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Outstanding
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The Independent Christopher Hirst
A culinary equivalent of Redmond O'Hanlon's jungle adventures, this book is not only full of drama and entertainment, but also painlessly imparts a wealth of knowledge. There are many fine books on food, but Buford's insane culinary enthusiasm has resulted in a work that is by some distance the best about life among the professionals.
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Outstanding
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The Guardian Sue Birtwhistle
A dazzling and funny account of two magnificently mad years.
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Outstanding
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Boston Globe Chuck Leddy
Funny, passionate, and beautifully written...Buford may be a culinary apprentice, but he's a master prose stylist.
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Outstanding
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Chicago Sun-Times Stephen J. Lyons
A tour de force piece of immersion reportage.
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Outstanding
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Publishers Weekly
A wonderfully detailed and highly amusing book.
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Outstanding
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The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Michael Redhill
A brilliant memoir.
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Outstanding
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Flak James Norton
Heat, in short, isn't a single literary dish - it's a 10-course meal that readers will savor long after the last morsel of text has been digested.
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Outstanding
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The New York Times Book Review Julia Reed
Heat is a remarkable journey — I only wish I'd thought to make it.
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Outstanding
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The Onion A.V. Club Donna Bowman
[Buford's] compulsively readable story is a reminder and a guide to what eaters should enjoy, hobbyists should aim to better appreciate, and food professionals, miraculously, can accomplish night after night.
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Outstanding
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Wall Street Journal Moira Hodgson
Mr. Buford is a graceful, vivid writer, and his descriptions of the characters he meets -- and the food he prepares and eats -- are a joy to read.
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Outstanding
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Daily Telegraph
It's a virtuoso display of writing, arranged like the courses of an Italian dinner (anti-pasto, pasta, carne), but never bound by them, for Buford's obsession with learning to cook is underpinned by the desire to understand the history of Italian food.
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Outstanding
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The Economist
However enthusiastic and knowledgeable their authors may be, books about food are rarely as palatable as the meals they describe. Accounts of other people's eating lose a lot in the telling, while kitchen horror stories may be gripping, but fail to satisfy. Bill Buford's Heat is a glorious exception.
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Outstanding
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London Review Of Books Steven Shapin
Bill Buford has provided one of the most evocative testaments to our – and his – current obsession.
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Outstanding
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Sydney Morning Herald Helen Greenwood
With warmth and aplomb, Buford weaves together the spaghetti strands of Batali's story, his own and those of the cast of people in the kitchen and in Italy. He is measured and wastes not a word or a character.
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Favorable
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TLS: The Times Literary Supplement Paul Levy
A seemingly meagre but ultimately nourishing book.
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Favorable
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Washington Post Warren Bass
Delightful.
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Favorable
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The Observer Adam Mars-Jones
Funny, well written and slightly exhausting.
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Favorable
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Houston Chronicle Barbara Liss
If there's a more intelligent, entertaining, foulmouthed cooking memoir out there, I'd be pleased to eat it.
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Favorable
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New York Observer Alexandra Jacobs
Heat is a marvel of (sometimes slurred) note taking; the author has an amazing ability to knock ’em back in the name of scholarship without seeming like a corrupt junketeer. He gets everyone’s story of ambition and heartbreak, including the dishwashers’. [5 June 2006, p.14]
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Favorable
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Christian Science Monitor Erik Spanberg
Conveying the basic history of pasta and its importance in Italy is fine. Noodling in pasta's infinite varieties and fixating on when eggs became a vital ingredient in making the stuff? Not so much. These gripes, though, are small potatoes.
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Favorable
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Library Journal Rosemarie Lewis
The pacing is quick, and the writing often mirrors the intensity of the kitchen. [15 May 2006, p.126]
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Favorable
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Entertainment Weekly Jennifer Reese
The Skinny Buford's account of his romance with Italian cooking is wonderfully thoughtful and personal, if meandering. [26 May 2006, p.109]
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Favorable
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Booklist Mark Knoblauch
Buford's mastery of the stove is exceeded only by his deft handling of English prose. [1 May 2006, p.61]
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Mixed
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Kirkus Reviews
Brightly rendered and sophisticated, as befits a New Yorker writer, but very uneven. [15 Apr 2006, p.388]
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Mixed
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The New York Times William Grimes
Heat is a sumptuous meal. But as so often happens, even in the best restaurants, the entrees never quite live up to the appetizers.
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Mixed
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The Nation Matthew Debord
I'm not sure this is good news, but he sets us up for a sequel.
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