The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry Audiobook By Kathleen Flinn cover art

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School

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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

By: Kathleen Flinn
Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
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Read Kathleen Flinn's posts on the Penguin Blog.

This is the funny and inspiring account of Kathleen Flinn’s struggle in a stew of hot-tempered chefs, competitive classmates, her own “wretchedly inadequate” French, and the basics of French cuisine. Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old middle manager trapped on the corporate ladder—until her boss eliminated her job. So she cashed in her savings and moved to Paris to pursue her lifelong dream of attending the venerable Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Fans of Julie & Julia and the late Julia Child will be richly rewarded by this vibrant tale of self-discovery, transformation, and ultimately love.©2007 Kathleen Flinn; (P)2007 Penguin Audio, a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. Biographies & Memoirs Culinary Food & Wine Professionals & Academics Funny

Critic reviews

"I can never get enough of true stories about people who stop in the middle of life's journey to ask, 'What do I really want?' and then have the guts to actually go get it. Kathleen Flinn's tale of chasing her ultimate dream makes for a really lovely book—engaging, intelligent, and surprisingly suspenseful." —Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat, Pray, Love

"The Sharper Your Knife The Less You Cry is an engaging story about a fantasy fulfilled. It's Under the Tuscan Sun goes to cooking school." — Michael Ruhlman, author of The Soul of a Chef

Although I can't cook my way out of a sac de papier, I found this book a joy to read. It's a compelling story about learning to cook and learning to love at the same time, told with humility, humor, and passion." —Bill Radke, hots of NPR's Weekend America

"Kat Flinn's vivid story of her adventures at Le Cordon Bleu Paris just had me smiling page after page. It's about what you should always think about in the pressure behind a hot stove—the pure romance of cooking." —Jerry Traunfeld, author of The Herbfarm Cookbook and The Herbal Kitchen

"A fascinating look inside a famed elite institution..." -- Kirkus Reviews

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Engaging Memoir • Culinary Journey • Excellent Narrator • Heartwarming Story • Vivid Descriptions • Pleasant Voice

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I'm one of those people who loves everything about food--buying it, cooking it, eating it, watching shows about it, and, yes, of course, books about it. Add in a dose of self-growth and discovery while traveling in a foreign country and I get extra excited.

So this book covered all of my favorite things and did not disappoint. Kathleen deftly weaves the joys and struggles of learning to cook at one of the most prestigious culinary institutes in the world (probably THE most prestigious) with her life in France, how she got there, the people she meets along the way, a new romance, and, of course--the food. Her descriptions of the food and techniques she sees, tastes, and tries to emulate is almost sensuous, but without trying to hard (a bad habit some food writers have).

I have to add that the narrator contributes greatly to the beauty--her voice is easy to listen to and there is variety to her cadence and tone without being overly-dramatic, she speaks the French phrases easily without sounding pretentious and I even enjoyed listening to her read the recipes! (Though I am excited to see a PDF of the recipes available.)

When I find myself coming up with excuses to listen to an audiobook and choosing it over other entertainment options, I know it's a good one. Merci, chef.

Merci, Chef

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I really enjoyed this book. I didn't realize it had recipes in it until the narrator rattled off the first one. There's no sense in trying to decipher the recipe while she reads it - I downloaded and printed the ones I wanted. But the techniques are fascinating. This was written a while ago, and I wonder if the dishes prepared at the school are the same today. I looked forward every day to getting into my car and traveling to Paris during my commute.

Makes me want/not want to go to culinary school

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I really enjoyed this book! It was a charming story with lots of great cooking tips and tricks! I didn't want the book to end! It inspired me in my own kitchen.

Definitely Recommend

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I love this story. So easy to listen to, and contains recipes I’d like to try.

Great story

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I liked the story but the narrator cannot pronounce "saucepan". There were a few words that were unnecessarily repeated (like merde and affable) and I would have liked all of the french translated, not just a general idea of what was said.

good story overall

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