niamhreviews's reviews
582 reviews

Comfort reading at its absolute finest. I read this book just as quickly as I would gobble up some of the dishes and I will definitely be returning to some of the literary recipes that Nicoletti has created in the near future - if only out of sheer curiosity. Like lots of other reviewers, I just wish there had been a bit more structure to the writing - it feels more like a collection of recipes with short excerpts about their creation rather than an essay collection with recipes - but it was enjoyable nonetheless. Just the thing I needed to read at the moment.

I think this book is like an all-you-can eat Chinese buffet. The dishes are plentiful, there's more than enough to go around and it takes you a while to figure out what the rhyme and reason of the set-up is. But you can sample a little of everything and try things that you've never come across to give you a well-rounded image of Chinese food's place in American culture.

Lee, a journalist, does have a journey through this book. Among the impeccably researched chapters about the origins of 'Chinese-American' dishes like General Tso's chicken and the fortune cookie (though this remains a controversial figure among Asian restauranteurs), she travels across the world to discover how Chinese cuisine has permeated American culture and the key differences between Chinese food and 'Chinese food'. She analyses the Americanization of classic dishes and how, more often than not, dishes are played down for a Western palate.

There is a lack of personality to this writing. Lee does not invoke personal memories very often and it can read like a detached academic essay rather than a journey undertaken by one person. I did appreciate that she spoke to people, those who ran the restaurants, who made the machines, make the products, eat the food- and got an almost micro look at a really macro issue. It's a very dense book, packed full of information, but it's still very readable. I suspect that it needed just a bit more editing, but otherwise, it's a excellent overview of a fascinating subject.

I will say that after I read this book, I started noticing Chinese restaurants EVERYWHERE. And my brain ran with all this new information. Next time you're ordering from your favourite place, have a think about this book. It might tell you more than you ever thought you'd know.

If you ever needed an insight into the film industry at large and what its insides are really doing, this is the book you need to read. Brilliantly written by someone with a great and intimate knowledge of the patterns and trends that the film industry is exhibiting, Fritz's book not only celebrates film and its growing rival, television, but paints a startling picture of its future.

The bulk of this book is centred around information made public by the Sony leak in 2014, leaking emails, scripts and personal information from the entire company. Through thousands of personal correspondence, we got an insider look into the running of a major studio and just how much it was lagging behind in the industry. Fritz also considers the meteoric rise of studios seemingly out of nowhere, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe, DCs attempt at a similar feat, the rise of on-demand streaming services creating their own content to compete with (see Netflix, Amazon and now, YouTube and Apple) and the fall-back of the franchise, reboot and sequel, which has become the bread and butter business plan for any flailing studio.

Whilst not ignoring that audiences have become bored of the constant stream of recyclable material, Fitz makes the case that even if we hanker for original content, that need is not replicated in box office receipts. Therefore, studios become more reluctant to spend money on those types of films. Netflix and Amazon have picked up the slack here and the industry becomes more complexly outlined than ever. It's brilliantly well researched and paints an ever changing picture of one of the world's biggest entertainment features.

Personably written and weaving hard fact with biographs, 'The Big Picture' is a call to arms, asking us to observe the future of film in a whole different light than ever before. Perfect for film buffs.

There's been a trend recently of books that celebrate women of history and write little excerpts about them that reveal their place in history that's more often than not been glossed over. From 'Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls' to '21 Women of British History', the genre is starting to become vastly oversaturated- enough that it's difficult to have any kind of differentiation between these books. This one is different.

Rather than just talking about different women, this one gives you reasons why they're badass, reasons why they stood out amongst others in their fields and during the periods of time they were alive. For example- 'Mae West and body positivity' is one of my personal favourites, purely because I've done a lot of work on females in film and how they work against stereotype. This book will make you feel better about the world. It'll make you look at everyone from Coco Chanel to Frida Kahlo and examine what made those women great and how much they have in common with women of today. I think it's an excellent read for ladies of any age. It'll teach you how to win at life- but generally, just make you feel a little better about the state of the world.

Friends is a cultural phenomenon, but it has not aged well. The sitcom is truly a product of its time, and though it's only a handful of decades old, it has so much depth to discuss and explore, that Miller's book is a necessary addition to a slender canon about the show. Exploring the programme from its development with writers Kaufman & Crane and their initial meeting, to the aftermath of 9/11 on a show set in New York City to the legions of new fans that have come to the show through Netflix, TBS and other channels, Miller presents a book packed with information that even the most die-hard superfan might not know.

It's interesting to see how in-depth Miller gets with the show, exploring the tiny details and crevices that we might ignore. What I find most invigorating is how quick Miller is to point out that the show, despite being a cultural mainstay, has its inherent flaws. She talks openly about the Caucasian foundation of the show, how the inconsistencies of the characters still baffle modern-day viewers. But she also acknowledges the comforting nature of the sitcom- it's so ordinary, with characters battling with all their first world problems, but how viewers are so familiar with these six characters that they keep returning to the show.

An excellent book that I hope will spawn lots of other books about television shows of the same cultural significance.