The Life of Pie
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Writing your autography in terms of the food you ate is a neat idea, and it was great to read about so many different types of food I remmeber from my youth. The book is a little inconsistent though: in the middle section the food takes a back seat to the goings on in his family life. Also, the book got weirder towards the end, as though he was running out of steam. He tantalises us with brief glimpses of his love life and then leaves us wondering. And the book ends very abruptl
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Gifted Writer and Foodie
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There is one thing this book will do for you, if nothing else - deliver nostalgia by the bucketload and help you remember those foods we enjoyed back then that are probably too embarrassing to recall now. How many of us adored (and still do) butterscotch Angel Delight, Dairylea cheese triangles and glass after glass of cream soda or dandelion and burdock?
Through reading this book and observing him in his occasional television appearances, I have come to be rather fond of Nigel Slater's understated, gentle passion for food. It seems to be the one, most constant love in his life and I think all of us can share that with him to some extent. When things are rough, we all enjoy cheese on toast and a cup of tea like the next person.
This book is moving, real, inspiring, appetite-whetting, hilarious, touching, depressing, revealing... it's everything one would want in autobiography. Read it and re-assess this talented food writer and cook.
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It isn't Miz-Lit
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This autobiography could so easily have been one of those catalogues of unremitting childhood misery that are a fashionable genre these days. Fortunately you are so busy smiling in recognition - and laughing - that the tearful moments are gossamer strands rather than the Slough of Despond.
It's very deceptive - it looks like a book of short episodic chapters that can be dipped into randomly. However that means you would fail to recognise a couple of sentences as the punch-line that suddenly illuminates themes woven over several chapters. Any mention of "Walnut Whirls" now causes a Pavlovian smile.
My copy was pristine from a charity shop - often a good indicator of something that has polarized readers' opinions. In fact some of my amusement lay in recognising where snorts of disgust probably caused it to be immediately discarded - probably like eating a succulent peach with a maggot proudly waving a few inches from your eyes.
Get the hardback and lay it flat so you can appreciate the family picture that sums up the whole story. The paperback version unfortunately omits the back half of picture. If it is an artist's collage then it is immaculately executed - but it is probably a real one from the family album. A picture that is indeed "worth a thousand words".
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I liked him!
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I have just finished Toast and loved it. I hadn't expected it to be so revealing. Some other critics on this page have called the author an unpleasant snob. But my heart bled for the gentle, bewildered boy living a cold English household. The stepmother, Joan, is described very vividly and I can only guess why one reviewer would identify with her. That the father beat him up for a spill on the carpet and threatened him with going into care says it all. The child who tells the story seems to me perfectly normal, if a little introverted . How splendid that Nigel Slater is able to express himself so beautifully now.
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A tasty read!
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Having been recommended to me by a friend, I was unsure at first whether 'Toast' would be my 'cup of tea.' However, I thoroughly enjoyed every morsel of this tasty text, and devoured it whole in just two sittings.
I particularly liked the memories of tastes gone past that this book evoked, and enjoyed the many humorous anecdotes scattered throughout the book. Definitely one to recommend!
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