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The Book of Difficult Fruit: Arguments for the Tart, Tender, and Unruly (with recipes) by Kate Lebo
boggremlin's review against another edition
3.0
I've liked Kate Lebo's work since I first read her cookbook (Pie School) and her illustrated zine (Commonplace Book of Pie), the latter of which seems like the origin story for her alphabetical approach to this collection. Framed by difficult or unusual fruits, Lebo's essays discuss her family's secrets; her own disability (Lebo is hard of hearing and has an autoimmune disorder); and her depression. She also explores the impact of white colonialists on indigenous communities, as well as how myth and folklore shape our understanding of the natural world.
Lebo's writing is a little mystical, intimate, and it's also practical. Her recipes are written in a slightly lyrical style. This book will likely appeal to fans of Amy Krouse Rosenthal's memoirs (though Lebo has more bite and drama to her writing), or to those who enjoy poetic language but aren't quite sure if they like poetry. It may also appeal to experimental home cooks and foragers.
Lebo's writing is a little mystical, intimate, and it's also practical. Her recipes are written in a slightly lyrical style. This book will likely appeal to fans of Amy Krouse Rosenthal's memoirs (though Lebo has more bite and drama to her writing), or to those who enjoy poetic language but aren't quite sure if they like poetry. It may also appeal to experimental home cooks and foragers.
barnesstorming's review against another edition
4.0
PSA: Don't look for this as a guide to buying/growing "difficult" fruits and using them. Also, don't look to this if your definition of fruit is rigid. Don't look to it if you're going to be put off by Lebo using cute alternate names for "fruit" just to complete the whole A-Z concept. (To wit: she calls dandelion "faceclock," which no sane person calls dandelion, no matter how spectacular a name it is, just because she needed an F fruit. Which, I mean, it isn't a fruit either.) Look, instead, to this as a sort of schizophrenic memoir with some powerful and laugh-out-loud moments and you'll be rewarded. Though you might question her selections based on taxonomy (xylitol is the X entry), or their actual difficulty (blackberries, difficult? zucchini, difficult?), or her use of them in "recipes" (many of which are weird, small-yield lotions), you won't question Lebo's wit or regret reading the book.
balletbookworm's review against another edition
4.0
A really interesting read, a combination of agricultural and food history, memoir, essay, and cookbook. (probably not going to try many - if any - of the recipes, though, I'm not quite that adventurous a foodie) The A to Z arrangement is easy to read and I liked the range of fruits Lebo describes.
glisteningpandas's review against another edition
5.0
deep psychology memoirical historical… etc deep dive into adulthood and womanhood (juniper, pomegranate, bitter almonds which are actually seeds) with fun fruit facts sprinkled in
samantha_shain's review against another edition
5.0
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, albeit the recipes seem almost across the board patshkes. The personal essay fragments, the unusual form of the book, and the wide array of plants and flavors that she covers all make for a peculiarly delightful book. She touches on themes of revulsion, chronic illness, adventure, heartbreak, stubbornness. The book is "about" fruit, but really it has an undercurrent of irreverent feminism.
janaaier's review against another edition
4.0
I truly enjoyed this book that is serving as inspiration and motivation to continue learning about local plants and how to use them.
zellm's review against another edition
2.0
This book was half memoir, half non-fiction, and I felt that it suffered from not choosing a direction and sticking to it. Some of the entries discussed the fruit in question factually, while others discussed Lebo's life. I liked both, but often expected one and got another. Overall an interesting book but it felt like it lacked direction due to the structure of the chapters.