Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichl

This book is subtitled: "The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise" and is a biographical summary of the author's experiences as the food critic at "The New York Times". It includes several of her recipes.

General rating: 3 out of 4 (implausible in places and "neutral" in the uplifting category--I'm getting pickier about the qualifications for "uplifting" as I go along)

1. Is it plausible? Well, it's a mixture of fantasy and reality. She dons a variety of disguises in order to secretly review top New York restaurants. That part's believable. But as she takes on these disguises, she also seems to take on different personalities. If we look at it all metaphorically, she's just exploring different aspects of her own character; she's on a journey of self-discovery, I suppose. But if we skip the metaphorical perspective, it feels a little bit histrionic and well, down right implausible. But! I'm willing to look at it metaphorically and as a metaphor it was clever. And let's not forget that this is an autobiography, so I think it must get almost full marks for plausibility.

2. Is it thought provoking? A bit. As Ruth Reichl explores aspects of her own personality, the analytic reader will be drawn into asking her/himself the questions that Ruth Reichl is asking of herself. And if food and recipes provoke your thoughts, then this book will be thought provoking for you also. It's all about the food.

3. Is it engaging? Yes, it is.

4. Is it uplifting? I have to keep reminding myself that my definition of "uplifting" needs to be pretty broad. There are books that truly uplift the spirits of the reader, and then there are books that are acceptable in this category simply because they don't depress. I am feeling my way as I review the books that I read: can I count it as "uplifting" if it's neutral? If it's not unpleasant? If it's not depressing? I'm not sure. The books that truly uplift deserve the label of "uplifting". This book was not that kind of book. But it certainly wasn't depressing--and books that are depressing or discouraging are NOT good books by my criteria. This book was perfectly entertaining and not depressing. It was a nice, neutral book.

Language: No, I don't think there was any bad language at all (I'm sorry to say that unless there is repeated strong bad language, sometimes I can't remember by the end of a book if there were one or two obscenties. Am I getting desensitized to this? I'm not sure).
Sex: nope

My recommendation: If you like food, you will find this book very interesting. I am not a "foodie", but I still enjoyed it a lot. Reichl's descriptions are lyrical, her story is entertaining, her personality is attractive. I liked the book a lot.