The Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman
Heralded as “a modern day Jane Austen” by USA Today, National Book Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author Allegra Goodman has compelled and delighted hundreds of thousands of readers. Now, in her most ambitious work yet, Goodman weaves together the worlds of Silicon Valley and rare book collecting in a delicious novel about appetite, temptation, and fulfillment.
Emily and Jessamine Bach are opposites in every way: Twenty-eight-year-old Emily is the CEO of Veritech, twenty-three-year-old Jess is an environmental activist and graduate student in philosophy. Pragmatic Emily is making a fortune in Silicon Valley, romantic Jess works in an antiquarian bookstore. Emily is rational and driven, while Jess is dreamy and whimsical. Emily’s boyfriend, Jonathan, is fantastically successful. Jess’s boyfriends, not so much–as her employer George points out in what he hopes is a completely disinterested way.
Bicoastal, surprising, rich in ideas and…
This weekend, the New York Times Book Review featured Allegra Goodman’s THE COOKBOOK COLLECTOR. It was also reviewed on one of my favorite book blogs, BOOKINGMAMA.
I’m starting it this week and will let you know what I think…in the meantime, here are some quotes from additional reviews of THE COOKBOOK COLLECTOR.
“Allegra Goodman’s new novel has so many compelling ingrediants. Where, then, to start? Perhaps, as with food labels, it would be best to begin with the biggest: an irresistable story . . . If you’re hankering for a feast of love, let yourself fall under the spell of Allegra Goodman’s delicious tale. You won’t leave hungry.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“It is the women you’ll love, because their differences–hard-driving dot com exec Emily versus latter day hippy Jessamine, for example–are eclipsed by the connectedness that comes from being both female and family.”
—O.Magazine
“I can’t think of anyone else who manages that precarious tone so well, balanced with Zenlike tranquillity between genuine mirth and heartfelt despair. She describes modern life in stories as witty and astute as Zoë Heller‘s or Claire Messud‘s but without a drop of bitterness . . . Goodman is a fantastically fluid writer, and yet for all her skill, she’s a humble, transparent one who stays out of the way, never drawing attention to her style or cleverness.”
—Ron Charles in The Washington Post
“In her sixth novel The Cookbook Collector, she ups the stakes with a deft literary hat trick, expertly braiding disparate threads involving dotcom start-ups, environmental radicalism, and rare-book collecting into one consistently engrossing narrative . . . Goodman delivers a novel of impressive élan and real emotional resonance.” A–
—Entertainment Weekly
“captivating”
—Vogue
“Goodman is especially admired for evoking smart and subtly nuanced characters, and Emily and Jess are so emotionally authentic that I almost tried to Google them. She also perfectly captures what it felt like to be an optimistic, idealistic twentysomething during one of the most optimistic, idealistic periods in American history—when anyone who didn’t risk everything felt like they were missing out on the main chance. . . . Unlike many of the companies of the First Digital Age, The Cookbook Collector is enormously satisfying and well worth the investment.”
—Elle
“Goodman (Intuition, 2006, etc.) . . . Frequently laugh-out-loud funny but always fundamentally serious, the novel takes a clear-eyed look at the competitive instinct and the profit motive as they clash with our equally strong need for love and connection . . . . A witty, warm and wise look at the human condition in the digital age.”
—Kirkus (starred review)
“Goodman (Kaaterskill Falls) is remarkably successful in creating rich, engaging characters and a complex story of love and identity that reads like life itself. Highly recommended.”
—Library Journal (starred review)
“If any contemporary author deserves to wear the mantle of Jane Austen, it’s Goodman, whose subtle, astute social comedies perfectly capture the quirks of human nature. This dazzling novel is Austen updated for the dot-com era . . . Enjoyable and satisfying, this is Goodman’s (Intuition) most robust, fully realized and trenchantly meaningful work yet.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A glimmering tale, spiked with hilarious banter, of ardent individualists, imperiled love, and incandescent interpretations of the mutability and timelessness of the human condition.”
—Booklist (starred review)
