Book Review: Life, Death, and Bialys

Reviewed By: Woodstock - RAM

Life, Death, and Bialys     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Dylan Schaffer
Class/Genre:   Non-Fiction   AutoBiography
Bloomsbury September 2006

As Flip Schaffer approached the end of his life from metastic cancer, he invited his semi-estranged adult son to join him in New York City at an upscale baking class designed for aspiring chefs. Mostly to humor his father, Dylan agreed. Seven months later the class is scheduled to begin and although he heads off to join his father, Dylan is not at all sure he is prepared for the experience.

Memoirs can be tricky. Eccentric pastry chefs; the crowded, hot and humid streets of New York; a less than glamorous hotel; memories of a mentally unstable mother and an absent father; a tenuous rebuilding of the ties between father and son, all interspersed with recipies for bread doesn't seem like a combination which would add up to an enjoyable read. But this is a small jewel of a book. Filled with passages which are laugh out loud funny and switching to passages which are poignant, all without missing a beat, LIFE, DEATH AND BIALYS is a warm human story of the two men and how they found their way back to a mutually supportive relationship.

And I can't resist a comment for the author. I always read the acknowlegments. For every book I read. And I enjoyed yours very much and am very very glad you included them!

Woodstock - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Woodstock - RAM