CONVICTIONS OF A CHEF

Marcus-Rotman chronicles his time in prison for selling drugs and his adventures as a freelance chef in the wake of his release in this memoir.

In 1992, the author, then 23 years old, was arrested for selling LSD, a single event that would forever transform his life. Because his trial coincided with the height of the war on drugs, he was punitively sentenced to 151 months in prison: 12.5 years, or what he ruefully calls “604 Mondays.” As the author vividly portrays, his time behind bars was a hellish period that would haunt him forever after. (“Nearly thirty years after my arrest, not a day goes by that I don’t think of my experiences in prison.”) Those days of darkness had two bright spots—the author discovered the spiritual balms of yoga, mindfulness, and meditation and learned how to cook in the prison kitchen. After finally regaining his liberty, Marcus-Rotman enrolled in the California Culinary Academy and embarked upon a globe-trotting career as a freelance chef, working on yachts, serving as the private chef for the likes of John Mayer and the Grateful Dead, and running a camp at Burning Man. In a familiar, unpretentiously anecdotal style, the author takes readers on a fascinating tour of his career and provides a unique glimpse into a world of extraordinary privilege. He also reflects soberly on the contradictions and cruelties embedded within the war on drugs, which sent him to prison for a transaction that had netted him $150. But this is a mostly personal memoir, one that focuses on the author’s attempt to fashion a meaningful life after the terrible blows of incarceration and a troubled childhood. Marcus-Rotman’s remembrance can sometimes get lost in the thicket of minute detail, especially regarding his work in various kitchens. Still, in the main, this is a fascinating recounting of an unusually dramatic life.

A well-told account of a venturesome personal history.