Monday, August 4, 2014

On the Coffee Table: Lucy Knisley

Title: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Writer and Artist: Lucy Knisley
via NPR
Cartoonist Lucy Knisley grew up in a family that was all about food.  For Mom, her culinary enthusiasm became a career, catering parties and working farm market stands.  For Dad, it was an appreciation of great restaurants.  In her graphic novel memoir Relish, Knisley shares the food-related formative experiences of her youth.  Interspersed with the stories are illustrated favorite recipes for chocolate chip cookies, carbonara, huevos rancheros, etc.

After her parents divorced, Knisley spent most of her childhood in upstate New York with Mom plus occasional visits to see Dad in the city.  She learned to cook at Mom's elbow.  Mom's was a back-to-basics, do-it-yourself approach so they had a huge vegetable garden and a chicken coop, too.  A lot of Lucy's early food adventures came through family travel.  Dad took her to London and Rome.  Mom took her to Mexico and Japan. 

The tone of the book is very light, almost dreamy at times.  Knisley falls just short of idealizing her childhood.  She admits to being spoiled food-wise but there are the usual struggles we all face growing up, too.  The artwork is simple and uncluttered - a good thing, by my reckoning.  Very colorful, especially the food.  Relish is a fun read.  Fair warning: it will leave you hungry.

10 comments:

  1. Cute cover! This is my kind of book.

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  2. Oh Wow ! this looks like a good read !

    cheers, parsnip

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    1. Most definitely. I hope you'll check it out, parsnip.

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  3. Lucy sounds like she had an interesting childhood with a lot of diverse experiences to learn from. LOL. Not sure if I should read a book that makes me happy.

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  4. All this talk about food is tough on my diet, Squid! :-)
    Cherdo
    www.cherdoontheflipside.com

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    1. She's no health nut, either. Knisley's guilty pleasure is McDonald's, especially the fries.

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  5. I have seen this book around, but didn't know anything about it! Great to learn about it here. :)
    ~Jess

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    1. If you have any enthusiasm for food, you'll enjoy it.

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