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Garlic and Sapphires

The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise

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About this listen

 Includes an interview with the author and recipe cards!

GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES is Ruth Reichl's riotous account of the many disguises she employs to dine anonymously. There is her stint as Molly Hollis, a frumpy blond with manicured nails and an off-beige Armani suit that Ruth takes on when reviewing Le Cirque. The result: her famous double review of the restaurant: first she ate there as Molly; and then as she was coddled and pampered on her visit there as Ruth, New York Times food critic.

What is even more remarkable about Reichl's spy games is that as she takes on these various disguises, she finds herself changed not just superficially, but in character as well. She gives a remarkable account of how one's outer appearance can very much influence one's inner character, expectations, and appetites.

As she writes, "Every restaurant is a theater . . . even the modest restaurants offer the opportunity to become someone else, at least for a little while." GARLIC AND SAPPHIRES is a reflection on personal identity and role playing in the decadent, epicurean theaters of the restaurant world.©2005 Ruth Reichl; (P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc. Art & Literature Entertainment & Celebrities Food & Wine Journalists, Editors & Publishers

Critic reviews

"This wonderful book is funny—at times laugh-out-loud funny—and smart and wise." —The Washington Post

"Reichl is so gifted . . . the reader remains hungry for more." —USA Today

"Expansive and funny." —Entertainment Weekly
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Most relevant
This is a fantastic insight into the wonderful world of food journalism, restaurants and class wars. As a budding food writer who is obsessed with cooking it, eating it, dining out, reading about it...I'm always on the look out for a new novel about food. I also love memoirs and factual books so this is a marriage made in heaven. I would love to be a restaurant reviewer myself so this book lets you know the positives and the many negatives that come along with the gig! The only quibble I have is with the author narrating the audio book. She had a very annoying habit of giving all the other female characters in the novel the exact same droning laboured deep voice to depict age. I know it's part of the narrator's job to do the voices but I think a different narrator would've helped move this story along with more of a flow. But in all a "sapphire" of a read.

If you love food, you'll love this!

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