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Book reviews for "Spolter,_Pari_Dokht" sorted by average review score:

Is Paris Burning
Published in Hardcover by Lightyear Pr (1993)
Authors: Larry Collins and Lapierre
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fascinating history
This book reads as a gripping fiction story rather than a history book. The setting is WWII Paris just before and during the Allied liberation of the city. The authors follow the activities of dozens of characters who played a role in the liberation. I got very engaged with the characters as well as the plot. Excellent book.

Picture Paris Lost...
If Hitler had his way, there would be no Notre Dame, none of Paris' beautiful bridges, no Eiffel Tower. The Allies didn't stop him, a brave German general did. At a tremendous personal risk, he resolved not to be the man to destroy the most beautiful city in the world.

The story is told with the in-your-face realism of two journalists. Yet it's full of humor and even downright silliness. Would-be soldier Enrnest Hemingway captured a German soldier and relieved him of his pants. Why? He figured no man would escape half-naked. He was right.

This isn't about troop movements, it's about real people risking their lives (and those of their families) to liberate Paris. After all, Eisenhower didn't think he had enough fuel or time to fight a mini-war for Paris. He desperately needed to push east to Germany.

So how did it all happen? Read the book, in Paris if you can, but whever you can find a good lamp. Is Paris Burning? will keep you up late at night.

Well written account of Paris' Liberation by Well known auth
The book is very well written, as have been their previous books, like Freedom at midnight. It covers fairly objectively aspects of the city's liberation very well. It makes you fall in love with Paris, if not anything else. Any student of military history and french history must not miss it. Well done lads


Anne Frank and Me
Published in Hardcover by Putnam Pub Group Juv (2001)
Authors: Cherie Bennett and Jeff Gottesfeld
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A Timeless Tale for All Age Readers
Bennett and Gottesfeld have taken what we think of as an oft-told tale and invigorated it by giving the Anne Frank story a dynamic link to contemporary youth. A generation of young Americans who were born well after the end of World War II -- to whom Anne Frank is not a household name -- will discover a world, and a heroine, that they will identify with and will be unable to forget. And without being preached to, they will come to realize that Anne's story is not circumscribed by years, miles or religious orientation. Adults familiar with the story will see it in a new light, and will be reminded of how courage and optimism in the face of impending tragedy are characteristics that span the generations. This is the kind of book that goes beyond mere storytelling; once read, it cannot be forgotten, and I urge both parents and their children to read this book and to talk about its implications. It is not merely history...it is LIVING history: compelling and well-written, and a must addition to every home and school library.

So wonderful I couldn't put it down!
I had been hearing rave reviews about the play "Anne Frank and me" and I was excited to have a chance to read the novel version. I was not disappointed. It was the most witty, intelligent, honest Young Adult novel I have read in a very long time, if not the ever. Cherie and Jeff have done a fantastic job not only conveying the angst teen girls all over the world go through on a daily basis (unrequited love, the mind-numbing spirit destroying hell of high school, not being able to connect with your parents) but they were able to deal with one of the most serious subjects in history--the Holocaust. I feel that this book should be put on to the reading lists of schools all over America--it really brought the horrors of an old historical event that isn't extremely relevant to a middle-class Protestant young adult to life. Buy this book--you won't regret it!

One of The Best Books I've Ever Read!!!
This is one of the best books I have ever read. And that is saying something, because this school year I read over one-hundred books. I am half-Jewish and very interested in the Holocaust. I have seen books that tell everything you need to know about it- the important people, who won and why, what Hitler's idea of a perfect German woman was, who was on which side, and what happened to the poor gypsies and jews.
But, excluding THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK (which I am not yet allowed to read)this is the only book I have come across that tells you what it is like to be there, scared.

The main character is named Nicole. She loves to dance, has average looks, and has a major crush on a boy named Jack, who in turn likes her friend Suzanne, who is sweet and has strawberry-blond hair. Being so typical, it is pretty obvious that she spends Literature class thinking about Jack the hottie instead of listening to Mrs. Litzer-Gold, a Holocaust survivor. (Note that I say Holocaust, not WW2. It is so much more than a war). But then she, along with some family and friends, gets warped back into the Holocaust. She becomes Jewish.

This is a book of sadness, of death, of fear, of friendship, of hope, of faith in God (or G-d, sorry)and of love. If you read this book you will never forget it. Please take my word for it that this book will touch you heart more than any Jacks of the real world will. Keep this book on your bedside table. Keep it for whenever you need a laugh, an adventure, or a little touch of mechalony.


Eloise In Paris
Published in Hardcover by Simon & Schuster (1999)
Authors: Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight
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Turning Into French
I love Eloise!!! Eloise in Paris is my favorite Eloise book. What's really fun are those long made up words such as "zuk zuk zhwocky zuk zuk nnnn" for their Plaza telephone. With the "charming" six year old as the star, this book is about how a rich girl spends time in Paris with Nanny, Skipperdee (Turtle), Weenie (dog), and Koki (chauffeur). It's very creative; all of Kay Thompson's books are. I read the first Eloise book to a bunch of friends in my college dorm, and I only got past four or five pages because they were all saying, "C'mon, Hilary!!! That's enough!" I also went through this phase a year or so ago where I sent E-Mails saying: "The Bell Captain Knows Who I am!" which left most of my friends perplexed. I remember the response of one friend: "That's really great, but who's the Bell Captain?" It's quite odd because books can create all sorts of situations for people. The funny words or phrases can start jokes as well. One of my friends and I thought it was weird that Eloise said that paper cups were good for talking to Mars, and we sometimes say on the phone to eachother, "have you talked to Mars yet?"

From the viewpoint of a Beatnik, Eloise In Paris and all the rest of the books about her are some of the beatest kids books I've seen!

I love this book!!
I read Eloise (at the Plaza) and Eloise in Paris - all 'very much' Kay. I loved that woman - a very good friend of my mom's. I worked with/for her when (as a teenager) I did her musical arrangements and orchestrations for her fabulous act with The Williams Brothers - which opened in Vegas and played all over the world.

She was one of a kind (you can see her in Funny Face) brilliant musical/vocal arranger herself, world traveler, racounter, incredible lady. I've bumper into her in Rome, Paris, London, New York, LA and was terribly saddened by her death (even though she was painfully painfully thin her whole life). She was one of the great women in the history of show biz. The Eloise books are thrilling to say the least and I continually laugh every time I pick one up even after I've gone through them 100 times. I'm ordering them once again as I left mine in London and MUST have them once again. Buddy Bregman

Eloise from 5 to 32!!!
I'm 32 years old and I LOVE Eloise - she is an absolutely delightful character! I have bought several of the Eloise books for my 5 year old daughter and she just loves Eloise as well. How fun and inspiring is it for a little girl to read about a character as whimsical and independent as Eloise?

The illustrations in this book are fantastic and really bring Paris to life for children. I have read this book at least 100 times to my daughter, and each time I enjoy it more. My daughter now wants a champagne cork necklace just like Eloise...thanks Kay Thompson for laughs you have allowed my daughter and me to share!


The Paris Mapguide
Published in Paperback by Penguin USA (Paper) (1995)
Author: Michael Middleditch
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Great maps in a compact book
If you ever expect to find that little bistro on Pas. de Clery, or a park on R. du Fouarre, you'll need a detailed map. This is it. This has the stuff that is not on the other tourist maps.

There's a key map (a city map with a numbered grid showing the page numbers of the detail maps that follow for each section of the city). And there's a complete street index.

The 29 detailed city maps are divided into two-page spreads. They're labeled with sights, Metro stops, and establishments.

The bus routes are shaded gray, and the bus numbers are printed in red alongside the streets. I spent some time in Paris and came to love commuting by bus on clear days. If you plan to try it, leave some extra time to figure it all out, it's worth the effort. You'll need more info than is provided here. A current bus map would be a big help in planning your day trips, ...

Metro stops are marked on the street maps, but the metro routes are not shown. There's a small metro map on pages 2-3, followed by some very condensed practical information for tourists. (If you need guidebook information, don't rely solely on this book, get a Michelin.)

The detail maps leave out substantial parts of the 12th, 13th, 15th, 18th and 20th arrondissements. If you want something comprehensive, though not as user-friendly, look for "Paris par Arrondissement - Plan Net" by Editions Ponchet. That guide also has detailed bus routes.

I prefer the book map format over fold-out maps, because it gives me a detailed map, but I don't have to fight with it to get it folded and back into my pocket. Ironically, I did end up folding this book to get it into my back pocket. I wish the form factor were slightly narrower.

Bon Voyage!

Best [money] I Ever Spent
I am not an impulse shopper, but I bought this little book when I went to Amazon to buy Rick Steve's Paris guide (also great). It has an amazing amount of information in a small but easy to read format - and this means easy to read for eyes that are not so young anymore. It fits in a pocket and weighs almost nothing. It has a Metro map, of course, but also maps of the city in small sections as you would expect in a really good atlas. You can find Metro stops, bus routes and numbers, small streets, and sights in each area. Because it is so much smaller than a typical atlas, it is easy to take with you and use - on a crowded Metro train for example. Although free maps are easy to come by in Paris, this is worth every nickel. It even has great sightseeing information. A bargain at twice the price.

My constant companion in Paris
Middleditch's mapguides are the best I have used (I also have used his London mapguide). The maps are larger in scale than most others, which makes them much easier to use. He indicates bus routes on the maps themselves and includes a larger-than-most Metro map. He gives you everything you need to get around in a compact booklet--no irritating folding and unfolding. His commentary on the museums and sights is informative with a personal touch. I just returned from a week in Paris and feel like I couldn't have done without it. If you purchase only one guide to Paris, make it this one!


Madeline
Published in School & Library Binding by Viking Press (1958)
Author: Ludwig Bemelmans
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A spunky role model!
I missed the Madeline books completely when I was a child, so my daughter and I discovered them together. It's an education seeing Madeline through her eyes. In Madeline, my daughter, who is somewhat shy and leery of new experiences, has a heroine who is smart, spunky, and completely in control of every situation.

I like Madeline the character a lot more than I like the books. I've found that very few writers can write wonderful verse, and I don't include Bemelmans in that august company. Some of his rhymes flow nicely together, such as the opening lines of the first book:

In an old house in Paris that was covered with vines lived twelve little girls in two straight lines. Some of his rhymes are jarring:

and soon after Dr. Cohn came, he rushed out to the phone, and he dialed : DANton-ten-six --

'Nurse,' he said, 'it's an appendix!' Everybody had to cry --

not a single eye was dry. . . . Madeline woke up two hours

later, in a room with flowers.

Still, the story isn't bad. A brave little girl is rushed to the hospital, has her appendix out, then shows off her scar. She makes it so exciting that all the other girls want their appendix out, too. Even my daughter wanted to have an appendix scar, until I explained just what that would entail.

Not just for girls!
Young boys like this too. I think too often we steer boys away from books with girl protagonists, and that attitude stays with them. A 3 to 5 year old boy might delight in the rhymes just as much as a girl of that age. Seeing girls often develop language skills earlier, the use of books such as these with well-controlled, thoughtful use of language is useful for boys too! I loved Madeline (I'm over 40) and thought the illustrations aren't groovy - it's tough in the computer age! - they are quite whimsically delightful.

Kids I know like this book.

The classic start of the Madeline series
A short children's story about a young girl who lives with eleven other girls in a home in Paris and who has to go to the hospital to have her appendix removed. It was a 1940 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children. This book, and others in the Madeline series, have become classics in children literature and every serious student of children literature should have it on their shelves. Children love these books.


The Cat Who Went to Paris
Published in Hardcover by Crown Pub (1991)
Author: Peter Gethers
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A wonderful lovestory
This is the best book about what love can do to you.When I am sad or depressed Peter Gethers and his Norton can always cheer me up a little bit.It is interesting and funny to read how Peter Gethers(how used to hate cats)was taught by Norton(a little cat)to love cats.I gave this book as a present to almost every of my friends ,and they loved it all!!
I know Mr Gethers lives sometimes in New York does anybody know if he and Jannis are okay? I am a bit worried after this terrible,unbeliefable terror act.If anybody knows something please tell me.

I LOVE this book!
I have read this book many times, it is both humerous and touching. I enjoyed reading about Norton and his adventures. Gethers has the ability to make even mundane events sound very interesting, and he has the gift of being an entertaining writer. Any cat lover will just adore this book.

Hilarious and Poignant Story of a Cat Training His Master
The Cat Who Went to Paris is a delightful book for cat-lovers and cat-haters. What Norton does to his owner--teaching him how to love--is nothing short of miraculous. We see the jaded baby-boomer (and avowed cat-hater) turn into mush with Norton in his life. And it's an often hilarious transformation!

Even though Gethers takes Norton along on his world travels, Norton ends up taking everyone in Gethers' circle for a ride!

If you want to read about a cat who partied with Roman Pulanski and made Harrison Ford scrub a bathtub, this is the book for you!


The Paris Cookbook
Published in Hardcover by HarperCollins (23 October, 2001)
Author: Patricia Wells
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Appealing Fare
Wells has assembled a fine collection of recipes culled from the many wonderful restaurants in Paris, whose chefs she seems to know, and from other sources such as French magazines and newspapers. What she seeks to present is a sampling of quintessentially French urban fare that reflects the tastes of a populace enamored with daily marketing, locally grown, fresh produce, and distinctive saucing. The recipes are well written, clear for both newer and more seasoned cooks, and generally straight-forward, non-complex.

Her instructions provide the rationale behind each dish, and her selections stray from the familiar French cuisine found in the myriad other cookbooks on the subject. The book has a distinctive appearance, with B&W photos displaying the cooks, restaurants, and markets rather than the food. Wells is a connoiseur of food and other social features, and her writing is mildly pretentious, but the food is accessible and the dishes come out tasty and reliable.

The book contains separate chapters for Appetizers, Salads, Breads, Vegetables, Potatoes, Pasta/Grains, Soups, Fish, Poultry, Meats, and Desserts. Its offerings are produce friendly so that it works well for vegetarians. Interesting recipes include the Aspargus Veloute, a soup made from the oft-discarded stems of the spears; Carrot Salad with Cumin and Lemon Juice; Spinach, Bacon, Tomato and Avocado Salad; Asparagus and Arugula Salad; Zucchini Stuffered with Goat Cheese and Mint; Jerusalem Artichoke Puree; Cooked Carrots with Orange and Cumin; Potatoes Anna; Penne with Mustard and Chives; Polenta Fries; and Pumpkin Soup. There are several bean dishes and polenta recipes.

The Paris Cookbok
Nobody has a finger on French cooking like Patricia Wells and certainly nobody has the pulse on the Parisian food story like Madame Wells. She has been at the epicenter of the Parsian restaurant scene and has incredible access to the powers that be. Patricia Wells not only is a superb journalist but her taste in food is au courant. She has gathered recipes that not only enliven the palate but also are very practical. The recipes are uncomplicated and have easily obtainable ingredients. The book has the flavor of Paris - one can almost be there and smell the glorious aromas. This is not a coffee table type cookbook. It is a black and white themed portrait from its blurred image of the Eiffel Tower to the intimate photographs around and inside the greatest food scene in the world.

If you love French cuisine, this is for you
I was so impressed with this cookbook. First, I adore Paris and love the art of French cooking. I learned French style cooking years ago and I love to watch how my French friends put together a seemingly simple meal that turns out so impressively. And the black-and-white photos of Paris that illustrate the book are great reminders of visits past.

The key to these seemingly simple recipes in "The Paris Cookbook" is good ingredients, a knack for combination, some fundamental traditional ideas, and a passion for excellence. For example, some of the most interesting recipes to me were for peasant cooking from Provence. There was a soup of spelt (a wheat-like grain with many healthful properties.) It was combined with barley and the green French de Puy lentils to make a Mediterranean-style meal-in-a-pot soup. The use of spelt is more common in Germany --however the Provencal use it as one would use rice, in risottos or as here, in a soup. There is also a recipe for a simple version of bouillabaise fish soup that I really want to try.

The other recipe that got me excited was for an ordinary gazpacho cold tomato soup but...with a savory mustard ice cream as a garnish. Now THERE'S an interesting idea. If you have ever had a blob of cream in a tomato-based soup, you know how nicely cream blends and smooths the flavor of the acid fruit. But to add the cream in the form of ice cream, but unsweetened and with a spicy mustard, now that is exciting! I will be making that for my next summer dinner party. I also got the idea to modify the recipe and make wasabi green tea ice cream (wasabi is the green Japanese mustard you get with sushi.) I can pair that with a cold cucumber-crab soup.

That's what I adore about this cookbook. Not only great recipes, but they are in essence, fundamental and can be adapted with your own creative ideas.

The author also includes information about each restaurant where she obtained the recipes--chef, address, notes. So if you go to Paris, you essentially have quite a good restaurant guide.

The only caveat about this cookbook is that to make any of these recipes, you must get top-quality ingredients, as they are the backbone of each dish. This means a trek to the farmer's market, to the specialty shop, the farm, your backyard garden, the dairy or mail-order as many grocery store items will just not measure up. I can tell you from experience that the quality of the ingredients is paramount to success, and grocery store cream and butter in most of the US just can't do the job. And don't get me started on the vegetables.


The Other Side of Midnight
Published in Audio Download by audible.com ()
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Couldn't put it down!
This was the first book by Sidney Sheldon I ever read. And I think the best! I have read other books of his, but this one and its sequel are by far my favorites! I have read them over and over again! No others compare to them. The way he writes is so wonderful and flowing I could read it all day, and often did! I found it very hard to put down. He has a way of making you love Noelle, even though she has done some cruel things. And the shocking ending leaves you hungry for more! Sidney Sheldon is my favorite author and I hope he keeps turning out the books for years to come!

The Ultimate Globe Trotting Page Turner
I realize I'm blowing all credibility by admitting this, but I have always adored this book. Before he turned to penning purple prose, author Sidney Sheldon was an Academy Award winning screenwriter in the 1940's and 50's, and he not only knows how to keep a story moving, but how to milk big, melodramatic scenes and plant great twists in the plot.

Fabulous is the only word to describe this tale of lust, revenge and murder...there's even a little Nazi intrigue thrown in for good measure. Face it, most of us don't have very exciting lives, or at least they're not exciting 'round the clock. Well, not so with Sheldon's duo heroines Catherine Alexander and Noelle Page. You have the choice of identifying with either French movie star Noelle (she of the blonde hair, violet colored eyes and awe inspiring sexual technique) or spunky career gal Catherine (the sharp brunette with great legs and comebacks). Noelle is the ultimate mistress, shrewd and inscrutable, while Catherine is the ultimate wife, determined to hold her man by any means necessary.

There's always been a snag in the plot that's bothered me, though, and I've spent far too many years obsessing about it. (Do not scroll further if you haven't read the book.) Larry -- dashing, decorated pilot Larry -- meets young Noelle in WWII Paris and they have a blissful affair. When he has to ship out, he gives her money to buy a wedding dress, promising to return in a few weeks time. Needless to say, he doesn't. But if Larry had no intention of seeing Noelle again, wasn't there an easier way for him to ditch her? Raising Noelle's hopes by sending her off to buy a WEDDING DRESS makes Larry seem sadistic, when he's only supposed to be a devil-may-care type rogue. It also bugged me that when the lovers cross paths years later, Larry can't even remember luscious Noelle, or her now famous violet eyes. (The whole point about Noelle is that she's not like you or me, but unforgettable!)

Anyway, this little snafu aside, "The Other Side of Midnight" is pure, spun candy perfection. It's surprising that the 1977 movie version was so weak, because the plot is blazingly widescreen, both physically and emotionally. (The clothes, by "Mommie Dearest" costume designer Irene Sharaff, and Susan Sarandon's performance as a brisk Catherine are the best things about it.) Sarandon complained in an interview at the time that the story was only soap opera, and yet the producers were treating it as if it were Chekhov. Yes, Susie, it's soap opera...but it's the ULTIMATE soap opera, bar none! Read it and weep, then continue the spree by running to the library to check out "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles" by Dominick Dunne...

This book is one you can read over and over.
This book is awesome. Sidney Sheldon's absolute masterpiece. I've read it countless times and it grips me every time. And considering the fact that I actually saw the movie first, (which was awful) that's really saying something. I felt for Noelle. It explains why she is so cold and uncaring to men. You really get in her head. And Catherine is easy to like also. Creating empathy for two rival women is a tricky thing to do, and Sidney Sheldon delivers with a punch. He is one of the greatest novelists ever. Don't pass up this book. The part where Noelle helps her friend who is a leader of the French Resistance will keep you on edge. This book is a great ride. I can't praise it enough.


Life, a User's Manual
Published in Hardcover by David R Godine (1987)
Authors: Georges Perec and David Bellos
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Dense and beautiful, with an unfortunate title
Georges Perec loved language, and it shows. _Life_ is clearly a labor of love. There are times when maybe the descriptions ramble, and you may well find yourself into the fifth page of a description of some piece of furniture, but if you don't keep track, you'll never notice. This is a difficult book to describe simply because it is so dense. At one level, it's a logic game; at another, it's an exercise in linguistics; at another, it's simply poetry. The translator, too, deserves kudos. Although I haven't read the original, the translation, I suspect, has remained faithful to the spirit of the book. Please read this book.

A spellbinding masterpiece of experimental fiction.
If you read the first few pages of this book after seeing all the glowing reviews on Amazon, you may wonder what we are so excited about. However, you will be rewarded if you persevere. In an ice-cold literary voice, Perec systematically describes the inhabitants and contents of a Paris apartment building. His style is at first totally uninvolving, yet somehow, amazingly, his monotonous descriptions come together like the tiles of a mosaic (or, to use Perec's image, the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle) to create a living, exciting picture. Even if you know nothing about the philosophical and aesthetic theories that gave this book its structure, you will find it enthralling.

oulipan masterwork
Georges Perec constructed Life : A User's Manual in accord with a simple set of principles. Perec allowed these principles to trump the normal "laws" of how a novel should be constructed, and, in true Oulipan fashion, following the rules resulted in a novel which is utterly unique.

The subject of the novel is a block of flats in Paris. Perec organizes the book around the floorplan of the building: he moves from room to room, describing the furnishings and the decor. With an eye for ever-smaller details, Perec shows us how the ordinary space of an apartment teems with an almost overwhelming complexity.

As we tour the building, we begin to encounter the inhabitants, from the eccentric millionaire Bartlebooth to the master puzzlemaker Gaspard Winkler, and as Perec folds them into the narrative, he also regales us with stories from their past. He shares dozens of tales of every conceivable stripe: murder mysteries, fabulist yarns, stories of love and courtship. In this regard, Life: A User's Manual evokes Invisible Cities, another Oulipan novel, by Perec's friend and colleague Italo Calvino. In Invisible Cities, Calvino creates a series of cities that seem to contain everything in the whole world: here Perec goes one further, managing to pack the entire world down to the size of a single apartment building.


Parisian Home Cooking : Conversations, Recipes, And Tips From The Cooks And Food Merchants Of Paris
Published in Hardcover by William Morrow (1999)
Author: Michael Roberts
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from NEWSDAY
Book and Author: "Parisian Home Cooking: Conversations, Recipes, and Tips from the Cooks and Food Merchants of Paris," by Michael Roberts. Roberts pioneered California cuisine at his Los Angeles restaurant, Trumps, and is the author of "Secret Ingredients," "Make-Ahead Gourmet" and "What's for Dinner." Details: William Morrow, $25; 352 pages, 175 recipes, black-and-white photographs of Parisian markets and habitues throughout.

Description: Roberts starts off with advice on how to shop Parisian style in your hometown (frequent small markets; develop relationships with purveyors), then launches into recipes for every course, which are appended with kitchen tips and trenchant tales of marketing and cooking in Paris. Assessment: During this vogue for all things Italian, Roberts clearly wants to rescue French food from its current reputation as fussy and outdated. He absolutely succeeds with this well-written collection of vigorous, straightforward recipes. The book also paints a vivid picture of Roberts' Parisian crowd, urbane professionals who happen to whip up fabulous meals in their tiny kitchens. -Erica Marcus .

How to Enjoy Every day ' It's Easier Than You Think!
Michael Roberts, the author, writes in the introduction to his book as though he were speaking to you at a small, outdoor table at a local café' while dunking a biscotti into his espresso. His message is simple and insightful. His advice is worth hearing.

To begin with, you should know that Michael Roberts moved to Paris in 1975 and earned his professional certificate from the Ecole Superieure de Cuisine Jean-Ferrandi. He lived and worked in Paris before returning to the U.S. and opening his own restaurant Trumps in Los Angeles in 1980. He has since that time returned to Paris for several extended visits. He brought his experiences of everyday life in Paris to this book that reveals how the average, working person in Paris shops for food and prepares meals at home. In his introduction to the book, you instantly recognize yourself because he explains how people in the everyday Parisian culture share virtually the same food varieties, cooking equipment, busy schedules and lack of time that people in every other metropolitan area of the world also share.

The discovery that I made is based upon an admission by the author in the opening of his book when he speaks of his youth and says 'The realization that I had learned to cook but not to nourish, that I hadn't grasped the gastronomic world of the average Parisian, disheartened me.' So, he set upon a course to correct that oversight and wrote about his experiences that revolve around one simple philosophy from which we can all profit. 'You start with fine ingredients. You cook things in a way that coaxes out the flavors. No need to complicate a recipe with many ingredients, because they only end up fighting each other. ' Let the ingredients speak to you.' He goes on to say 'The charm of a French meal lies in their insistence on quality ingredients and balanced flavor, in respecting those ingredients by not overcomplicating the cooking.' I enjoyed and wholeheartedly agree with his comments that shopping for flavorful ingredients should be a delight, not a chore; that cooking delicious meals doesn't really take very long; that the resulting enjoyment breaks up the tension of the day from which we can all benefit; that the devotion to this splendid ritual of eating well should become part of the rhythm of life; and, finally, that families who share this pattern of living will pass on the gift of memories of yesterday so that familiar flavors or aromas will 'unlock the memory of childhood, ' what most Parisians do nearly every time they sit down at the table.'

The book's 175 recipes that reflect the author's philosophies are easy to prepare and suit a variety of tastes for various courses of a meal, including soups, salads, entrees, and desserts. My copy of the book has already shown wear on its edges and stains on its most used pages which, if you will pardon the expression, speaks volumes about what I think of this book.

Cooking Fiend and Francophile is Right...
...everything I make from this book is truly delicious and , may I add, nutritious. Parisian Home Cooking teaches us that the value of fresh and diverse ingredients, simply prepared is the core of true health; dishes that yearn to be enjoyed amoung friends and actually leave you energy to enjoy their company! I just love the woman who refuses to spend more than fifteen minutes at her stove yet serves up divine dinners; the butcher's timeless admonition that for the body to work it must have some fat - how avant; the tips that coax real flavor from simple foods - to "sweeten" the vinegar for the perfect vinaigrette by adding a splash of wine (just one tip of many). As the diet gurus duke it out for your dollars, look at the slim, healthy Parisians in the photographs, read what they eat at home, and you will toss out the crazed American diet fads with relief. This book will feed you. It's also a good read. Move over Dr. Ornish and Monsieur Pepin - the secret is out!


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