Ratings15
Average rating4.2
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Trailblazing food writer and beloved restaurant critic Ruth Reichl took the job (and the risk) of a lifetime when she entered the high-stakes world of magazine publishing. Now, for the first time, she chronicles her groundbreaking tenure as editor in chief of Gourmet. “A must for any food lover . . . Reichl is a warm, intimate writer. She peels back the curtain to a glamorous time of magazine-making. You’ll tear through this memoir.”—Refinery29 NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY Real Simple • Good Housekeeping • Town & Country When Condé Nast offered Ruth Reichl the top position at America’s oldest epicurean magazine, she declined. She was a writer, not a manager, and had no inclination to be anyone’s boss. Yet Reichl had been reading Gourmet since she was eight; it had inspired her career. How could she say no? This is the story of a former Berkeley hippie entering the corporate world and worrying about losing her soul. It is the story of the moment restaurants became an important part of popular culture, a time when the rise of the farm-to-table movement changed, forever, the way we eat. Readers will meet legendary chefs like David Chang and Eric Ripert, idiosyncratic writers like David Foster Wallace, and a colorful group of editors and art directors who, under Reichl’s leadership, transformed stately Gourmet into a cutting-edge publication. This was the golden age of print media—the last spendthrift gasp before the Internet turned the magazine world upside down. Complete with recipes, Save Me the Plums is a personal journey of a woman coming to terms with being in charge and making a mark, following a passion and holding on to her dreams—even when she ends up in a place she never expected to be. Praise for Save Me the Plums “Poignant and hilarious . . . simply delicious . . . Each serving of magazine folklore is worth savoring. In fact, Reichl’s story is juicier than a Peter Luger porterhouse. Dig in.”—The New York Times Book Review “In this smart, touching, and dishy memoir . . . Ruth Reichl recalls her years at the helm of Gourmet magazine with clear eyes, a sense of humor, and some very appealing recipes.”—Town & Country “If you haven’t picked up food writing queen Ruth Reichl’s new book, Save Me the Plums, I highly recommend you fix that problem. . . . Reichl is in top form and ready to dish, with every chapter seeming like a dedicated behind-the-scenes documentary on its own.”—Soleil Ho, San Francisco Chronicle
Reviews with the most likes.
Not quite as much fun as [b:Garlic and Sapphires: The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise 80642 Garlic and Sapphires The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise Ruth Reichl https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436980266i/80642.SY75.jpg 1824603], which was one of my favorite memoirs ever, but then I'm the weirdo who loves reading bad restaurant reviews, even for cities I don't live in. I still enjoyed this, even though not a whole lot really happened, per se, until the end, when everything falls apart really quickly. Reichl is just such an excellent, descriptive writer that this was still something I wanted to keep reading. I think it suffered a little by comparison because her strongest suit (at least in what I've read) is writing about food, and there just wasn't that much of that here, understandably so. Still definitely worth reading, but you should also read Garlic and Sapphires.
Not just food stories in this latest memoir, but also an in-depth look at magazine production from someone new to the publishing world and its culture. I found it fascinating and listened to the audio version almost nonstop.