Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'
by Paula Deen, Sherry Suib Cohen
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Book Reviews of Paula Deen: It Ain't All About the Cookin'
Book Review: Complete Honesty
Summary: 5 Stars
I may have been the last one in America. When I sat down to read It Ain't All About the Cookin' I was a Paula Deen virgin. I'd never read one of her books; never seen her show. I've seen the line snaking down the block from Lady & Sons in Savannah, but I've never grabbed a place.
Now I feel like I'm about to get a new next door neighbor. Which would be great and not too surprising since I live about sixty miles south of Albany, Georgia where Paula grew up and spent the her early married years.
I understand Paula. We've got lots more than geography in common. I've written several times about how my grandmother used canned biscuits for dumplings--and didn't get caught. The first recipe in the book is for--no kidding--her mother's doughnuts made from canned biscuits. And in the next chapter she rhapsodizes over chicken and dumplings. She's great.
So is this book, and on many levels. Paula's a perfect candidate for Story Circle! She is completely honest. She tells it all, even when she doesn't have to, and we might not miss it.
"But suddenly, somehow, it's time to show and tell--warts and all. I plan to tell some hard secrets in the pages, but it's taken a long time to get up the nerve to do so," she tells us in the introduction. Her nerve holds for the entire book. When we shut it we know the whole woman. And she is a fine one.
Don't waste time being envious of Paula Deen because things have dropped into her lap; they haven't. She's earned every bit of the glory through a gritty nerve, a willingness (try eagerness) to take a risk, stick-to-itivness you won't believe, and, mostly, hard work. Really hard work.
Stick-to-it? For twenty-seven years this woman stuck to a marriage that she realized was doomed from the gitgo. Then the day came: "But I'm here to report that there's nothing like a little business success to lend a lady some personal courage." When the husband pocketed their son's car payments so many times that the car was repossessed, the camel's back snapped, and Paula showed him to the door.
Hard work? At that time she was making sack lunches out of her kitchen for her son to sell door-to-door or office-to-office in Savannah's businesses. A tough life.
And she toughed it out to reach the success she's most deservedly enjoying today.
Plus, she's a lot of fun, even when she's talking about the hard times, and especially when she's talking about the good ones. There have been plenty of those as well.
While this "ain't all about the cookin'," some of it is. With Paula Deen writing, how could it not be. She talks about cookin', and she shares recipes--many of them family treasures she's never shared before.
These days, I try to be a purist in the kitchen cooking from real scratch, but occasionally I recall that a can of mushroom soup can be a cook's best friend. Paula's convinced of this. No wonder her food is comfort food! Now this Texas girl may never add a can of French onion soup to her chili--or she might--but I'm going to give the Georgia Cracker (yes, it involves a whole sleeve of saltines) Salad a try, and the first crisis that brings on the comfort food craving, I'm for sure making Uncle Bubba's Crab and Shrimp au Gratin. Not only does it involve shrimp, crab, Tabasco and cheese, it calls for a healthy dose of Kraft Cheez Whiz. How can you not love it?
Or love this book?
Next time I'm in Savannah, I'll be in that line at Lady & Sons, no matter how long it is!
by Patricia Nordyke Pando
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and about women
Book Review: It aint all peaches and cream, but the book's enjoyable just the same.
Summary: 5 Stars
Just when you think it's impossible to like Food Network star Paula Deen more than you already do, you'll find yourself enjoying this very revealing read from one of the most famous Southern cooks in the world (as opposed to a chef, which Paula freely claims she is not and was never trained to be). (Although, truth be told, I am not a fan of Paula's southern cooking which, yes, contains tons of fried this and fried that. I get a heart attack just thinking about deep fried butter! I'm not joining the chorus, that's just how I feel.)
Anyone who has ever dreamed that running a restaurant or just being involved in the food business is a cake walk (pun intended) needs to sit down and read the appropriate chapters regarding her start in the food business and just how tough it was (to put it very mildly). I become more exasperated as she explained the intricate details of having to constantly be on your feet all the time, having to make sure everything runs smoothly (which is a headache in and of itself), having to hire all the right people to keep track of everything (accountants, kitchen managers, etc.). Yes, anyone can take a guess at how hard it is to run any business, but it really sinks in after reading Paula's struggle to get her own food business off the ground exactly why so many resturants fail so quickly - it takes constant energy to keep them going and Paula has to be given tons of credit for keeping up with (and even outpacing) kids half and a quarter of her age.
Paula's story is overall inspiring, not just because she was a divorcee starting her life all over again in middle age, but because the part that hit home for me was her description of and dealing with the crippling panic attacks and agoraphobia she was plagued with from the time both her parents died (the late-1960s to early-1970s) to around the mid-1980s. She didn't know what it was that was plaguing her for the longest time until a neighbor she was living next to finally put a term to it: Panic attack. His encouragement helped Paula to slowly deal with her condition and, unbeknownst to her, the way she dealt with her panic attacks has given me much needed inspiration on how to permanently alleviate my own attacks.
I could care less about the fact that she isn't a trained chef (although her confidence makes up for that, when she stated she could cook rings around all those people in those tall, white chef's hats) and I could also care less about the fact that she smokes. I just loved her book from start to finish (so much so that I dusted it off in a day and a half). Her down-to-earthness is incredible (although I love how she showed that snoot clerk at Saks Fifth Avenue she wasn't the pauper the woman took her to be), and it's good to know she has a good working relationship with her sons and her stepchildren (after much time working out the kinks), moreso her stepdaughter. (BTW: Her husband Michael's taste in music rocks and her youngest son, Bobby, is *very* fine!).
I hate to be cliche, but this is one book that was difficult to put down. You just want to learn more about Paula the more you read. The whole book is like your best friend talking to you without putting on any airs (as she stated on Page 213 that she didn't want to get so uppity that she forgot where she came from. She's done a hell of a job keeping that promise). Even her encounters with former President Jimmy Carter were humble endeavors on both their parts (it seems to me).
This was a very enjoyable read and I would gladly read it again. - Donna Di Giacomo
Book Review: Thank you for sharing your story!
Summary: 5 Stars
You should know that I am not a cook and I don't particularly like cooking. So reading this book I wasn't reading it as an awe-struck groupie of a Food Network star. I do occasionally watch her cooking program but I think more for her TV style than the dishes she prepares.
I admire Paula Deen because I believe she has a success story from which we can all learn a lesson or two. I am fascinated by the success of others. I like cheering for the underdog and the good guys. To me, Paula Deen's success story is right up there with the best. Her book Paula Deen A Memoir - It Ain't All About The Cookin' is an inspiration to all of us who aren't so perfect, who've made some big mistakes and yet, know we want to succeed and find happiness in our life.
If you're looking for a Pollyanna story, this isn't it. If you're looking for sweet talking motivation, this isn't it. If you are looking for a real-world story about overcoming depression, anxiety and having the unstoppable determination to succeed then this is the book for you.
I congratulate Paula Deen for telling us the real story and not holding back. Nothing is sugar coated when she tells us about her marriage, her anxiety attacks, her age and her depression. Thank goodness she writes the way she speaks, open and honest and with a great sense of humor. Paula tells us about an everyday woman who lived, loved and messed up. She's a real woman making real mistakes and some bad choices. She found the answers and the deep-down motivation to pull herself out of the abyss and make her dreams come true. In that story, there is a powerful lesson for all of us to learn.
This is a book about personal and professional success. If you're going through a bad time in life right now, I suggest you carefully read and "feel" the lessons in this book. If you're thinking of starting your own business, I suggest you read about Paula's trials and tribulations carefully. If you're in business already, you'll enjoy this great success story. If you're a cook, you'll enjoy Paula's recipes at the end of each chapter.
I recommend you take your time and read this book when you can give it your full attention. Paula Deen A Memoir - It Ain't All About The Cookin' has many self-development and success-oriented lessons. I think what really struck me was Paula Deen's tenacity. I applaud her ability to pick herself up and make things happen for the better.
Her success seems to be a combination of hard work and coincidences. But all of us who believe in self-development know there really are no coincidences. Nothing happens by accident - something we are consciously or unconsciously believing, affirming or thinking is drawing these coincidences into our lives. I particularly enjoyed the stories of how the right people at the right time appeared in her life to offer her the right opportunities for success.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who is going through a life-change, depression, anxiety attacks, and divorce or contemplating beginning your own business. There are valuable lessons to be learned from Paula Deen's successes and mistakes. Paula Deen is a true personal and professional American success story. Thank you Paula Deen for sharing your story with all of us!
Book Review: Tell it All Sister!
Summary: 5 Stars
There is an old joke here in the South about a man who gets up during a fire and brimstone sermon at church and starts to confess all of his sins. The minister is pleased with the results of his sermon and is urging the subject on by saying, "Amen brother, tell it all." Finally the confessing backslider confesses something so horrible that the preacher's jaw drops and he says, "Whoa, I don't believe I would have told that!" A few times while I was reading this book I sort of felt like that preacher because Paula tells it ALL!
She starts out the book by saying that she is going to hide nothing and is going to be totally honest with her fans. She then proceeds to admit that she is a smoker and I thought that if this was her biggest darkest secret I was going to be bored before I got through with this book. Well in true Southern fashion she was just serving up a light appetizer because there was much more to come. The much more I'm not going to give away but take it from me, Paula has been cooking in more rooms than the kitchen.
Beyond the secrets though this is a warm and endearing book that is filled with Southern slang and humor. This is the story of the average Southern girl who grows up watching her mother and grandmother cook but never dreams that cooking will be her ticket to the big time. This is the story of a girl who marries too young, loses her parents not long after that and ends up in the having to find a way to support her family. There are dark times when she has to deal with family problems and mental illness and there are times when most people would have just given up but this is also a love story with a happy ending.
If you take this roller coaster ride with Paula you will laugh with her and you will cry with her but most of all you will be pulling for this Steel Magnolia from South Georgia. She had some help writing this book but for the most part these are obviously her words and her thoughts and both come at you with a deep drawl. She talks about her personal life, her family and her business adventures and from start to finish this is one fascinating book. The story of how she and her sons brought the Bag Lady to life and how together they built what amounts to a food empire is truly the stuff of legend and her reaction to Michael after their first meeting will have you rolling on the floor. This is quite frankly one of the best and most honest autobiographies that I have ever read and I have read more than my share of them. No fan of things Southern should miss this book.
Book Review: Not for Everyone
Summary: 5 Stars
Okay, so here she is... The queen of Southern Hospitality, Southern Cooking, and the Sweetheart of the Food Network. Right? If that's what you want to believe about Paula, I don't recommend you read this book. If you are someone who judges people, who gets disappointed when the real person is not the fabricated one you built in your head, don't read this book. However, if you would like to get the option to truly "KNOW" Paula Deen and enjoy one of the most honest revelations of human triumph over nearly every obstacle imaginable, grab a hot copy now. I admit, I was a bit flustered at times, even a tidge disappointed in her. Not that I haven't done SOOOOOOOo many bad things in my life, too.... but just that she didn't seem to hide anything, to keep anything private. I think it was a brave book, one that took courage and the self confidence she has earned throughout her life. I also think it takes a certain amount of sass to write a book like this. I loved Paula before, but I didn't know the real jewel. Now, I really like her.... love her, too. At times she isn't likable, isn't at all admirable. Very rarely does someone tell all of this and yet, it seems as if she truly wants to be herself, and to let the chips fall where they surely will. I give this book a five star rating because of her spunk and because it truly keeps one's attention focused on Paula and her past. Would I do the same in her shoes? Probably not. My mom wouldn't like it if I told everyone everything about myself.... A lady doesn't tell, she would say... At times Paula is anything but ladylike, but she is definitely a successful, happy woman who has every reason to hold her head up and be proud of her family, her man, and herself. Way to go, Paula. I love you!