Life on the Line - Grant Achatz

foodguy · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by SField

Well Wagner was actually an extremely prolific writer so his views on politics and music were very well known.

then it's fair commentary when reviewing the books, but not so much when reviewing the operas (unless they happen to be full of aryan mythology).

Was it written by him or ghost written? I know many chefs have had their books ghost written... I've been involved in such a capacity before so I know this to be true. I'm just fairly ambivalent about food writing in general so I don't know if I could read a weepy book about scallops.

it was presented as being written by him. he's a smart guy, so i can believe it. there were lots of intrusive chapters from his partner, the money guy, who seems very full of himself. i imagine it was a bear to edit. most chef books that involve food are ghost-written. many "memoirs" are as well. that's a given in this category. i have friends who make most of their livings doing that.

gomestar · Jun 3, 2011

wait ... so there's a chance that Snooki didn't really write her own book?

foodguy · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by gomestar

wait ... so there's a chance that Snooki didn't really write her own book?

no. that's hers. i've seen the crayons.

gomestar · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by foodguy

no. that's hers. i've seen the crayons.

thank god!!

now foodguy, what are some good food-related books you would recommend? Not yours, they're already on my list.

mm84321 · Jun 3, 2011

The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan is very good.

Manton · Jun 3, 2011

the reason not to listen to Wagner is not that he was anti-Semitic but that he was a compositional blowhard. No composer ever benefited more from a highlights disk.

Anyway, are you guys saying that Achatz screwed over Keller? I thought he just left to do his own thing, happens all the time, right?

foodguy · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by Manton

Anyway, are you guys saying that Achatz screwed over Keller? I thought he just left to do his own thing, happens all the time, right?

nope. he did right by thomas. it was the guy who brought him out to Chicago and gave him his own restaurant. i'm not sure "screwed over" is the right term. i think "discarded without much thought when something better came along" is more fitting.

foodguy · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by gomestar

now foodguy, what are some good food-related books you would recommend? Not yours, they're already on my list.

if you want a chef bio, i think jacques pepin's is good. it's pretty stereotypical (and ghost-written) but interesting. tony bourdain's first book is still very good, i think. and if you want to know how a great chef thinks, i still think the TFL book is very good (also ghosted). i also like ruhlman's book on making of a chef. he's a bit worshipful, but i get that. if you want a really terrific book on cooking, check out a copy of "auberge of the flowering hearth." that's a classic.
for other things ... Pollan is good, but his more recent books are better (or at least more in keeping with my views on the subject). food and ag politics are complicated and the more hard lines you try to draw, the more mistakes and generalizations you make. and to get the other side, "Just Food" does a very good job without being too ag chamber-of-commercy.

KJT · Jun 3, 2011

I liked this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Heat-Adventure.../dp/1400041201

itsstillmatt · Jun 3, 2011

I would have a hard time reading the autobiography of a chef.

foodguy · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by KJT

I liked this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Heat-Adventure.../dp/1400041201

yeah, i forgot that one. the first half was terrific. a great writer writing about life in a kitchen. it kind of tailed off for me in the second half, when he decided he didn't have enough to make a book out of what he had. description is great, but ultimately i wondered "why is this guy so obsessed?" then it occurred to me: he had to fill out anohter half of a book.

SField · Jun 3, 2011

Originally Posted by iammatt

I would have a hard time reading the autobiography of a chef.

Umm trying writing one (not your autobiography but the bio of someone presented as being self written.)

KJT · Jun 4, 2011

Originally Posted by SField

Umm trying writing one (not your autobiography but the bio of someone presented as being self written.)

Are you saying that you have written one?

kwilkinson · Jun 4, 2011

Originally Posted by foodguy

i liked the start of it ... but i found the second half wearing.

Originally Posted by foodguy

yeah, i forgot that one. the first half was terrific. a great writer writing about life in a kitchen. it kind of tailed off for me in the second half, w
Maybe your attention span is growing weak in your old age...

SField · Jun 4, 2011

Originally Posted by KJT

Are you saying that you have written one?
Obviously not about myself, and it hasn't been published. Legal troubles on the part of the person trying to publish it.

Life on the Line - Grant Achatz

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