I'll give it a '3', though, because it satisfies one of my basic standards of read-worthiness: it's entertaining. I can't say that this book is ruined by the narrator (although for me it was), or simply that IMO Tavia Gilbert's birdsong reading gives a shallow rendering to what might be an interesting life. For Kate Christensen, food and eating have always been powerful connectors to self and worlda subterranean conduit to sensuality, memory, desire. Sometimes I kept reading just for the purpose of finding out more of what was going on with the mom in the story. From acclaimed novelist Kate Christensen, Blue Plate Special is a mouthwatering literary memoir about an unusual upbringing and the long, winding path to happiness. Actually, the 'I', Kate, the narrator of this memoir is not nearly as interesting as her mother, with her multiple marriages, breakdowns, struggles and angst, and the listener only gets a random flash of her as background noise. But performed as is, 'Blue Plate Special' is the new 'Eat Pray Love', with the same shallow, self-referential descriptions that make it a picaresque pseudo-adventure for the privileged. BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Kate Christensens Blue Plate Special. Perhaps in the hands of a less chirpy narrator, this book would have more heft and substance. But touched by Kate Christensens novelistic grace and acute perception. Blue Plate Special: An Autobiography of My Appetites Paperback by Kate Christensen (Author) 138 ratings Editors' pick Best Cookbooks, Food & Wine See all formats and editions Kindle 11.99 Read with Our Free App Audiobook 0.00 Free with your Audible trial Hardcover 26.72 37 Used from 1.46 4 New from 14.95 3 Collectible from 6. Every event, situation, item in the physical environment was made to seem oh-so 'precious', with unnecessary detail which after a few chapters became just tiresome.

What I got instead was an extended list of unexamined life experiences, rendered factually and sounding totally banal by the narrator's sing-song-y voice. Based on that, I wanted to read anything by Kate Christenson and thus I was expecting a much more introspective exploration of her life. I grabbed this book as soon as I heard an interview with the author on NPR.

Blue plate special kate christensen