The Ohioan

I’m in my twenties and I’m not an avid home chef, so it’s no surprise that I’d never heard of Ruth Reichl. When her latest memoir, Save Me the Plums was released last Spring, I wasn’t remotely interested in reading it. Then, as it happens sometimes when you’re browsing the “currently available audio books” on Libby, you come across something that takes you completely by surprise. I listened to Ruth Reichl read her memoir about being the last editor of the Conde Nast publication Gourmet magazine and I was swept away on a sea of beautiful writing. In the time it took for Reichl to lay out the very first scene of her memoir, which details her own first memory of Gourmet, I was absorbed: hook, line, and sinker.

I have since come to discover that women older and much wiser than me, already knew Reichl as an acclaimed and engaging author. In Plums, she brings to life a rarefied world that most of us will only ever read about or see on T.V. in a way that is relatable. Any readers who have even a passing interest in the food or magazine industry will thoroughly enjoy Save Me The Plums and I bet if you enjoy memoirs, personal non-fiction, and even just great storytelling, you’ll enjoy Reichl’s candid, approachable style.