Kitchens of the Great Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal
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Kitchens of the Great Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal
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Who is Eva Thorvald? To her single father, a chef, she's a pint-sized recipe tester and the love of his life. To the chilli chowdown contestants of Cook County, Illinois, she's a fire-eating demon. To the fashionable foodie goddess of supper clubs, she's a wanton threat. She's an enigma, a secret ingredient that no one can put their finger on. Eva will surprise everyone. On the day before her eleventh birthday, she's cultivating chilli peppers in her wardrobe like a pro. Abandoned by her mother, gangly and poor, Eva arms herself with the weapons of her unknown heritage: a kick-ass palate and a passion bordering on obsession. Over the years, her tastes grow, and so do her ambitions. One day Eva will be the greatest chef in the world. But along the way, the people she meets will shape her - and she, them - in ways unforgettable, riotous and profound. So she - for one - knows exactly who she is by the time her mother returns. Kitchens of the Great Midwest is about the family you lose, the friends you make and chance connections that can define a life. Joyful, quirky or brazen, everyone lends their voice to tell Eva's story - one that's as heartwarming as it is irresistible, taking the bitter with the sweet.
Kitchens of the Great Midwest, by J. Ryan Stradal- Amazon Sales Rank: #3244696 in Books
- Published on: 2015-09-01
- Format: Large Print
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 1.50" h x 5.70" w x 8.70" l, .0 pounds
- Binding: Library Binding
- 500 pages
Amazon.com Review
An Amazon Best Book of August 2015: Get ready for the jokes. I’d wager you’ll be hearing that J. Ryan Stradal’s Kitchens of the Great Midwest is “delicious” and that he has “cooked up” a great story about food and foodies, a story that will leave you “satisfied, not hungry for more.” I would try not to make such lame jokes here, but what can I say? This debut novel is as tempting as a piece of Key Lime pie, so perfect is its ratio of tart-to-sweet. The ingredients: a misfit Midwestern girl whose special gift happens to be a golden palate; single-parented by a large and lovable father/chef, she can taste a spice in a trice, and manage the hottest sauces west of the Mississippi. Never mind that Eva is shy and sort of weird looking, she knows she’s got the secret sauce and she grows more confident by the day, thanks to such concoctions as the simplest pan sautéed Walleye and original, perfect Caesar salad (which, if you don’t know – and I didn’t – was not an invention of Julius Caesar but rather that of one Italian-born chef named Caesar Cardini). No one, least of all, Eva, is surprised when she becomes a superstar chef in our food-obsessed culture. Eva knows that people do not live by even home baked bread alone – and her quest in this novel is for sustenance of the emotional kind. Whether and where and how she finds it is the book’s special treat. And yes, you will devour it. – Sara Nelson
From School Library Journal Stradal's novel chronicles the young life of Eva Thorvald, beginning with her birth to a woman who would rather become an expert sommelier than a mom and who leaves with no forwarding address. Her father dies shortly after of a heart attack. The narrative then moves on to three key moments in Eva's life: in her preteens, her teens, and her 20s. Each section ends in a suspenseful way and many of the characters reappear in later sections. Eva's teen years are crucial to the other parts of the narrative. Her arrival in a new high school brings romance with a boy who is awkward but smitten. Meanwhile, she works in a restaurant to help her ailing uncle and guardian pay the bills. In the restaurant, she learns about food and acquires a reputation for her marvelous palate, preparing the way for Eva's 20s, when her dinners, given as private reserved affairs, bring her fame and satisfaction. There is much to love here for readers of all ages. Stradal's gentle humor pokes fun at such Midwest customs as calling any cold food a salad and satirizes a few young foodies, too. The plot moves quickly, and the unusual and stimulating structure allows readers to think about what may have happened during the gaps. And teens will enjoy seeing a girl who cannot finish high school nevertheless become a success. VERDICT A very special novel most readers will hate to see end.—Karlan Sick, Library Consultant, New York City
Review An oven-warm yet bittersweet collection of character studies circling the story of Eva Thorvald ... Hilariously precise in its cultural geography ... But in spite of its locavorous detail, the novel's plot is driven by a universal truth: that food brings people together Independent on Sunday Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a big-hearted, funny, and class-transcending pleasure. It's also both a structural and empathetic tour de force, stepping across worlds in the American midwest, and demonstrating with an enviable tenderness and ingenuity the tug of war between our freedom to pursue our passions and our obligations to those we love. -- Jim Shepard This offbeat debut features many satisfying ingredients, including triumph over adversity, recipes and a warm Midwestern backdrop Mail on Sunday Stradal creates something quirky, affecting and delicious Sunday Mirror Fun and original Woman and Home Stradal's delicious debut reveals Eva's sweet, sad, funny self in a series of funny vignettes Psychologies A gorgeous feast that feeds both the senses and the soul Simple Things A tender coming-of-age story with a mix of finely rendered pathos and humour ... Ultimately, Kitchens reveals the strong interplay among food, family and our most cherished memories ... Stradal suggests that love - or the absence of love - is the most powerful condition of all Washington Post From the quite literally burning passions of a lonely eleven-year-old girl with an exceptional palate, to the ethical dilemmas behind a batch of Blue Ribbon Peanut Butter Bars, J. Ryan Stradal writes with a special kind of meticulous tenderness - missing nothing and accepting everything. A superbly gratifying debut -- Meg Howrey Time flew by when we sat down with Kitchens of the Great Midwest, a charming and unusual first novel ... We were blown away by Stradal's flair for depicting messy emotions and mixed-up families, and delighted by his insightful and funny reflections on foodie culture and class dynamics iBooks, Book of the Month A warm and enjoyable read about life, love, food, family ... and chilli eating contests Stylist, book of the month This wise and witty tale of immigrant assimilation wholeheartedly embraces a passion for food ... Laugh-out-loud funny ... Stradal is so good at evoking the inner lives of his characters, male and female, young and old ... Stradal has a sharp eye for the evolution of culture and for landscape; his tone is light, always a little askew ... Midwesterners never forget what things cost, and Kitchens of the Great Midwest is a terrific reminder of what can be wrested from suffering and struggle - not only success, but also considerable irony, a fair amount of wisdom and a decent meal -- Jane Smiley Guardian This lovely, poignant, hilarious book is the best thing I have read this year. Everything about it is original and wonderful ... The writing is whipcrack smart and it's both powerfully moving and brilliantly satirical, especially about kitchen snobbery. Read it, read it! -- Wendy Holden Daily Mail Despite a life pockmarked by poverty and other adversities, Eva has an equally outsize heart. A warring mass of desires, talents and imperfections, she's an attractively flawed, completely likable demigoddess ... Kitchens of the Great Midwest is not only Eva's story but also a gastronomic portrait of a region ... It's an impressive feat of narrative jujitsu ... This colorful, character-driven story ... keeps readers turning the pages too fast to realize just how ingenious they are New York Times Eva Thorvald is the new Olive Kitteridge Elisabeth Egan, author of A Window Opens Teenagers and foodies (teenage foodies especially), will love this book. It's about Eva, a bullied girl who triumphs over her adversaries to become a legendary chef. This is great in itself, but there's so much more to it than that ... The story-within-a-story action ranges all over the U.S. and is a celebration of great American food as well as the great American underdog. A tremendous novel that combines powerfully moving moments with hilarious satire, especially about kitchen snobbery -- Wendy Holden Daily Mail
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Most helpful customer reviews
96 of 105 people found the following review helpful. A fun, quirky read. By sb-lynn Brief summary and review.The protagonist in this story is a woman named Eva, daughter of Lars Thorvald and his wife, Cynthia. When we first meet her Eva is just a baby and lives with her parents in Minnesota. Although her father Lars had no special training and came from a working class family, he has a special gift; he can discern various tastes and flavors from foods and loves to cook. Lars adores his daughter but his wife Cynthia realizes too late that she doesn't want to be a mother and would rather be a sommelier. The chapter ends and important decisions have been made about young Eva's life and care.At this point I don't want to give away any more of the plot. I did not read a summary of this book and I had no idea what each chapter would bring and I think that's for the best. I will tell you that each chapter goes in chronological order and Eva is an important character in each chapter. As you read along, try to remember some of the names of the characters you will meet because you will often read about them later on. I really had fun with that and it added to my enjoyment of this book.Each chapter is named after a food/dish and the book is replete with fun recipes. Food is so important, that's it's almost a character in the story.I had such a good time reading this book and when I put the book down, I couldn't wait to pick it up again which is high praise from me. I don't have to like a character to enjoy a book, but I found myself loving so many of the people we meet in this novel. The whole thing was very quirky with lots of humor thrown in for good measure.Highly recommended.(Note, there were just few discrepancies in the book that took me out of the story for a moment, such as describing one character as six feet tall and then later on referring to her as "short and slender." But these are minor quibbles in an exceptional book and I hope it gets the attention it deserves.)
32 of 35 people found the following review helpful. Like a trip home By Georgiana Being from the midwest probably made me love this book more than I should have, because it was like going home. It had me from page 2, with this line"Theirs was a mixed race marriage--between a Norwegian and a Dane-- and thus all things culturally important to one but not the other were given a free pass and critiqued only in unmixed company." Perhaps that's something only someone from Minnesota or Iowa might understand, but it made me laugh out loud, along with many other "insider" jokes that kept me turning the pages. Lots of double entendre and humor that plays both with the foodie culture and the back to nature world of fresh food. I can't wait to make Pat's peanut butter bars and remember those long days in the Lutheran church.But the story is charming too: the story of Eva, who grows from quirky girl growing habaneros in her closet to the most sought after chef around. Don't read the book hungry!
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful. Its well-developed, beautifully crafted linked stories each serve as pleasing and tasty courses By Bookreporter I knew I was going to love J. Ryan Stradal's KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST from the very first page, where he mentions Happy Chef, a beloved diner I remember well from my years growing up in Minnesota. Stradal, a lifelong Midwesterner who recently moved to Los Angeles, suffuses his debut novel with place-specific details like this, but it's not just current or former Midwesterners who will respond positively to the book. It's about food, family, and maturing into the life you were born to live, sometimes without really knowing why.It was possibly inevitable that the daughter of an up-and-coming Minneapolis chef and a sommelier-in-training would grow up to have a refined palate and a passion for good food and wine, but Eva Thorvald largely had to come to this place without the direct aid of her parents. Abandoned by her mother as a newborn, Eva also lost her father when she was just an infant, and was raised by an aunt and uncle who preferred McDonald's hamburgers to the heirloom tomatoes and heritage pork shoulder that Eva's father hoped to introduce her to.Nevertheless, in the linked chapters that compose KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST, Eva finds herself compelled to pursue tastes and flavors (even outrageously spicy ones) and to learn as much as she can about cooking, even from a very early age. Despite the loss of the foodie parents she never knew, Eva matures into a woman --- and a chef --- either of her parents would be proud to know and gratified to be fed by.Much like Elizabeth Strout's OLIVE KITTERIDGE, KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST is a "novel in stories," told from the points of view of eight different characters and touching more or less obliquely on Eva's life. She appears in each of the stories but is rarely, if ever, the central character. Instead, we learn about her through glimpses and inferences, even as we come to know more about the lives of the friends, family and acquaintances who move in Eva's periphery. Each chapter/story gets its name from a food item, many of which (such as Venison and Bars) exhibit Stradal's fondness for Midwestern culinary traditions (even when they get cutthroat, as in a county fair baking contest dominated by Lutheran church women). There's even the obligatory potluck supper, although this one is long on locally sourced ingredients and short on tater tot hot dish.Stradal includes a number of recipes --- including several gleaned from church cookbooks --- that will delight those who enjoy the culinary descriptions in the novel as much as the storylines. But that's not to say that one has to be a foodie or even an amateur baker to enjoy KITCHENS OF THE GREAT MIDWEST. Its well-developed, beautifully crafted linked stories each serve as a pleasing and tasty course in and of themselves, and together they add up to a banquet that will leave readers more than satisfied.Reviewed by Norah Piehl
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