I finished the Cookbook Collector by Allegra Goodman today. This was an impulse pick when I was at the library last week with the kids and I was hunting for something to read. I checked the Librarian's Choice shelf and picked this up because I thought it would have something to do with food, which of course it doesn't.
The story is about two sisters and how they grow in their twenties to learn who they are and what they want to be. Emily is the organized one, she runs a software company in Silicon Valley, while her younger sister, Jessamine or Jess, is a graduate student in philosophy at Berkeley and works part-time in a used bookstore.
What I liked the most was the descriptions about the kinds of people who live and work in technology start-ups in Silicon Valley, especially during the heyday of the late 90s, before the crash. I also liked the references to old and vintage historical cookbooks and the recipes from them. Jess has the opportunity to work with these old books and through it she learns more about what really makes her happy and how she comes to grips with these realizations.
This book shows in a thoughtful way what does it feel like to be a twenty-something trying to figure out what to do with yourself. I was probably more like Jess when I first graduated from college: not entirely sure of what I wanted to do, flitting back and forth from one job to the next and afraid of committing to anything that seemed like I was selling my higher principles for a steady paycheck. On the other extreme, I knew many people like Emily who knew that they want to work in a specific industry and a specific company and make their way ambitiously up to the top.
What Goodman seems to be saying in this book though is that too many people spend lot of effort surrounding themselves with a collection of things or people to help you say, "I'm a grown up now, and see, here is the proof that I am a member of this tribe." It seems like so much of these collections are created in an artificial way, where a person has this ideal of what they want to be and they hunt for the trappings that will make them look like that is what they are.
Is a software company valuable because of its share price or because of the product that they are selling? Is an antique book valuable because of the pages that it's printed on or the notations that previous owners have written in the margins? Is it better to own a a great kitchen or to be a better chef?
In the end I think Goodman is trying to say that twenty-somethings shouldn't worry too much about it. It's more important to focus on what you want to do right now, to choose something and then let things unfold as they naturally will. What is most important during this time is to be very honest and patient with yourself as you progress. And lighten up -- this is a time when everything is possible and part of the fun is not knowing what will happen next.
A cynical reader might say this is a sappy chick-lit type of romance that tries to include a little bit of everything in one story. I would prefer to say that this book was a gentle reminder of what it was like to be in my twenties, and all the confusion and excitement that comes with being in that age. I would recommend this for anyone who likes stories with many well-written characters and is looking for something entertaining, but is an intellectual step up from most popular fiction.
The story is about two sisters and how they grow in their twenties to learn who they are and what they want to be. Emily is the organized one, she runs a software company in Silicon Valley, while her younger sister, Jessamine or Jess, is a graduate student in philosophy at Berkeley and works part-time in a used bookstore.
What I liked the most was the descriptions about the kinds of people who live and work in technology start-ups in Silicon Valley, especially during the heyday of the late 90s, before the crash. I also liked the references to old and vintage historical cookbooks and the recipes from them. Jess has the opportunity to work with these old books and through it she learns more about what really makes her happy and how she comes to grips with these realizations.
This book shows in a thoughtful way what does it feel like to be a twenty-something trying to figure out what to do with yourself. I was probably more like Jess when I first graduated from college: not entirely sure of what I wanted to do, flitting back and forth from one job to the next and afraid of committing to anything that seemed like I was selling my higher principles for a steady paycheck. On the other extreme, I knew many people like Emily who knew that they want to work in a specific industry and a specific company and make their way ambitiously up to the top.
What Goodman seems to be saying in this book though is that too many people spend lot of effort surrounding themselves with a collection of things or people to help you say, "I'm a grown up now, and see, here is the proof that I am a member of this tribe." It seems like so much of these collections are created in an artificial way, where a person has this ideal of what they want to be and they hunt for the trappings that will make them look like that is what they are.
Is a software company valuable because of its share price or because of the product that they are selling? Is an antique book valuable because of the pages that it's printed on or the notations that previous owners have written in the margins? Is it better to own a a great kitchen or to be a better chef?
In the end I think Goodman is trying to say that twenty-somethings shouldn't worry too much about it. It's more important to focus on what you want to do right now, to choose something and then let things unfold as they naturally will. What is most important during this time is to be very honest and patient with yourself as you progress. And lighten up -- this is a time when everything is possible and part of the fun is not knowing what will happen next.
A cynical reader might say this is a sappy chick-lit type of romance that tries to include a little bit of everything in one story. I would prefer to say that this book was a gentle reminder of what it was like to be in my twenties, and all the confusion and excitement that comes with being in that age. I would recommend this for anyone who likes stories with many well-written characters and is looking for something entertaining, but is an intellectual step up from most popular fiction.
