Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking

A Memoir of Food and Longing

De: Anya von Bremzen

Narrado por: Kathleen Gati

A James Beard Award-winning writer captures life under the Red socialist banner in this wildly inventive, tragicomic memoir of feasts, famines, and three generations

Born in 1963, in an era of bread shortages, Anya grew up in a communal Moscow apartment where eighteen families shared one kitchen. She sang odes to Lenin, black-marketeered Juicy Fruit gum at school, watched her father brew moonshine, and, like most Soviet citizens, longed for a taste of the mythical West. It was a life by turns absurd, naively joyous, and melancholy—and ultimately intolerable to her anti-Soviet mother, Larisa. When Anya was ten, she and Larisa fled the political repression of Brezhnev-era Russia, arriving in Philadelphia with no winter coats and no right of return.
Now Anya occupies two parallel food universes: one where she writes about four-star restaurants, the other where a taste of humble kolbasa transports her back to her scarlet-blazed socialist past. To bring that past to life, Anya and her mother decide to eat and cook their way through every decade of the Soviet experience. Through these meals, and through the tales of three generations of her family, Anya tells the intimate yet epic story of life in the USSR. Wildly inventive and slyly witty, Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking is that rare book that stirs our souls and our senses.

Includes a bonus PDF of recipes from the book

Slow start

Starts a little slow but I ended up really enjoying the audio book as it went on.

Brilliant

Well written, extremely interesting and a somewhat unique point of view. The history lesson, combined with brilliant food writing, makes this a joy to listen to. This is even funny in some parts. Warmly recommended.

Wonderful Book, Excellent Performance

Would you listen to Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking again? Why?

Again? Weird question. It's a fantastic book though. Engrossing memoir of a Soviet childhood told in an interesting way.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking?

Hey, how about you just let me write a review instead of asking dumb questions?

What about Kathleen Gati’s performance did you like?

She didn't over act and she did all the accents beautifully. I only noticed her in a positive way.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Sure. Hey, Audible, these questions are dumb. A lawyer would object to them as leading, and they'd never hold up.

Any additional comments?

I am the walrus, coo coo ka-choo.

LOVE THIS BOOK!

Where does Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I was fascinated by the details describe by Anya Von Bremzen in which the Soviet people had to live. After a recent visit to Russia this summer I became more and more interested in the story of the people of todays Russian and yesterday's USSR.
The story is funny and sad and shocking at times. Truly moving.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

no I listened to slowly actually and often times relistened to get all of the details.

A Meal Can Always Be Vehicle For A Story

It's a memoire of three generations, wars, denunciations, famine, black marketeering and survival, as told through cuisine, titled "Mastering The Art Of SOVIET Cooking". It’s poignant, without being saccharine; honest, without being bitter. За здоровье!