Book Review of
Save Me the Plums
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.
Lynn's Review
I love it when my love of food and reading come together. Save Me the Plums is a memoir all about food and the food publishing world. Ruth Reichl does a great job of sharing her love of food and cooking.
If you remember Gourmet magazine, especially Gourmet magazine during the late 1990’s and early 2000’s, this is a great book. In Save Me the Plums, Ruth Reichl shares about her love of food and her time at Gourmet magazine. She also shared a lot about the culture of the publishing world in New York City and how she helped change what Gourmet was. She also talks about how the changes with digital and online content changed the magazine world.
This book covered so much about New York City and the food, publishing, and advertising world there that I decided to count it as my New York book for my nonfiction books for every state challenge.
Have you read her other books as well? I just finished this one and loved it. Either late last year or early this year I read Garlic and Sapphires which remains my absolute favorite by her but that inspired me to read a couple of her earlier works which were also pretty great. If you’ve read any of her others, what did you think of them? Thanks for writing about what you are reading!
I have read two of her other books, but haven’t read Garlic and Sapphires. It has been on my to read list, but I haven’t read it. I am glad to hear that it is good. I need to try to read it this summer. I think it would make a great summer read. I read Tender at the Bone several years ago and enjoyed it. I read the fiction book that she wrote and thought it was okay, but I think I like her nonfiction works better. Her novel just wasn’t the style of book that I usually enjoy. I am so glad that you enjoy hearing what we are reading. I love sharing the books that we enjoy.