Review Copy Provided by the Publisher
I received a review copy of David Chang’s Eat a Peach from Clarkson Potter and attempted to submit my review to Amazon today. It’s shorter form than I would have done for the blog, but when Amazon rejected it, I knew I needed to put it up immediately.
Was it rejected because I got a free copy? Was it rejected because I provided a content warning for depression, mania and suicidal ideation? Is it because Amazon’s algorithm interpreted my opening line some other way than exactly as it was intended? I don’t know.
Fair to assume I will write more about this book once I’ve had some time to sit with some of its lines and insights. This is a first take.
Here’s the review:
EAT A PEACH by David Chang with Gabe Ulla is raw, blunt, and way more revealing than I expected a cheffy memoir to be. And while it would be easy to just call it a chef memoir, it’s also intrinsically about a slice of the Asian American experience.
I have to applaud Chang’s frank discussion about his battle with depression. It’s just not a thing that’s talked about often in Asian American families. And in a time when a lot is finally coming out about abusive behavior by high profile chefs, I give credit to someone who owns their behavior and genuinely apologizes for it. It takes guts to be that vulnerable.
If you’re a fan or a foodie, after reading the road to opening Momofuku, you’ll immediately want to go back and grab the Momofuku cookbook and make a few dishes. Don’t look for recipes in this book, there aren’t any.
If you’re a cynic about celebrity chefs, well, then why are you reading this review? No, but seriously, if you’re a cynic, you might think, how do you have imposter syndrome after opening and running several restaurants, winning industry awards, having a hand in a couple of cookbooks, a magazine, and multiple TV shows? Call me both a fan and a cynic.
Despite the success, despite the advice his experience lets him dole out in 33 Rules for Becoming a Chef, my guess is Chang has often felt “I shouldn’t even be here,” let alone be this successful. Which might also explain the one thing that’s eyerolly about the book: the nonstop name dropping.
Yes, Eat a Peach is worth a read. Just know what you’re getting into.
One last thing, Eat a Peach was set to come out in May 2020, but was held until September. Things are even more uncertain now in the restaurant industry than they were in the Spring. Whatever you do, don’t skip the Afterword, which was written during the pandemic.
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So, now that you’ve read it? Why do you think Amazon rejected it?
