Waking Up to War: The Shock of Pearl Harbor (Southern Voices Audio Series)

Amazon.com

Pursuing a lover who fled because of his alcoholism, the author wound up as a racetrack groom in Cincinnati. His lyrical, episodic narrative chronicles five years in horse racing (1979-84), with flashbacks to a ghastly childhood. Michael Klein (now sober) is a poet, and it shows in his unerring use of just the right words to describe, precisely yet colorfully, an out-of-control life that climaxed with being fired just before his Kentucky Derby-winning colt ran the Preakness. A moving memoir and a loving depiction of the byzantine track world.

Book Description

Following his alienated lover to an Ohio race track, Michael Klein began a five-year career as a professional groom in the world of horse racing, which eventually included caring for 1984 Kentucky Derby winner, Swale. Klein formed an intense, loving bond with the colt, but his life was shadowed by the undertow of his alcoholism, a complicated relationship with his lover, and his memories of an abusive childhood. Track Conditions is a heartfelt story of resilience that examines the track conditions that can create and destroy champions, and those that can ruin or save a man.

Customer Reviews:

Memorable Memoirs.......2007-05-25

Klein, Michael. "Track Conditions: A Memoir", University of Wisconsin Press, 2003.

Memorable Memoirs

Amos Lassen and Literary Pride

Michael Klein is an award winning poet and should win awards for his wonderful memoir "Track Conditions". It is both shameless and fascinating. After he followed his lover to an Ohio race track, Michael Klein began a three year career as a groom in the world of horse racing. He managed to bond with the 1984 Kentucky Derby winner, Swale. However he was plague with alcoholism and deeply concerned about his relationship with his lover which was on the skids as well as memories of having been abused as a child. His memoir is a story written from the heart and it is a tale of resilience. Using the race track as a metaphor for life, he shares his joys and his pain.
This is some of the most beautiful writing I have ever read but that does not mean that Klein does not get down and gritty. He holds nothing back as he illuminates his life. His life is not a pretty story--it is filled with excesses--but even so it is beautifully rendered. Here is an honest recreation of a life that is compelling.
We read as Klein succumbs to alcohol and enters a depressive state over lost love, dependency and casual random sex. It is never easy to read coming-of-age stories that are filled with pain but this is a coming-of-age story not to be missed.
It is likewise a story about horses and with the equestrian background we read about a relationship between tow men that are in the midst of deterioration.
The world of horse racing is a homophobic place but Klein managed to survive it and move up along the circuit as a groom. He discovered an affinity for horses and loved them as they loved him. We get to look into the world of horses and learn things that the average person never knows. He refers to the secrets of the world of horses as "racetrack society. The world of horse racing is a gritty and unreal world but it is not just that world that Klein tells us of. He writes of how little was available to a young homosexual with very limited means.
Written in the past tense, the memoir puts a distance between reader and writer from his beginnings until 1984 with quite a shocking ending. Klein makes no evaluations or judgments--he leaves that to the reader.
It is Klein's openness that makes this book so good. He defies the usual conventions of narrative and he is a writer to be cherished. The book is unique and very special and in no way follows the styles of other coming out stories. It is harrowing tale of redemption written by a poet in prose. The chapters are short and amazing and we realize early that there is little chance of resolution to be found. It is not a tell-all memoir--rather it is a half-told life and has something for everyone. It is not a book just for gays but rather a small life story that looms large.

A Different Kind of Horse Story: A Million Big Stars.......2006-04-25

Oprah, for a million little reasons, you chose the wrong memoir for your book club.

In an age where honesty in memoir seems to be a rare commodity, TRACK CONDITIONS is probably one of the most honest, compelling, and underrated books in print.

A fascinating glimpse into author Michael Klein's downward spiral into alcoholism, lost love, dependency, and casual sex, this lyrical memoir is not an easy read-never easy to read about another person's coming-of-age psychic pain. But this memoir is a must-read.

A real-life thoroughbred horse story, from a former groom's point of view, this memoir focuses on the deteriorating relationship between two young men in the midst of their own personal crises.

In 1979, Klein, a confirmed New Yorker, desperately followed his lover Richard Coatney into the homophobic underworld of thoroughbred racing, beginning his career as a horse walker at River Downs in Cincinnati and working his way up to groomer at Belmont, Churchill Downs, and Pimlico.

Among all the empty booze bottles and one-night stands, Klein discovered an aesthetic affinity for horses, in particular one special--and well-known--thoroughbred, precipitating the author's final downfall and then leading toward his eventual salvation--and this memoir.

Klein leads the reader into a world rarely ventured into by the average horse track bettor: vivid descriptions of lame horses being cruelly euthanized and the casual doping of horses for monetary gain. At the beginning of chapter three, the author summarizes, from his perspective, the visible and invisible aspects of "racetrack society":

"There are people you see all the time: the barn help, the trainers, the exercise crew, the men and women who deliver hay and straw and feed. And there are those you see only rarely, if at all: the jockeys, the parimutuel clerks, the owners, the starting-gate crew. Two worlds: the training world and the racing world."

Ironically, from the reader's perspective, the visibility/invisibility paradigm is directly the opposite from the author's.

And Klein offers insights into worlds which are largely invisible to most of us: in addition to the gritty side of thoroughbred racing, he also reveals the limited options available to an impoverished young homosexual, also a poet and rebel, of the late seventies and early eighties.

First published in 1997, the memoir's main narrative covers the author's racetrack life, from its inauspicious beginning to its shocking 1984 denouement, with some interspersed flashbacks to his abusive and incestuous childhood and Manhattan life with Richard.

While revealing vivid and harsh details about his life, the author maintains a psychic distance from the reader through his dispassionate use of the past tense; moreover, he does not editorialize from the perspective of the forty-something memoirist.

He simply unfolds his story, leaving judgments, analyses, and evaluations up to his readers.

The distance works well; the author never whines or asks his audience to feel sorry for him. He simply presents "in-your-face" statements and facts, like them or hate them.

It doesn't matter what the reader thinks; in the end, Klein, with a metaphorical kick from his equine friend, triumphs.

There is beauty and poignancy in Klein's spare prose, yet glimmers of humor add some comic relief, for example, when he describes some of the other grooms and other track people and recounts some his late mother's family stories.

I recommend this book for both gays and straights--anyone who appreciates a well-written life-story, no matter how down and gritty.

I own the 1997 hardcover edition, and it is worth every one of the twenty-two dollars that I paid for it.

Beautiful, simply beautiful.......2004-08-29

Being a straight nursing student who lives in small town america,I wasn't sure I would relate to this book. But the writing and the openess of the author surpasses any differences between our lives. An amazing book.

pure blues and bliss.......2003-10-08

Michael defies narrative convention while achieving its goals in his long prose poem/memoir/story. His is a story of triumph: whether found covered in ash and velvet and 100 dollar bills or perhaps in the spotlight of literary praise. Either way this story helped save me. Michael is a writer I respect and emulate.

donaldahearn@hotmail.com

The best gay memoir ever.......2001-04-07

This book is so unique and special -- not at all your typical gay coming out story. There are horses here and the tactile world of the racetrack and Klein's lyrical and spare prose adds just the right kind of music to a poignant and harrowing redemption tale.

Average customer rating:

Track Conditions A Memoir
Klein Michael
Manufacturer: Persea
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UD3Z0O

Average customer rating:

Track Conditions: A Memoir
Michael Klein
Manufacturer: Persea
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NUN8T2

Average customer rating:

Track Conditions: A Memoir
Michael Klein
Manufacturer: University of Wisconsin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000ORU7X4

The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts
Average customer rating:

Could Be Better, But It's Still A Great Book

Not for CA use.

Annoying in the extreme

Comprehensive food guide

Not bad, could be better.

The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts
NutriBase
Manufacturer: Avery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Food Counters | Diets & Weight Loss | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Reference | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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The Complete Book of Food Counts, 7th edition (Complete Book of Food Counts)

The NutriBase Nutrition Facts Desk Reference

The Diabetes Diet: Dr. Bernstein's Low-Carbohydrate Solution

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The Corinne T. Netzer Encyclopedia of Food Values

Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

philosophy hope in a jar daily moisturizer

ASIN: 1583331077
Release Date: 2001-11-08

Customer Reviews:

Could Be Better, But It's Still A Great Book.......2005-03-31

Comparing this food count book with those in stores -- it's helpful to see the format which is why I like Amazon where you can peek inside the books :) -- this book was the most comprehensive: a large number of foods reviewed in various forms and serving sizes. The categories (total calories, protein, carbs, sodium, fiber, fat and cholesterol) are what I needed to know. I didn't see the breakdown of saturated fat one of the reviewers mentioned (I just looked again, I have the 2d edition with the blue cover) but I don't need fat breakdown for my nutritional purposes. My only beef is with the formatting of the counts -- I wish it followed the order of the nutrition labels with fat first after total calories, followed by cholesterol, sodium, total carbs, fiber, and protein last. I don't need the breakdown of sugars for my purposes, so I'm okay with just listing total carbs and fiber, and leaving sugars out. Before I got used to using the book, I wanted to throw it across the room also. It helped me to mark in pencil the foods I frequently eat and later made up my own list which I keep a copy in the kitchen and a copy in the back of the book. The fast-food guide in the back section is very helpful. One day I was able to choose wisely at Jack in the Box and not blow my food counts for the day. I appreciate being able to count food pieces (50 blueberries) as I will count 25, halve all the food counts and add another piece of fruit for variety and nutrition. But I'm happy to use measuring cups, spoons and a scale at home. I found the book more comprehensive than Netzer's and many of the others out there, including various carb counters. It's not a book you can carry easily with you -- it's 704 pages! -- but it's a good reference book for home. I keep another smaller food count book in the car and approximate when I eat out, which outings I limit so I have more control over what I eat and my pocketbook.

Not for CA use........2003-12-01

This is a great reference text. However, if you have any hesitation about converting from cups to pints or other types of measures, this is NOT the book for you. If they missed a food, I have not found it yet.

Annoying in the extreme.......2003-02-21

Do NOT buy this book if you want to keep your sanity. I wish I could offer an alternative but have not found a reasonable one- yet. My main beef with the book is the units of measures - they are all over the place, and, in many cases, useless. For example: I wanted to find out the carb count on fresh blueberries. A simple request, I thought. But, nooo. Instead of a 1 cup measure, or an ounce measure, their measure is a choice of 1 pint or 50 blueberries! Well, I didn't have a pint of blueberries and um, like I'm going to count them! While I realize a cup of large blueberries would be different than a cup of small blueberries; the same rationale applies to the count of 50 blueberries. More infuriating is the fact that a 1 cup measure was good enough for the fresh blackberries on the opposite page.

Unfortunately, this is just one example. I have thrown this book across the room numerous times for similiar offenses. So, for the sake of my blood pressure and sanity, the first chance I get I am replacing this annoying book with something that measures food the way I measure food: in slices, teaspoons, tablespoons, cups, ounces; consistently and for each food, if necessary.

On the plus side they do cover almost all the values you could want and have a handy dandy guide to all sorts of fast food places. I'd like to tell the publishers of this book (and way too many others)to talk to real people and see how they measure foods; I guarantee that unless it's for a specific recipe, it isn't by pints or counts of individual berries. Consistency counts!

Comprehensive food guide.......2002-08-29

Having just recently started the Atkins program I've grown tired of reading labels. However, it's vital to do so! This is a comprehensive guide detailing all kinds of information one needs in order to better plan meals.

It evens gives listings of fast food restuarants! I recommend this book to anyone who is looking to count calories, fat grams, protein and most importantly Carbs. It details serving sizes and gives varying measurements. Get this book - it's been good for me.

Not bad, could be better........2002-08-03

I've just been looking around at a few of the calorie books available. I'm not sure which book the other reviewers have been looking at (nutribase publishes several different manuals) but having just looked at this book in a local bookstore this particular one lists only TOTAL fat grams, NOT saturated fat. It does not list any vitamin or mineral info either. If you do not need any of this info then this is a very comprehensive book. Seems like most of the books I've seen thus far are lacking in one area or the other. A cynical point of view would be to say that this allows them to sell more books...

The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts (NutriBase)

Average customer rating:

making progress
Very Good Book
Here is one I reccomment to all my low carbs patients
Great
A lot of information here!

The NutriBase Complete Book of Food Counts (NutriBase)
Art Ulene
Manufacturer: Avery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Food Counters | Diets & Weight Loss | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Accessories:

Tanita BC533 Glass Innerscan Body Composition Monitor

ASIN: 0895296675

Customer Reviews:

making progress.......2001-12-12

My Mother loaned me a copy of this book and I have been using it for a while. I am finally begining to make a little progress on my diet. It has been a suprise to see just how many calories I was taking in in a days time. I had to order another book so I could give my Moms back. A good book of calorie counts.

Very Good Book.......2001-05-23

I have several "Calorie Counter"-type books. Some are more useful than others. This book's great strengths are: The amount of information included; the accessibility of that information; the inclusion of information on grams of fat, carbs, sodium, fiber, fat and cholesterol per serving; and the unswerving inclusion of units of measure for serving size. (If you've ever picked up a cheapy calorie-counter book at the supermarket you know that sometimes you see an entry or two with no unit of measure. Very frustrating.) I use it all the time whereas some similar books I own are ready to be donated someplace.

Here is one I reccomment to all my low carbs patients.......2000-08-25

I have found this book to be most useful in determining the exact absorbable carbohydrate count for almost any food. Between this book and the nutritional labels on the packaging, there is almost no food you cannot know about. I recommend it to my weight loss patients and in my own book, "Low Carbs Made Easy." I am so glad I had it when I cut way back on carbohydrates myself two years ago. It makes a great kitchen companion. I also have them in my exam rooms. Any questions, please feel free to contact me at drbolster.com/

Great.......1999-11-01

This a really good refrence for the RDA. It is in a layout so easy to understand. Plus it gives you the different types of a natrual food is served, and the nutritional facts.

A lot of information here!.......1999-10-07

With over 30,000 entries, this is really a complete book. Actually you could call it a table, since it is neatly organized in a wonderful layout, in a small package. My only complaint is that the serving size doesn't have its equivalent in grams, as shown on the front cover. Reading the comments and reviews about other books, I couldn't find a single feature worth buying another book on the subject.

The Nutribase Complete Book of Food Counts

Average customer rating:

The Nutribase Complete Book of Food Counts
Art Ulene
Manufacturer: Avery Pub Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000LPCA70

Retro Desserts: Totally Hip, Updated Classic Desserts from the '40S, '50S, 60s and '70s
Average customer rating:

While amusing to read, not meant for cooking

good book with great food

Retro Results and Humor with First Class Recipes

Pretty, but recipes don't work

I wanted to like it, but...

Retro Desserts: Totally Hip, Updated Classic Desserts from the '40S, '50S, 60s and '70s
Wayne Brachman
Manufacturer: William Morrow Cookbooks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Retro Baking: 100 Classic Contest Winners Updated for Today (Retro Series)

ASIN: 0688164447
Release Date: 2000-04-25

Book Description

In Retro Dessets, Wayne Brachman, executive pastry chef at New York's Mesa Grill and Bolo, presents the desserts you loved as a kid--only better. It's time for a trip down to memory-lane bakery, where the old fashioned desserts of yesterday have been revamped for today's kitchen. Imagine homemade cream-filled chocolate cupcakes (you know, the ones with white squiggles on top) or big, fluffy coconut layer cake that Mrs. Cleaver would be proud of. Or impress your guests with a totally hot and cool baked Alaska. They're all here in all their retro glory.

These desserts may be fun, but they have been created with a professional's eye and palate--they taste as good as they look and vice versa. Instead of the little packaged boxes of instant ingredients that were the start of many midcentury desserts, in Retro Desserts you'll find homemade gelatin salads (come on, admit you love them) made with real fruit juice and fresh fruit, comforting puddings, and marshmallows. Now you can fill your cookie jar with homemade versions of Chocolate Sandwich Cookies with Vanilla-Cream Filling, Vanilla Wafers, and Animal Cookies. Wayne gives the best-ever recipes for classics such as Strawberry Chiffon Pie, Banana Pudding (made with your fresh-baked Vanilla Wafers), Chow Mein-Noodle Haystacks, and Diner-Style Strawberry Shortcake.

Retro Desserts is as much a cultural history of the American sweet tooth as it is an indispensable cookbook. It's a blast to read and jammed with outasight recipes.

Ever find yourself dreaming about a big fluffy coconut layer cake like the one Mom might make if you lived in Leave It to Beaver-land? Or Cream-Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes that don't taste like the plastic and cardboard they are wrapped in? Well, now you can bake these cakes and eat them, too.

Wayne Brachman, executive pastry chef for Bobby Flay's popular New York restaurants, presents this totally hip collection of recipes, Retro Desserts. Inspired by classics from the '40s, '50s, '60s, and '70s, these fabulous desserts look just as great as you remember, and taste even better. It's a trip down to memory lane bakery, where kitsch desserts of yesterday have been revamped for the sophisticated kitchen of today. Updated classics include Chocolate Blackout Cake, Checkerboard Cake, Baked Alaska, and Cherries Jubilee. Other recipes include wild creations based on old-fashioned flavors, like Chocolate-Dipped Frozen Banana Bon Bons, Rum and Cherry Cola Marble Cake, and Caramel Apple Chiffon Cupcakes.

Showcased by retro-style full-color photography and artwork, headlines and excerpts taken from vintage magazines and cookbooks, these are well-tested, seriously fun desserts that really work in your home kitchen, making Retro Desserts a valuable addition to every home baker's cookbook collection.Ever find yourself dreaming about a big fluffy coconut layer cake like the one Mom might make if you lived in Leave It to Beaver-land? Or Cream-Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes that don't taste like the plastic and cardboard they are wrapped in? Well, now you can bake these cakes and eat them, too.

Amazon.com

Tired of tiramisu? Good. Wayne Brachman to the rescue. He's the pastry chef for Bobby Flay at Mesa Grill and Bolo in New York City. For Retro Desserts Brachman has culled food magazines, newspapers, cookbooks, leaflets, and the like from the 1940s to the early 1970s for the classics of American dessert kitsch, turning up one horrid treasure after another. The most frightening aspect of this book is the urge that comes with each turning page to get into the kitchen and start baking, stirring, cooking, and re-creating. Why would anyone want to bake a Crazy Craters of the Moon Cake with Moonrock Topping? (Miniature marshmallows--that's the secret of the topping.) But then Brachman shows you how to make your own marshmallow, reconstructing this entire processed dessert from scratch. "If you must," he writes, "go out and get store-bought cookies or crumbs [for pie crusts]. OK, it's extra work, but homemade cookie crumbs make a remarkably big difference in flavor." There are recipes for the home-baked equivalent of the Oreo and Cream-Filled Devil's Food Cupcakes, as well as Strawberry Chiffon Pie, Banana Pudding, Bananas Foster, Strawberries Romanoff, Lemon Bars, and Cornflake Macaroons--all illustrated with the kitsch of the time. Fun as they all sound, the recipes bear the integrity of a fine pastry chef who obviously likes a good time but is also serious about what he brings to the table. Those may look like Ding Dongs you are serving at your next dinner party, but wait until the flavor kicks in. --Schuyler Ingle

Customer Reviews:

While amusing to read, not meant for cooking .......2006-12-27

Maybe like you I love to check out different cookbooks. This one seemed to be original in that it presented recipes that you may have not seen, or ones that you grew up with. Seeing nostaglic recipes always brings back memories. While I found this book a good read, the recipes aren't the best for the particular dish.

In the books favor it does a great deal to set the theme of "Retro" recipes. Their are funny little blurbs in the text that relate you to the time in which the recipes were written. Pictures are taken that definately bring you back to your Mom's or Grandmother's cookbook. Actually the pictures are one of the best parts of this book, the pictures are quite good, and leave your mouth watering.

Complaints that I have about the recipes steam from using cornstarch in banana pudding, while it works, flour is used more traditionally, and seems to give a better flavor than cornstarch. The recipe for Banana's Foster suggests bourbon, Banana's Foster is never made with Bourbon. I also have yet to see an old recipe for Chow Mein Hay Stacks that uses coconut.

While I think the book was beautifully made. The pictures are delightful, and will take you back in time. The book has many little blurbs that are fascinating to read. The recipes aren't the best thought out, and honestly do not always seem to be the ideal representations of the dish that is represented.

good book with great food.......2005-04-06

I've had the book for a couple of years and have made many things out of it. I especailly like the key lime pie. I've only had one problem with one cake falling and it was because I was living at a very high elevation. Otherwise its been a great book. I don't understand why so many people seem to have so much trouble with it.

Retro Results and Humor with First Class Recipes.......2005-02-03

`Retro Desserts' by Wayne Harley Brachman, noted Bobby Flay pastry chef and colleague, is, with no great surprise to me, about as much like similarly titled kitsch books as the Stephen Spielberg movie, `Raiders of the Lost Ark' is like the 12 episode adventure serials of the 1930's it was meant to glorify.

I recently reviewed a `Retro Baking' volume that is part of a whole series of `Retro' titles. This has all the faults you may expect in such a title, all the faults which Brachman's book avoids with great aplomb.

As I noted in my review of Brachman's most recent work, `American Desserts', Wayne is one of only two major culinary writer / educators who successfully incorporates humor into their work, the other being Food Network colleague Alton Brown. Thankfully, their humor is so different from one another that you can enjoy both without hearing echos of one in the other. While Alton Brown emulates Stan Freberg and Ernie Kovacs, Wayne Harley Brachman takes his inspiration from Sid Caesar, Carl Reiner, and Mel Brooks. So much for the review of comedy in this book.

The creativity with the baking is really the main attraction. This is important because Brachman is not taking from the gemutlichkeit of the past to add luster to his book, he is giving to us an understanding of past famous desserts with master class level recipes making all recipes from scratch materials rather than the baking mixes which began being marketed in the 1940s and 1950s. This is not a gimmick or a deviation from message. These recipes were, in fact, presented by the baking product companies, as is, to create markets for their base products to compete with Betty Crocker and Duncan Hines. One of the few deviations from true retro recipes is to use cooked eggs rather than raw whenever possible to eliminate any lurking salmonella from contaminated eggs. Otherwise, in the introduction, Brachman states that almost all recipes were reformulated from `authentic period recipes collected from vintage magazines,...'. Some are composites of several recipes and `in a few cases, they are actually retro fakes'. But this really doesn't matter, since except for chapter six (see below), the real attraction of these recipes is the high quality of Brachman's `from scratch' recipe and the retro presentations which will fit so well into a 50's entertaining scheme.

The very reasonably priced book, with a list price of $30, has ten chapters, presenting ten different types of recipes. Practically the only argument I have with the book is that the sixth chapter, `The Posh Nosh - Classic Desserts of the Fancy-Pants Restaurants' should have been first, since the recipes in this chapter are by far the most recognizable to 21st century survivors of the last mid-century. The stars of this chapter are Cherries Jubilee, Bananas Foster, Strawberries Romanoff, Crepes Suzette, Baked Alaska, Peach Melba, Belgian Waffles, and Fondues. A sidebar at the end of this chapter contains my only other disappointment with this book. This blurb lists TV and Movie stars of the recent past and their famous dessert recipe names, with no mention of Danny Kaye, who was, by all accounts, a gourmet cook of the first magnitude.

The other chapters, beginning with the first, are:

`Perfect, Every Time You Bake. Cake...After Cake...After Cake'
`If I Knew You Were Comin' I'd Have Baked A Dozen Cupcakes'
`When the Moon Hits Your Eye Like...' Pies, of course.
`Fruit Cocktails for Two'
`I Tawt I Taw A Pudding Tat'
`Cookie, Cookie, Lend Me Your Comb'
`For Whom the Ice Cream Bell Tolls'
`Willy Wonka, Eat Your Heart Out' on candies and other kids stuff.
`Sauces and Goops', ten retro standard sweet sauces.

Two samples of Brachman's seriously professional technique is his instruction to triple sift all dry ingredients and to butter the bottom of baking pans AND line them with buttered parchment paper. And, since Brachman is entirely self-taught, I am certain he is recommending these techniques from personal experience rather than parroting some cooking school doctrine. This is not to say that Brachman is not giving serious instruction here. He does not belabor accurate measurement, but he does strongly emphasize good organization and laying out measured ingredients in advance. While baking demands high accuracy in measuring weights and volumes, it also requires high accuracy, or at least a high level of attention to time. When you are working with hot sugar or warmed chocolate, things can go from good to bad in seconds.

A symptom of how seriously adult these recipes are is the high incidence of alcoholic ingredients in the recipes. This book is most definitely not kids stuff, even if almost all the alcohol burns off when the desserts are baked. This is not to say there are no kid friendly recipes here. My favorites are the recipes for making marshmallow from scratch and the recipes for ice cream dishes, which do not include making ice cream from scratch.

The success with which Brachman captures the retro spirit of these desserts easily doubles the naturally high value of the recipes in this book. Just as an expert's recipes for sandwiches (Nancy Silverton) and preserves (Christine Ferber) will come as a total surprise to entertained guests. They may expect a coq au vin recipe from Julia Child or Thomas Keller, but they will not expect A-Team effort on the sideboard dishes.

Please take Nick Malgieri's blurb with a grain of salt, as these baking recipes are not necessarily easy. They are just as difficult as they need to be to present first rate baked goods.

Brachman's philosophy may be summed up on page 88 where he says `Humans are the only animals that actually seek out and prefer foods that don't taste good... Here's my point: Healthy can and should be tasty. Fun is good.'

And yes, dear reader, this book is fun and good, very, very good. Buy this book to help learn how to bake.

Pretty, but recipes don't work.......2002-10-28

When I saw this book, I had to have it. It is beautifully photographed and the text is witty. The problem is, like some other reviewers have mentioned, the recipes don't work. I promised the gang at work I'd bring in delicious Black and White cookies and the results were a waste of time and money. I have tried four different recipes and had trouble with each. I've never attended culinary school, but I'm a pretty experienced home baker. After the recipes failed, I could figure out the problem and make adjustments, but I don't feel it's my responsibility to do that after purchasing a hardback cookbook. Get this book if you want to set it on your coffee table, but don't take it into the kitchen!!!

I wanted to like it, but..........2002-06-22

I really wanted to love this book. The idea is great, the photos are fantastic, the writing is funny -- but so far, every recipe I have tried has stunk. Some of them didn't work, some of them worked but the result just wasn't that great. I'm glad I have it on my shelf to look at and be inspired by, but I'm not going to cook from it anymore.

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