USSR – Page 2 – Cannonball Read 18

She apes Julia Child in her title, but this is a memoir, not a cookbook. #CBRBingo – How To

Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking by Anya von Bremzen

October 31, 2020 by narfna Leave a Comment

I feel bad about only giving this one three stars, but I think it accurately reflects my reading experience. I had to read this by e-book, and that just isn’t a format that works perfectly for me, except for when I’m reading romance or fanfic. I had a hard time focusing on it. When I was able to focus, it was clear that von Bremzen was a good writer, with things to say. She writes about food, and her experiences around, so very well. This […]

Once upon a time in the USSR

The Girl from the Metropol Hotel by Ludmilla Petrushevskya

February 10, 2019 by Chris Leave a Comment

Well, this does explain some of those wonderful stories that Petrushevskaya writes. Petrushevskaya’s memoir is about her early years – her family’s fall from grace, her birth, her life during war time. She lived as a half feral child for several years. But like in her stories, her use of language is beautiful and her comments on life searing. “We ate glue in secret because of the rumor that it was flavored with real cherries” (22) she writes describing how scare food was, especially for […]

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