If You Can't Take the Heat

October 1, 2023

Responding to Mario Batali's wan apology for sexual harassment, the James Beard Award-winning blogger DeRuiter wrote an essay that drew millions of readers (and physical threats); If You Can't Take the Heat covers her ups and downs in the world of gastronomy. Prepub Alert.

Copyright 2023 Library Journal

Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 22, 2024
Everywhereist blogger DeRuiter (All Over the Place) dishes on gastronomy and gender in this delightfully salty memoir-in-essays. During the height of the MeToo movement in 2017, DeRuiter was incensed by the apology letter celebrity chef Mario Batali wrote after he was accused of sexual misconduct, which included a recipe for cinnamon rolls. She responded with a blog post in which she made Batali’s cinnamon rolls and eviscerated his apology (“Was his PR team drunk?”). The post went viral, ultimately winning a James Beard Award for long-form personal essay. With that piece as the collection’s guiding light, DeRuiter zeroes in on indignities she and other women face in the food world, from the time DeRuiter was second-guessed about the details in her negative review of a Michelin-starred restaurant to the expectation that women chefs “fight against sexism, misogyny, and harassment... all while cooking excellent food that would never get the same attention as their male counterparts.” Whether discussing her obsession with Red Lobster or highlighting offensive portrayals of women’s relationships with food in film and television, DeRuiter seamlessly blends gallows humor and sharp observation. The result is a witty and empowering volume that will satisfy foodies and non-foodies alike. Agent: Zoe Sandler, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc.

February 1, 2024
Zesty food memories from a James Beard Award-winning blogger. DeRuiter assembles essays into a funny, irreverent memoir about family, food, cooking, and eating, as well as life in the kitchen and around assorted tables. She recalls her first memory of food ("mint toothpaste, served straight from the tube"), her discovery of New York bagels, and her shameless love of Red Lobster, which began when she was growing up in Florida. Red Lobster "had people who were kind to me, and cheesy biscuits that were served warm, in a little basket. It taught me that life had more to offer." Women portrayed on TV shows, though, would likely refuse those warm biscuits: Either they wouldn't eat at all, or when they ate, they'd be chided for being super picky. It was "a hard thing to learn," DeRuiter admits, "that we can ask things of other people, that we can order food how we want it. That our bodies deserve to be nourished and loved and fed the way we want them to be." Equally hard was letting her husband cook for her, to "fight against the feelings of guilt and obligation and see it for what it is: someone who loves me, making a meal for our family." Several essays focus on sexism and misogyny in the food industry and on social media. Chef Mario Batali's tone-deaf apology about sexual misconduct, for example, inspired her to write an essay that was met with derisive comments, as was a piece she wrote about the worst meal of her life, a 27-course tasting menu at a Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy. Food and recipes, she's discovered, attract virulent responses, and even death threats. DeRuiter brings her sharp wit to a range of subjects, including family, marriage, the end of a treasured friendship, and the meaning of comfort food. A deft, entertaining collection.

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March 1, 2024
This series of essays from James Beard Award-winning writer and popular food blogger DeRuiter (All Over the Place, 2017) delivers everything the book's subtitle promises: mouthwatering descriptions of marvelous food (and one unforgettably horrific dining experience), stories that will evoke plenty of snorting and laughing out loud, and those that will prompt sympathetic seething over well-documented incidents of food service industry misogyny. A thoroughly enjoyable writer, DeRuiter can be very funny, whether building increasingly ridiculous scenarios or adeptly capturing various foibles of friends and enemies. She can also be sweet, reassuringly insecure, and candid when describing her relationship with her husband, Rand, or reminiscing about growing up in her slightly dysfunctional, loving, well-fed Italian family. She writes with directness and laser-sharp observations as she documents her research, unafraid to name names. Her passionate commentary on the gender and racial inequities in restaurants, professional kitchens, publishing, and society in general ranges from kind of upset to mad as hell, and whether her deft writing goes for chuckles or teeth-grinding rage, readers will be right there with her. There should be lots of well-deserved publicity for this amiable collection that's likely to appeal to a wide range of readers.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2024

James Beard Award-winning blogger DeRuiter (All Over the Place: Adventures in Travel, True Love, and Petty Theft) relates her life experiences through the lens of food. The acclaimed food writer came to love food at a young age, as it represented a way for her to control one aspect of her life while living in a strict household. She describes events in her life--particularly her childhood and relationships with her husband and parents--to explore various topics, using food memories as a connector. These topics include her child-free status, living with anxiety and fears, absent fathers, difficult mothers, religion, gender roles, anger, masculinity, and weight and dieting. With a feminist lens, she ponders why women often get stuck with the holiday cooking and are judged more harshly than men and cannot express their anger without being labeled in a negative way. She describes her love of baking, her relationships to menu histories, and the work of other food writers. She also addresses her award-winning essay critiquing Mario Batali, whose apology letter for a string of sexual harassment allegations included a cinnamon bun recipe. VERDICT A wry look at feminism via food. Recommended for general readers.--Rebekah Kati

Copyright 2024 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.