Born Round

By: Frank Bruni

Narrated by: Frank Bruni

Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's Summary

The New York Times restaurant critic's heartbreaking and hilarious account of how he learned to love food just enough after decades of struggling with his outsize appetite.

Frank Bruni was born round, round as in stout, chubby, and hungry, always and endlessly hungry. He grew up in a big, loud Italian family in White Plains, New York, where meals were epic, outsize affairs. At those meals, he demonstrated one of his foremost qualifications for his future career: an epic, outsize love of food. But Bruni's relationship with eating was tricky, and his difficulties with managing it began early. When Bruni was named the restaurant critic for The New York Times in 2004, he knew enough to be nervous.

The restaurant critic at the Times performs one of the most closely watched tasks in the epicurean universe; a bumpy ride was certain, especially for someone who had never written about food, someone who for years had been busy writing about politics, presidential campaigns, and the pope. What qualified him to be one of the most loved and hated tastemakers in the New York food world? Did his decades-long obsession with food suffice?

Food was his friend and enemy both, something he craved but feared, and his new-job jitters focused primarily on whether he'd finally made some sense of that relationship .In this coveted job, he'd face down his enemy at meal after indulgent meal. As his grandmother often put it, "Born round, you don't die square." Would he fall back into his old habits or could he establish a truce with the food on his plate?

Born Round traces the highly unusual path Bruni traveled to become a restaurant critic; it is the captivating account of an unpredictable journalistic ride from an intern's desk at Newsweek to a dream job at The New York Times, as well as the brutally honest story of Bruni's lifelong, often painful, struggle with food.

©2009 Frank Bruni (P)2009 Penguin

Has it all

People who have any experience w/ addiction are sure to enjoy and draw valuable lessons from this book, even if they don't love food. But for a food addict like myself, this seems to have it all: food virtually brought to life (food porn in words, which can be just as good as the real thing w/o the calories), dead-on descriptions of the rationalizing that precedes the binges and the guilt, regrets and dejection that follow, the sometimes unpredictable relapses, etc. I plan to go back to this book every time I can feel one of these last looming.

The book wasn't simply instructive or drool-inducing, though. It's worth a read (or listen) based on the merit of its prose alone. I also enjoyed the other parts even if their focus was not on food, such as the loving descriptions of the author's family, esp. of the two most important people (women) in his life, and his interesting "run-in" with one of America's most influential restauranteurs. Many parts had me in stitches, and passers-by who failed to notice my earphones must have thought me crazy.

The narration was just as good as that by professional readers and less nasal/annoying/exaggerated than some very popular ones. It was also unabridged, which seems to become more and more of a rarity w/ books narrated by authors (Ted Sorensen's autobiography was almost alone in this category until Born Round came along).

A gay man's neurotic biography.

I submit this review as a warning to other readers so they won't be surprised as I was, having had no idea from the description provided by Audible, of what I was getting into when I downloaded this book. I thought it was going to be more focused on the professional aspects of being a restaurant critic, and the concomitant adventures thereof; ---something along the lines of Anthony Bourdain. What I was very surprised to find instead, was the autobiography of a gay man focused on his neurotic obsession over his weight and appearance.

The book begins by telling a beautiful family story about his privileged upbringing, in a fully-functional family unit, with two whole parents providing for a robust childhood, complete with an elite education and ongoing good relations with immediate and extended family. Rare and wonderful so far, until the part about his being gay slips out of the closet after several chapters.

While that was an unhappy surprise for me, it has yet to be fatal. He has not, so far, gotten preachy or gross (I'm not quite halfway through, so I'll say not yet) or ground any political axes on that account, but there's just enough gay love story going on already, that I am not sure if I can get through this or not. His endless occupation with food and it's effect on his appearance, like the most annoying girlfriend you've ever had, for chapter after chapter, is grating, though he seasons his telling with just enough family goings-on and the occasional mention of his profession, to stave off despair.

So, since I've "read" this far, I haven't given up yet, because the book is well written and at least fractionally interesting, though (another correction here to the audible description) not the least bit "hilarious". The author also seems like a nice enough guy that you want to give him a chance. There's also the hope that in the rest of the book, he might yet forget himself, stop wallowing in his bittersweet personal life, and move on to his profession

Eating disorder- no recovery

Typical compulsive eating history but no recovery. Overeaters Anonymous is one solution. Could try that!

Not for foodies... For humans

Bruni takes the listener on the grand tour of his life. From his childhood and coming of age in a food-centered Italian family to his starting out in his career and various posts he held through his mid-40's. Much of this is a poignant story of a young man with disordered eating and various coping mechanisms to limit its physical effects- diuretics, laxatives, purging and more. There are few stories of this type from men and Born Round is extremely valuable for that alone, but Bruni's story is a universal, relatable, and he charms the listener with his confessional style. I want him to be my new BFF.
The intersection of his eating/exercise habits and his life's journey thus far is a fascinating one. It has many light moments, some very sad ones, and one that made me sit down and weep, a big, ugly cry with tears streaming down my face as I listened to him narrate what must have been the worst day of his life. (No spoilers)

I recently saw Bruni give a talk at Temple University where he told a few of these stories (prompting this purchase) and they were equally well delivered in person and in this audiobook. Bruni will not disappoint.

Okay, but...

If you are not a foodie -- I mean like, serious foodie -- only the first half of the book will impress you. I was ready for Mr. Bruni to wrap it up, but my player said there were still 2 hours left! Could have done without some of the information, both food related and personal.

Interesting if not a bit long

A long tale of two lifestyles that almost lost my interest. A great New Year book tho

Inspiring

Frank Brunni is a great storyteller. He is also brave to so freely tell us about his life - with all its accolades and shortcomings. Loved it. Thank you.

Boldly honest and insightful

As someone who has similar mental and physical struggles surrounding food to what Frank describes in this book, I appreciated his candor in this memoir. He was brutally honest and self-exposing, and drives the point home that honesty is the key to success with yourself. This was so well-written and intriguing and I enjoyed listening to all of his stories, family dynamics, and travels. I cannot recommend this enough!

Self-hatred and Shame

I’m struggling with something positive to say besides he has a great command of the language. I couldn’t finish the book. I found it only had surface level emotional content.

Get a grip and start enjoying life instead of all the self hatred put on continuous display. There are more important things than being slim... like a personality.

What a disappointment!

What did you like best about Born Round? What did you like least?

When, after 15 chapters, he finally become a restaurant critic. Unless you're someone who's struggled with eating disorders, this book is not for you! Most of the book is about his binging, purging, dieting unsuccessfully, poor self image, etc. after several chapters on this I fast forwarded it many times.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I'm already listening to two other books, so I'm just trying to get through the rest of this.

What does Frank Bruni bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His personal story.

Did Born Round inspire you to do anything?

Yes, to read another book. I wish I had returned this early on and made a wiser choice.

Any additional comments?

I have no idea how this receives such great ratings from Amazon! There must be plenty of people who can relate to this story and if it helps them, great. Ruth Reichl and Craig Claiborne he isn't!