An Exploration of the Intense and Moody Depths of a Friendship

Off the Shelf By J. Ryan Stradal    |   Monday, November 09, 2015 One of the things I sometimes hear readers say about my first book, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, is that, based on the cover and the title, they expected something different. Some readers anticipated more recipes—or wanted a book of all recipes. While I hope they were at least slightly amused at the book they discovered, I know where they’re coming from.  As an avid reader, I also sometimes experience some dissonance between the tone I feel was implied by the title or cover and what I perceive within the pages, and I believe I experienced that most strongly with Gina Frangello’s excellent A Life in Men.READ MORE