A James Beard Award-winning writer captures life under the Red socialist banner in this wildly inventive; tragicomic memoir of feasts; famines; and three generations Born in 1963; in an era of bread shortages; Anya grew up in a communal Moscow apartment where eighteen families shared one kitchen. She sang odes to Lenin; black-marketeered Juicy Fruit gum at school; watched her father brew moonshine; and; like most Soviet citizens; longed for a taste of the mythical West. It was a life by turns absurd; naively joyous; and melancholy—and ultimately intolerable to her anti-Soviet mother; Larisa. When Anya was ten; she and Larisa fled the political repression of Brezhnev-era Russia; arriving in Philadelphia with no winter coats and no right of return. Now Anya occupies two parallel food universes: one where she writes about four-star restaurants; the other where a taste of humble kolbasa transports her back to her scarlet-blazed socialist past. To bring that past to life; Anya and her mother decide to eat and cook their way through every decade of the Soviet experience. Through these meals; and through the tales of three generations of her family; Anya tells the intimate yet epic story of life in the USSR. Wildly inventive and slyly witty; Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking is that rare book that stirs our souls and our senses.
#89409 in Books Vintage 2013-08-13 2013-08-13Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 8.00 x .70 x 5.20l; .76 #File Name: 0307475999368 pages
Review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful. A Wicked War:an apt title.By JeanLMPouteauMDThis history has been somewhat sanctified because Americans got what they wanted: the annexation of half of Mexican territory; which enabled the United States to expand to the Pacific coast and to get ;in addition Oregon and Washington. What it made it a wicked war was these ends were achieved; in the case of Mexico by a series of lies engaged in by President Polk. The book; itself is well written with much detail on the lies and the objections raised by some. Could the same ends have been achieved by other more honest means; we shall never know. The toll on the president was great and he died after a very few months out of office.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. America Behaving BadlyBy M TuckerAmerican exceptionalism; that America has always been a force for good in the world; is shown to be a narcissistic myth. Amy Greenberg tells a wonderfully rich and informative tale that is hard to put down. She reminds us that any nation; even a liberal democracy; can do very wicked things to its sister nations and still believe they are a shining example of freedom; equality and justice. That is why this chapter in American history is not really well told in high school; it’s hard to square that circle. The subtitle for this chapter could be called “How Texas Becomes a State and America Becomes a Continental Nation.†After languishing as a beleaguered republic for 9 years; Polk’s election suddenly makes it possible for Texas to become a state. But Polk wanted more; like about one third of Mexico. Wars of conquest are usually very messy affairs and this war was no exception. Amy Greenberg makes this depressing and truly despicable episode in American history fascinating. I had a fantastic time with this book.4 of 5 people found the following review helpful. An interesting take on a not so forgotten warBy Shawn M. WarswickAmy Greenberg’s narrative history of the Mexican American War argues the war was an act of aggression against a neighboring country that not only announced the arrival of a new world power; but it would tip an “internecine struggle over slavery into civil war†and would “shape the future; and to this day affects how the United States acts in the world.†(xiii) This argument differs from those put forward by Brian DeLay; who looks more at the effects of Indian raids on the war; and Paul Foos who uses the war to analyze nineteenth century labor conflicts in the United States. As Greenberg notes in the introduction this is not a comprehensive view of the war; instead it looks at the events leading up to the war (and the war itself) through the eyes of five men; their wives and children. These are President James K. Polk; Henry Clay (“The Great Compromiserâ€); Abraham Lincoln (over a decade before his rise to the Presidency); John J. Hardin and Nicholas Trist. The latter two are the lesser known of the five men; but no less important to the story. Furthermore; the story moves along chronologically; starting with Henry Clay’s decision to come out against the possible annexation of Texas and ends with the end of the war and the nation starting down the road to the Civil War with Lincoln voting for the Wilmot proviso and the death of John Quincy Adams. As for sources; Greenberg uses unpublished documents and manuscripts from such archival collections as the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library; the Huntington Library; the Library of Congress and the Wisconsin Historical Society. Greenberg also uses newspapers from all over the country to round out her primary sources. When it comes to secondary sources; the author also uses an impressive collection of new and older sources; some dating back to as early as 1851. Amongst her newer sources are some of what can be called the usual suspects; including works by Brian DeLay’s War of a Thousand Deserts; David Donald’s definitive biography on Lincoln; Eric Foner’s recent prize winning The Fiery Trial; and Paul Kramer’s The Blood of Government (about the connections between racism and American Imperialism). Greenberg’s work contains what might be considered a weakness in that; unlike most recent works of history; it takes a very top down approach to historical analysis; focusing on “big men†and diplomacy. While she does include the wives of Lincoln and Polk; they garner much less attention than the men (Mary Lincoln’s entry in the index is significantly smaller than the one for her husband); in a way this is a weak criticism. The fact is; the United States in the 1840’s and 50’s had no women in Congress or in any political office for that matter. Furthermore; her purpose is not to tell a bottom’s up story. While there is nothing wrong with that approach; her goal is to look at the war through the eyes of the big men. The strength of the work is that; by using men we are familiar with; in conjunction with an accessible narrative style; Amy Greenberg delivers a history which is valuable not only to specialists; but can be read and enjoyed by a much larger audience. This fact is backed up by the fact that her manuscript was picked up and published by a major mass market publisher like Vintage. Furthermore she is able to give us a new take on what has suddenly become a very popular topic: the Mexican American War.
