Taste

Entertaining and I learned a couple things.

Stanley Tucci gives an entertaining memoir from the dinner table. Stanley is unapologetic and gives hilariously opinionated takes on food and culinary tastes from around the world. As a bonus we get recipes to delicacies handed down over generations of the Tucci family. Yet, the book has a disjointed flow; slow in parts and racing in others.

Where it success most is in how the sounds, smells, and motions coming from our family kitchens define who we are. From the daily motions during the pandemic, to childhood memories played out against the backdrop of specific dishes, to the exacting specificity of various cultures in how a recipe must work because it was more about cultural appropriateness than gastronomic allowances.

Where it doesn’t work is in the pacing and the s stream of consciousness style of the prose. Which is a contradicting observation. Because some of the free flow is where the best jokes are presented. What’s also difficult but not for style reasons, is the heartbreak and struggles Stanley Tucci has gone through medically and food ties to these experiences that will gut you. His transparency is applauded and moving. I checked out the audiobook and print versions. I recommend you experience this journey straight from Stanley Tucci’s mouth.

Like walking uphill in 3 feet of snow for even just one moment of literary relief, and it never comes. Oh and then it gets political like that is going to help!

Stanley Tucci is such an engaging artist in so many mediums. “Taste” is about so much more than recipes and techniques, though there are samples aplenty. He conveys his truths with cutting wit and genuine humility. I only wish I lived close enough to ingratiate myself sufficiently to obtain an invitation to dinner.

This well written memoir was a joy to read. Thoughtful, self revelatory, and a delight to the senses.

This book truly captures the charm and delightfulness of the amazing Stanley Tucci! This memoir is filled with personal anecdotes written in a such a way that you feel Stanley Tucci is directly speaking to you. By its end, you feel honored to have been allowed into his world. You will also feel compelled to cook and eat Italian food as often as possible.

This book is a joy to read. He has a knack for telling a story that few authors possess.