The Cookbook Collector

By Allegra Goodman

                The best way to describe my feelings about this book would be to compare it to an on-again/off-again relationship.  At first I wasn’t sure, Then I liked it, Then I was bored, Then I was really considering my other options, then I liked it again, then I liked it a lot, and then it was over, leaving me with fond memories, but not necessarily with the desire to repeat the process.  No, that’s not the right comparison… ok, let me start over.  This book was like a decent movie:  It was good, had some great points, but not worth paying to see in the theater and you could cut out an hour and still have the same story.  Yep, that’s better. 

                On the whole-I liked the Cookbook Collector.  I was a little concerned at first because I normally read fluff or non-fiction and this falls somewhere in-between; it is obviously fiction, but more high-brow smarty pants fiction.  But, it had great reviews and high praise for the author.  Allegra Goodman has been called the Jane Austen of our time. I’ll tell you right now, I don’t see it. I’m really not sure where that came from at all- not even a little bit. Goodman certainly writes intelligently, and she weaves story lines together-focusing on intertwining relationships…but that could describe a million authors, so how she was bestowed that title is a mystery.  But I’m not holding it against her, she probably didn’t decide to compare herself with Jane Austen, at least I hope not.  That’s like comparing yourself to Batman or Gandhi; it’s a bad idea, you’re not them so go ahead- take off your cape and eat a burger for goodness sake.  But like I said, it’s probably not her fault.

                To the point- Yes, I did like the book-but just barely.  On a one to ten scale, I’d put this as a 5.  We’ll start at the beginning-which I liked. Goodman immediately draws you into her characters with such strong descriptions that they feel almost 3 dimensional.  Her discussion of objects, especially nature and the weather are prose like.  In fact one of the elements of this book is the use of lines of poetry and philosophy quotes. Some by names I recognize and others, not so much-and they never feel out of place, which is quite the accomplishment.  So, the start of the book introduces us to two sisters, dis-alike in every way.  It sounds a little formulaic and in some ways it is-two sisters each finding their way- One has it all: great career, money, successful boyfriend-The other: an eternal student, no serious relationship, living in a cheap apartment. Of course we know that the story is about the first sister losing it and the second sister finding her way. But as in all things-it’s the journey that counts and so I read on.

                Part two- the middle:  And here’s where I got confused.  So there are a lot of themes running through this book.  There’s probably a technical literary term –but I don’t know it, so I’ll say ‘themes’.  Two such themes dominate the middle of the book. The first is the focus on the dot.com boom of the late 1990s We see two start-up software companies and watch them go public, the founders of both become multi-millionaires overnight as people clamor to buy up stock and invest in the next ‘thing’ even if they’re not exactly sure what that is.  The second theme is Judaism.  We are introduced to several rabbis and hear multiple opinions on a particular sect.  Both of these interwoven themes confused me.  I’m still not sure what they had to do with the story itself.  As I look back at the book, it would be the same story if Goodman took out the hundreds of pages she spent following these lines of inquiry.  Parts of each theme are important or at least pertain to the story.  One character discovers that she has family she didn’t know existed (who happen to be Jewish). Another character uses information he obtained in less than honest ways to promote his company.  But those points could be made without all the detail and technical points, which is what confused me.   

                And now part 3-The end.  The final third of the book was written more like the beginning.  Or at least it seemed that way to me.  Perhaps I was less confused, or maybe I just knew it was ending, but for whatever reason, it was easier to read.  The entire book has been following these characters and the chapters are dated.  So I knew what was coming, but nevertheless forgot until all of a sudden is was September 11, 2001 and the boyfriend of one of the sisters was boarding a flight for the west coast, but never arrived.   

‘They didn’t know under the trees what day it was, or how the market closed, or how the

 sun rose bright on the East Coast…They didn’t know it was September 11, but no one else

did either.’

And here’s where Allegra Goodman earns her paycheck as far as I’m concerned.  She wrote beautifully and elegantly about the feeling of ‘which way is up’ and utter confusion and bewilderment.  Not just for the characters most affected, but for the country as a whole.  We watch as peripheral characters (and there are many of them) go about their daily lives and observe the minute changes in their worlds.  Again, just as in the beginning of the story, the author brings the reader into this world with her vivid descriptions and attention to detail. Through the chaos, we are still watching the sisters stories unfold as the formula reaches towards its conclusion: one sister (the eternal student) is falling in love with the man we knew she was meant for, while the other has to struggle to make sense of it all.  

                My overall thoughts on The Cookbook Collector- well, I got through it. The characters are well written, but in my opinion there was just too much: too many side characters, to many side story lines, too much to keep track of.  I know I didn’t mention the cookbooks in this review, but don’t worry; they’re barely in the book either. 

Should you read the Cookbook Collector, I guess if parts of this synopsis had you interested then sure, go for it.  Am I recommending it, eh perhaps if you have a very long flight and nothing else to read.  As for me, I’m still not seeing the Jane Austen comparison.  But I do give kudos to Allegra Goodman for what was probably my favorite part of the book, this quote from the last page:

“What do metaphorical bubbles taste like?”