17 hours ago, Kim Shook said:I checked Prune out of the library and I'm glad I did. I certainly wouldn't want to own it. I found the "cutesy" fantasy that we were seeing her private instruction to her staff complete with "handwritten" notes and admonishments extremely irritating. The pages are even designed to look like they are torn out of a loose leaf notebook. Definitely not for me.
I'm so glad you were able to get the book from your library instead of buying it! Many of the reviews of Prune were conflicted, loving some aspects while lamenting others, like the lack of header notes and an index. That last omission is kind of appalling but Eat Your Books has me covered there, as would an ebook search. If I had space limitations, I might not have purchased it myself after borrowing it from the library but must confess to being entertained by that restaurant notebook design that you found "cutesy." It may well be over-designed, as @Katie Meadow notes but I'd stop short of calling it gimmicky because it seems honest and true to who Gabrielle Hamilton is.
Edited to add: I just pulled out the book and OK, the fake stains and wrinkles on the pages are a bit gimmicky but I get wanting to make it look like a restaurant notebook.
Several reviewers seemed to have hopes that the book would be a Prune version of the Zuni Cafe Cookbook. It's not that, there's no hand-holding in Prune, but like cooking from the recipes in Zuni, I always end up learning something from trying Prune recipes.
