Life Without a Recipe : A Memoir of Food and Family read ebook FB2, TXT, PDF
9780393249095 English 0393249093 On one side, there is Grace: prize-winning author Diana Abu-Jaber's tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother, wielding a suitcase full of holiday cookies. On the other, Bud: a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father, full of passionate argument. The two could not agree on anything: not about food, work, or especially about what Diana should do with her life. Grace warned her away from children. Bud wanted her married above alleven if he had to provide the ring. Caught between cultures and lavished with contradictory "advice" from both sides of her family, Diana spent years learning how to ignore others' well-intentioned prescriptions. Hilarious, gorgeously written, poignant, and wise, Life Without a Recipe is Diana's celebration of journeying without a map, of learning to ignore the script and improvise, of escaping family and making family on one's own terms. As Diana discovers, however, building confidence in one's own path sometimes takes a mistaken marriage or twoor in her case, three: to a longhaired boy-poet, to a dashing deconstructionist literary scholar, and finally to her steadfast, outdoors-loving Scott. It also takes a good deal of angst (was it possible to have a serious writing career and be a mother?) and, even when she knew what she wanted (the craziest thing, in one's late forties: a baby!), the nerve to pursue it. Finally, fearlessly independent like the Grace she's named after, Diana and Scott's daughter Gracie will heal all the old battles with Bud and, like her writer-mom, learn to cook up a life without a recipe., Self determination can be tricky for girls especially those caught between cultures. Bullied with loving advice from a tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother (Grace) and a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father (Bud), Diana Abu-Jaber spent years learning to ignore their contradictory prescriptions about food, work, marriage, and motherhood. Grace warned her away from children; Bud wanted her married above all, even if he had to provide the ring.But finding confidence in one s own path sometimes takes a mistaken marriage or two. It certainly takes a sense of humor, and creativity, and courage. Finally, in her late forties and married happily, Diana knows what she wants, the craziest thing: a baby. Fearlessly independent like the Grace she s named after, little Gracie will heal all the old battles with Bud, who becomes her greatest friend and ally, as she learns to eat from his fingers and like her mom to cook up a life without a recipe.", Self determination can be tricky for girls--especially those caught between cultures. Bullied with loving "advice" from a tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother (Grace) and a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father (Bud), Diana Abu-Jaber spent years learning to ignore their contradictory prescriptions about food, work, marriage, and motherhood. Grace warned her away from children; Bud wanted her married above all, even if he had to provide the ring.But finding confidence in one's own path sometimes takes a mistaken marriage or two. It certainly takes a sense of humor, and creativity, and courage. Finally, in her late forties and married happily, Diana knows what she wants, the craziest thing: a baby. Fearlessly independent like the Grace she's named after, little Gracie will heal all the old battles with Bud, who becomes her greatest friend and ally, as she learns to eat from his fingers and--like her mom--to cook up a life without a recipe.
9780393249095 English 0393249093 On one side, there is Grace: prize-winning author Diana Abu-Jaber's tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother, wielding a suitcase full of holiday cookies. On the other, Bud: a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father, full of passionate argument. The two could not agree on anything: not about food, work, or especially about what Diana should do with her life. Grace warned her away from children. Bud wanted her married above alleven if he had to provide the ring. Caught between cultures and lavished with contradictory "advice" from both sides of her family, Diana spent years learning how to ignore others' well-intentioned prescriptions. Hilarious, gorgeously written, poignant, and wise, Life Without a Recipe is Diana's celebration of journeying without a map, of learning to ignore the script and improvise, of escaping family and making family on one's own terms. As Diana discovers, however, building confidence in one's own path sometimes takes a mistaken marriage or twoor in her case, three: to a longhaired boy-poet, to a dashing deconstructionist literary scholar, and finally to her steadfast, outdoors-loving Scott. It also takes a good deal of angst (was it possible to have a serious writing career and be a mother?) and, even when she knew what she wanted (the craziest thing, in one's late forties: a baby!), the nerve to pursue it. Finally, fearlessly independent like the Grace she's named after, Diana and Scott's daughter Gracie will heal all the old battles with Bud and, like her writer-mom, learn to cook up a life without a recipe., Self determination can be tricky for girls especially those caught between cultures. Bullied with loving advice from a tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother (Grace) and a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father (Bud), Diana Abu-Jaber spent years learning to ignore their contradictory prescriptions about food, work, marriage, and motherhood. Grace warned her away from children; Bud wanted her married above all, even if he had to provide the ring.But finding confidence in one s own path sometimes takes a mistaken marriage or two. It certainly takes a sense of humor, and creativity, and courage. Finally, in her late forties and married happily, Diana knows what she wants, the craziest thing: a baby. Fearlessly independent like the Grace she s named after, little Gracie will heal all the old battles with Bud, who becomes her greatest friend and ally, as she learns to eat from his fingers and like her mom to cook up a life without a recipe.", Self determination can be tricky for girls--especially those caught between cultures. Bullied with loving "advice" from a tough, independent sugar-fiend of a German grandmother (Grace) and a flamboyant, spice-obsessed Arab father (Bud), Diana Abu-Jaber spent years learning to ignore their contradictory prescriptions about food, work, marriage, and motherhood. Grace warned her away from children; Bud wanted her married above all, even if he had to provide the ring.But finding confidence in one's own path sometimes takes a mistaken marriage or two. It certainly takes a sense of humor, and creativity, and courage. Finally, in her late forties and married happily, Diana knows what she wants, the craziest thing: a baby. Fearlessly independent like the Grace she's named after, little Gracie will heal all the old battles with Bud, who becomes her greatest friend and ally, as she learns to eat from his fingers and--like her mom--to cook up a life without a recipe.