There are no more excuses for cooking phobia.
Former Sacramento Bee food editor Corn (Gooey Desserts) wrote a series for noncooks that led to this snazzy book.
The layout is perfect: Recipes are in fairly large print in the center of each page, with additional information in the margins. Illustrations show techniques, such as separating an egg. The beginning of each recipe lists not only the ingredients necessary, but also the best equipment to use (note "best,'' not "only''- -Corn suggests but never admonishes). Instructions are broken into sections and then into numbered steps, which include when to clean up (e.g., while the potatoes are baking) and which tools to use. Corn even covers basics like making coffee and which gadgets are must-haves, and she cannily inserts some simple recipes like egg salad right up front so that those eager for hands-on encouragement can learn as they go along. Corn provides straight talk about straightforward American food (updated somewhat—Corn admits that she's "cut back on fat to some degree, but not enough to get it into the title of this book''), and if several of the recipes are nothing exciting, well, that's the point: Even the novice can thrill at creating puffy biscuits and crispy French frystyle potatoes. One little flaw stands out because Corn is so fastidious: A recipe for Red Chard in Olive Oil and Garlic refers to the "white ends'' of the leaves, while red chard has red stems.
There are no more excuses for cooking phobia.Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 1-883791-00-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Harlow & Ratner
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1994
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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