Consuming Passions: A Food-Obsessed Life

This memoir made me laugh out loud, and the recipes are terrific too. I totally enjoyed reading about Aunt Tempe, Uncle Bun, and Aunt Dell's exploits. I totally enjoyed eating the shrimp etoufee that I made after reading this book. Miss Johnnie's macaroni and cheese was really good too. This book is both a unique culinary and reading experience at the same time. I have read all of Michael Lee West's books, and really loved them, but this one made me wish that I had grown up in the south, just as the author had. But, I can still enjoy southern cooking, and this book has been added as a permanent fixture on my cookbook shelf. Thank you Ms. West for sharing your recipes with this particular Northerner. My husband thanks you too.

As an avid reader (especially of cookbooks!, a "Consuming Passion" for cooking (especially all things southern) and a fan of Michael Lee West, I picked up this book with great anticipation. And I was not disappointed. Having lived in the South for several years, I have come to love to read about Southern culture: it's idiosynchrosies, dialect, etc. And gosh darn it, ya just gotta love that food! This book combines the best of what I love: food and reading! Ms. West has a great way of making one's mouth water, while at the same time filling the reader full of southern charm and wit. And best of all, she includes recipes! From barbeque to gumbo, Lemon Chess Pie to Coconut cake, this book is full of true 'southern' recipes, and Ms. West's family stories behind them. This is the kind of book I like to read over and over again, and I've made several of the recipes to boot (and have not been disappointed with the results). If you love the South, food, humor and Michael Lee West's other books, you'll love this one as well.

I READ a lot of cookbooks, but BUY very few. This is one of the few that I can't live without. The recipes are wonderful (I can smell a Lemon Cake from this book cooling downstairs as I write this) and the stories are just as juicy and delicious. It's rare to read a cookbook and wish you knew the author and her family, but that's how I felt after savoring this book. As a Yankee transplanted to South Carolina, I am just now learning the pleasures of sweet tea, church bake sales and fried chicken. This book has definitely earned a place of honor in my kitchen next to James Villas' "My Mother's Southern Kitchen". It's a keeper.

Food? A staple for survival? No, a prescription for love. This book shows the world the truth--the South revolves around food--how we eat it, how we fix it, and just who does the "fixin."I just couldn't put it down! I just know she had to know some of my relatives as most of them were in the book.Kudos to Michael Lee West!

This book now sits next to cookbooks and I've made sure to paste a label with my name on it, as I will always want it returned to me. For anyone with a sense of humor, this is the book for you. I've prepared a few of the recipes the author has included and not only are they easy, but they are quite good. I can't wait to read more by Michael Lee West and have warned my family that not only will I be "all-consumed", they had better be ready for more hilarious outbursts of laughter and tears as I read.