A lively memoir—and an inspiration to do good in the kitchen and in the world.
The noted Spanish American chef and philanthropist offers his life story, complete with recipes.
Andrés, known both for his restaurants and his World Central Kitchen nonprofit, which brings food to war zones and disaster areas, might be forgiven for wanting to luxuriate among expensive toys: He grew up in a household where “money was not plentiful,” and at the end of the month his family ate croquetas “made from the last leftovers in the corner of the fridge.” Andrés, of abundantly large spirit, expresses both gratitude for the food and the lovely memory of how his parents taught him valuable lessons using food as a vehicle. Andrés imparts some of them, such as his father’s advice to “master the fire,” which means not just mastering yourself but also learning how to control the heat necessary to make a good dish. He has plenty of lessons to deliver, recalling how he left a soft position as an admiral’s cook during his stint in the Spanish navy so that he could cook for a ship’s crew. “You should never let slip the opportunity to tell the world what you want,” he observes. “Nothing will happen if you’re the only one who knows.” Andrés is superbly generous—his book concludes with a moving eulogy to seven of his nonprofit workers who were killed in Gaza—and a true patriot: “We’re all in this country together. We’re all on this planet together. Your success is my success. We the People.” About the only time he grows cross is when the subject of Donald Trump arises, on which he notes with quiet defiance, “You can build as many walls as you like. But there isn’t a wall high enough to stop the mother of a hungry child.” A bonus lesson: You don’t need so much water to cook pasta.
A lively memoir—and an inspiration to do good in the kitchen and in the world.Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9780063436152
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Ecco/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 13, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.
The late actor offers a gentle guide for living with more purpose, love, and joy.
Mixing poetry, prescriptive challenges, and elements of memoir, Heche (1969-2022) delivers a narrative that is more encouraging workbook than life story. The author wants to share what she has discovered over the course of a life filled with abuse, advocacy, and uncanny turning points. Her greatest discovery? Love. “Open yourself up to love and transform kindness from a feeling you extend to those around you to actions that you perform for them,” she writes. “Only by caring can we open ourselves up to the universe, and only by opening up to the universe can we fully experience all the wonders that it holds, the greatest of which is love.” Throughout the occasionally overwrought text, Heche is heavy on the concept of care. She wants us to experience joy as she does, and she provides a road map for how to get there. Instead of slinking away from Hollywood and the ridicule that she endured there, Heche found the good and hung on, with Alec Baldwin and Harrison Ford starring as particularly shining knights in her story. Some readers may dismiss this material as vapid Hollywood stuff, but Heche’s perspective is an empathetic blend of Buddhism (minimize suffering), dialectical behavioral therapy (tolerating distress), Christianity (do unto others), and pre-Socratic philosophy (sufficient reason). “You’re not out to change the whole world, but to increase the levels of love and kindness in the world, drop by drop,” she writes. “Over time, these actions wear away the coldness, hate, and indifference around us as surely as water slowly wearing away stone.” Readers grieving her loss will take solace knowing that she lived her love-filled life on her own terms. Heche’s business and podcast partner, Heather Duffy, writes the epilogue, closing the book on a life well lived.
A sweet final word from an actor who leaves a legacy of compassion and kindness.Pub Date: Jan. 24, 2023
ISBN: 9781627783316
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viva Editions
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.
Want to get ahead in business? Consult a dictionary.
By Wharton School professor Berger’s account, much of the art of persuasion lies in the art of choosing the right word. Want to jump ahead of others waiting in line to use a photocopy machine, even if they’re grizzled New Yorkers? Throw a because into the equation (“Excuse me, I have five pages. May I use the Xerox machine, because I’m in a rush?”), and you’re likely to get your way. Want someone to do your copying for you? Then change your verbs to nouns: not “Can you help me?” but “Can you be a helper?” As Berger notes, there’s a subtle psychological shift at play when a person becomes not a mere instrument in helping but instead acquires an identity as a helper. It’s the little things, one supposes, and the author offers some interesting strategies that eager readers will want to try out. Instead of alienating a listener with the omniscient should, as in “You should do this,” try could instead: “Well, you could…” induces all concerned “to recognize that there might be other possibilities.” Berger’s counsel that one should use abstractions contradicts his admonition to use concrete language, and it doesn’t help matters to say that each is appropriate to a particular situation, while grammarians will wince at his suggestion that a nerve-calming exercise to “try talking to yourself in the third person (‘You can do it!’)” in fact invokes the second person. Still, there are plenty of useful insights, particularly for students of advertising and public speaking. It’s intriguing to note that appeals to God are less effective in securing a loan than a simple affirmative such as “I pay all bills…on time”), and it’s helpful to keep in mind that “the right words used at the right time can have immense power.”
Perhaps not magic but appealing nonetheless.Pub Date: March 7, 2023
ISBN: 9780063204935
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper Business
Review Posted Online: March 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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