I really love to cook but I hate certain things that come along with it. Like flatten your foot if you dropped it cookbooks that tout the same old same old rhetoric that your grandma's grandma was reading once upon a time. Which is a drawn out way of saying that this particular book is something I picked up a couple years back because everyone was saying how different it was from the above mentioned cookbook trojan horses I'd come across all too often. It's been sitting in my stack of cookbooks ever since because I was happy believing it was different without giving myself the chance to find out otherwise.

If it hadn't been for a certain challenge in a certain group (Read a book about cooking), it would still be lurking in the corner of my kitchen. Alas alack, it was picked up and read and I'm happy to say that the members of that "everyone" were pretty spot on and I should have read the damn thing a lot sooner. It's funny and it makes you hungry for things you could actually see yourself cooking, both necessary reqs in my mind for a cookbook. ( )

Kenny Shopsin's cookbook and philosophy of life and cooking are something to experience! Kenny is humorous and blunt, explaining how and why he cooks the way he does. There are some awesome recipes in here and descriptions of how his restaurant works... by his rules.

Rarely you come across a cookbook that you have to sit down and read all the way through, including the recipes. This is such a cookbook. Kenny Shopsin has a wonderfully original approach to cooking and to life. The epilogue alone -- The Art of Staying Small -- is a great reflection on how to live a fulfilling life doing what you love. ( )

I read the Trillin article on Shopsin's back in 2002, so I bought this as soon as I knew it existed. And it was pretty much what I expected, in a good way. There's the attitude, of course. And this seemed like a particularly good book for non-cooks -- it's all about throwing really random stuff together based on what's handy. Including leftovers. Nothing intimidating. Except for the burgers, I guess. I avoid cooking techniques that involve flame. Not sure chili and marinara cross as many boundaries as he thinks, but it's worth trying. ( )

Kenny Shopsin makes the simple case for doing work well, surrounded by people you love. He doesn't get anywhere - he throws people out of his restaurant who piss him off and avoids success as much as possible - but his joy in small things like mastering the perfect pancake is profound. A funny and ultimately moving book with recipes and humor. ( )