That's What Jenni Said

I’ve started a cookbook discussion and dinner party group that meets regularly (1x a month or so) at my apartment in Alexandria to discuss cookbooks and enjoy a shared meal cooked by the members from recipes published in the monthly selected cookbook.    Each year we work our way through an eclectic mix of cookbooks, including time honored classics, rare finds from every corner of the globe, and current up and coming advanced evaluation copies. For our July cookbook discussion and dinner party, we reviewed Suzanne Husseini's 2012 cookbook   Modern Flavors of Arabia   (Random House). قائمة طعام (Menu) Halloumi & Feta Cheese Bread Rolls Labneh Three Ways Shamandar (Beet Dip) Hummus Beet & Purslane Salad with Citrus Dressing Kofta with Sweet and Sour Cherry Sauce Roasted Cauliflower with Citrus Tahini Sauce Lemony Braised Stuffed Vine Leaves Shish Barak (Lamb Ravioli in Herbed Yogurt Sauce) A Thousand and One Nights Pistachio Ic...

Paul Harding, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Tinkers has written a new novel titled Enon . It hits bookstores in early September, but interested readers can pre-order the book now at Amazon.com. While rich in its prose, Enon is one of the most depressing books I've ever read. Our protagonist, Charlie Crosby, looses his daughter in a terrible accident and it causes his entire life to unravel. For some there is a voyeuristic pleasure in observing, from a safe distance, the depravity of a lost soul and novels (like this) and movies (I point you to American Beauty ) that feed this appetite satisfy. For others, watching hurt and damaged people wrestle with demons to no avail in an agonizing dance that continues long after the music stops is painful and horrifying. I am in the latter grouping and so this book is not for me. Not for me at all. In short: do you find enjoyment in reading about drug addiction, overwhelming penetrative grief, isolation, and despair? In turning pa...