. It's really an investigation about two individuals joining together, each with different tastes and histories and talents. She takes a very thoughtful, nuanced approach to the domestic details - who cooks, who shops, who cleans, and what does that mean about the relationship? I loved the author's honesty and rich, vivid sense of place. I sincerely adored the book.

(Highly superior to the flat "I Loved I Lost I Made Spaghetti.")

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