Book Review: Relish by Lucy Knisley

Book: Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley
Genre: memoir (in comic format)
Publisher: First Second
Publication date: 2013
Pages: 173

Source: Library

Summary: Lucy Knisley grew up in New York and New England living with her mom who worked in a variety of food ventures and visiting her dad who took her out to eat. She was an art student in Chicago at the time when the food scene was erupting in that city. She traveled and ate in Mexico, Japan, and Europe. Relish is her memoir, written like a graphic novel, about all of these adventures.

Thoughts: Like French Milk, the first book by Lucy Knisley that I read last month, Relish is a fun and quick read with a good glimpse into the world of the modern twenty-something. French Milk was black and white, but she was able to make this new one in full-color which adds even more energy to her already amusing and easy-going style.

I enjoyed, most, the account of her time spent working in a fancy cheese shop in Chicago, since it touched several of my experiences. My husband’s nephew works in wine sales in Chicago. When we visited him, we had a great time eating our way through the city. The nephew and a friend from a cheese shop (a different one from where Lucy worked) arranged an amazing cheese and wine adventure for us for Bastille Day a couple of years ago. Cheese was one of the high points of our trip to France and the reason that I read The Whole Fromage by Kathe Lison a few months ago.

Lucy finished off her cheese adventures with a two page illustrated Cheese Cheat Sheet. Here’s one of the “totally amazing” things she learned about cheese:

Due to the popularity of European Cheeses, many of their dairies got overrun and the cheese suffered. Many American dairies are still small and groovy. Try ‘em!

When I checked to see if anyone had scanned pages of Relish, I discovered the author’s website. She has galleys posted of her European croissant adventure. I was thrilled to read in her journal that she recently completed a crowd-funded trip to Europe for a new book about Oscar Wilde and that she’s just moved back to Chicago.

Appeal: A terrific book for lovers of food willing to take a chance on the graphic novel format.

Other Reviews: Relish was reviewed by several Weekend Cooking participants. Check out these reviews (and let me know if I missed yours — I’ll add it to the list):

• Weekend Cooking: Relish by Lucy Knisley at Beth Fish Reads
• Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley at Estella’s Revenge
• Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley at Joyfully Retired

Challenges: This will be my first review for Nonfiction November. I’m enjoying that it’s in comic book format. See the review of Week 1 at Regular Rumination. Next week’s link-up will go live on Monday at Sophisticated Dorkiness with a new theme.

This is the 12th of the 14 books I pledged to read for the Foodies Read 2013 Challenge. 

Check out Beth Fish Reads today. She reviewed a book on my TBR, Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr and there’s already more than half a dozen links to other Weekend Cooking posts.

Have you read Relish? What did you think?