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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School | 
 enlarge | Author: Kathleen Flinn
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
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Rating:  36 reviews
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.3 x 1.1
Dewey Decimal Number: 641.07
Publication Date: October 4, 2007
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| • | Paperback - The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School | | • | Audio CD - The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School | | • | Hardcover - The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School | | • | Audio CD - The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears at the World's Most Famous Cooking School | | • | Kindle Edition - The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry | | • | Audio Download - The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry (Unabridged) |
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Product Description
A delightful true story of food, Paris, and the fulfillment of a lifelong dream
In 2003, Kathleen Flinn, a thirty-six-year-old American living and working in London, returned from vacation to find that her corporate job had been eliminated. Ignoring her mother s advice that she get another job immediately or never get hired anywhere ever again, Flinn instead cleared out her savings and moved to Paris to pursue a dream a diploma from the famed Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry is the touching and remarkably funny account of Flinn s transformation as she moves through the school s intense program and falls deeply in love along the way. Flinn interweaves more than two dozen recipes with a unique look inside Le Cordon Bleu amid battles with demanding chefs, competitive classmates, and her wretchedly inadequate French. Flinn offers a vibrant portrait of Paris, one in which the sights and sounds of the city s street markets and purveyors come alive in rich detail. The ultimate wish fulfillment book, her story is a true testament to pursuing a dream. Fans of Julie & Julia, Almost French, and Eat, Pray, Love will be amused, inspired, and richly rewarded by this seductive tale of romance, Paris, and French food.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 31 more reviews...
 Great expectations, dashed hopes December 30, 2008
Laura Grace (San Luis Obispo, CA)
Reading the description of The Sharper Your Knife, The Less You Cry, gave me high expectations about memoirs of a woman who was willing to follow her heart and fulfill a longtime soulful desire. The testimonial from Elizabeth Gilbert only served to heighten my expectation (espcially since which Ms. Flinn's book has been compared to Eat, Pray, Love), as did my love for the French. However, I found the book lacking in soul. Ms. Flinn does a wonderful job of illustrating her daily experiences in an intellectual manner, but after reading the book twice, I never felt a real connection with what she experienced (except for the honest emotion she shared while being berated by "Grey Chef").
While the story is well constructed, it lacks passion and the raw, genuine spirit I was hoping for when I purchased the book. I did find it, quite interesting, that Ms. Flinn spent some of her childhood in the same town I grew up in--Davison, MI--and that we are almost the same age. Despite my diappointment in the book, I applaud Ms. Flinn's courage to live and write about, what is near and dear to her heart.
Cooking fans read this December 23, 2008
Elaine C. Erb (Niwot, CO USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
What a fun read. I stumbled on this book and had a thoroughly enjoyable time reading it. How ironic that the cover carries a recommendation from the author of Eat, Pray, Love. Flinn does not make the errors that Gilbert does in reaching too many early conclusions or being that self-righteous. For one, she recognizes how lucky she is to have such an opportunity. Also, she does not play the part of the single woman learning how to live life alone only to wind up in love at the end.
While I would never venture to Le Cordon Bleu, as I love to cook but am a pescatarian, I loved hearing the tales of the school. Sure enough, I was inspired to make a nice soup stock over the weekend as well as some holiday baking! And yes, my knives are good and sharp.
We've seen enough travel books now that a Parisian visit needs a twist like this. Flinn succeeds in presenting the culinary highlights of a year in Paris. Certainly recommended for fans of France and cooking.
 Visit Le Cordon Bleu Paris without leaving the US December 17, 2008
Amateur chef (Brea, CA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Enchanting yet realistic account of what happens when we corporate types explore our creative side. Easy read with well-defined chapter breaks making it easy to pick up after a few days w/o having to re-read the previous few pgs. This book proved to me that my local french chef's cooking classes are authentic expression of the Le Cordon Bleu training he received 30 years ago. I found it interesting that dozens of the basic elements mentioned are decades-old constants still taught at LCB. Meez Fleen'z depictations of the french accent & attitude is quite accurate as well adding to the entertainment value. Recipes, thanks for including recipes with tips! I plan to purchase a few copies for friends who've heard me rave about this book - I'm not parting with mine that's for sure.
Good Read November 30, 2008
el (suffern, ny United States)
If you dabble in cooking in the kitchen and wonder what it would be like to learn from masters this book is for you. Not only do you get a picture like watching cooking shows on PBS but you also get the recipes. The author has a spirited style in writing and and by the end of the book you really would like to meet her.
The whole book needs salt November 8, 2008
Gretchen Kinder (Boston, MA)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
What could have been an interesting book about an interesting experience in an interesting city ended up being boring because it lacked in depth and character development. Flinn reports on her experience in a fairly predictable way and in exceptionally short chapters - tell the story of a lesson, pepper it with an anecdote about a classmate, then relate it to a story about the boyfriend or the City. End with a complicated French recipe that no one is ever going to make. The book is a string of these predictable vignettes, none of which is particularly exciting because there is little lead up - if the triumph over puff pastry had a deeper psychological significance then it would be interesting. Instead, the triumph over puff pastry was because, predictably, she practiced at home. Woo hoo!
I ended up putting the book down 3/4 of the way through, realizing I was trudging through not caring about any of the characters and really wishing she explored one or two relationships in depth - her relationship with herself and a cooking teacher, for example. Flinn is frequently criticized for not using enough salt in her sauces, a simple device for bringing out the flavor in the ingredients. In my opinion, this whole book needs salt.
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