Book Review: Bread & Wine
Bread and Wine - a love letter to life around the table with recipes
by Shauna Niequist
I met Shauna at the Global Leadership Summit last month where she was on stage and I was watching by simulcast 1700 miles away. She was spunky and charming and when I discovered she had written a book entitled Bread & Wine I reserved a copy at the library while they were still "on order."
In my minds eye, I see the joy and connectedness that occur at the table: the gathering and the sharing and the stories and the laughter. And yet, I feel a constant lack in this area of my life. As a result, I have read books devoted to the topic, tried various methods to facilitate conversation and connection, and consciously attempt to relax as a host. But the desire still lingers and the vision seems elusive.
Before I even finished reading the Introduction to Bread & Wine I felt that familiar longing to experience this life she describes. "I want you to love what you eat, and to share food with people you love, and to gather people together, for frozen pizza or filet mignon, because I think the gathering is of great significance." (p17)
The book reads very much like a blog and reflects both the positives and negatives of the blog world. The writing is casual and chatty, which at times does not translate well into the formal writing expected in a book, but on the flip side is engaging and friendly. The chapters are loosely connected through food, friendship, and wine, but they could be read individually making it perfect for picking up and reading periodically or for re-reading a chapter at a time. Because of the blog (or essay) format I felt that some wonderful insights were abruptly concluded, but do not be deceived, Bread & Wine, is no lightweight dealing only in the realms of champagne and dinner parties. There are some hard chapters about infertility and miscarriage, appetites and cravings, changing friendships, and precarious health. In the end, I used a stack of yellow tabs marking many points I wanted to take away and savor, not to mention a handful of recipes.
In her chapter entitled Open The Door she challenges us to move past our insecurity about our homes and provides an apt reminder, "...it isn't about perfection, and it isn't about performance. You'll miss the richest moments in life -- the sacred moments when we feel God's grace and presence through the actual faces and hands of the people we love -- if you're too scared or too ashamed to open the door. I know it's scary, but throw open the door anyway." (p109)
As a case in point, after a dinner party and an unexpected "gift of words" for a dear friend she observes, "Sometimes food is the end and sometimes it's a means to an end, and sometimes you don't know which it is until it happens" (p 176-177)
In the chapter Baking Cookies with Batman Shauna addresses an important aspect of feeding people in our modern culture: food allergies/restrictions/sensitivities. "I used to grumble as I planned menus, trying to figure out some culinary silver bullet that would feed the gluten-free, the dairy-free, the nut-free and the pescatarian." She must face this dilemma in a personal way and I gained a new appreciation for these challenges as she drew the conclusion, "The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved...Part of that, then is honoring the way God made our bodies, and feeding them in the ways they need to be fed." (p 114)
I loved this reminder near the end of the book. "Food matters because it's one of the things that forces us to live in this world -- this tactile, physical, messy, and beautiful world -- no matter how hard we try to escape into our minds and our ideals. Food is a reminder of our humanity, our fragility, our createdness." (p 250)
by Shauna Niequist
I met Shauna at the Global Leadership Summit last month where she was on stage and I was watching by simulcast 1700 miles away. She was spunky and charming and when I discovered she had written a book entitled Bread & Wine I reserved a copy at the library while they were still "on order."
In my minds eye, I see the joy and connectedness that occur at the table: the gathering and the sharing and the stories and the laughter. And yet, I feel a constant lack in this area of my life. As a result, I have read books devoted to the topic, tried various methods to facilitate conversation and connection, and consciously attempt to relax as a host. But the desire still lingers and the vision seems elusive.
Before I even finished reading the Introduction to Bread & Wine I felt that familiar longing to experience this life she describes. "I want you to love what you eat, and to share food with people you love, and to gather people together, for frozen pizza or filet mignon, because I think the gathering is of great significance." (p17)
The book reads very much like a blog and reflects both the positives and negatives of the blog world. The writing is casual and chatty, which at times does not translate well into the formal writing expected in a book, but on the flip side is engaging and friendly. The chapters are loosely connected through food, friendship, and wine, but they could be read individually making it perfect for picking up and reading periodically or for re-reading a chapter at a time. Because of the blog (or essay) format I felt that some wonderful insights were abruptly concluded, but do not be deceived, Bread & Wine, is no lightweight dealing only in the realms of champagne and dinner parties. There are some hard chapters about infertility and miscarriage, appetites and cravings, changing friendships, and precarious health. In the end, I used a stack of yellow tabs marking many points I wanted to take away and savor, not to mention a handful of recipes.
In her chapter entitled Open The Door she challenges us to move past our insecurity about our homes and provides an apt reminder, "...it isn't about perfection, and it isn't about performance. You'll miss the richest moments in life -- the sacred moments when we feel God's grace and presence through the actual faces and hands of the people we love -- if you're too scared or too ashamed to open the door. I know it's scary, but throw open the door anyway." (p109)
As a case in point, after a dinner party and an unexpected "gift of words" for a dear friend she observes, "Sometimes food is the end and sometimes it's a means to an end, and sometimes you don't know which it is until it happens" (p 176-177)
In the chapter Baking Cookies with Batman Shauna addresses an important aspect of feeding people in our modern culture: food allergies/restrictions/sensitivities. "I used to grumble as I planned menus, trying to figure out some culinary silver bullet that would feed the gluten-free, the dairy-free, the nut-free and the pescatarian." She must face this dilemma in a personal way and I gained a new appreciation for these challenges as she drew the conclusion, "The heart of hospitality is about creating space for someone to feel seen and heard and loved...Part of that, then is honoring the way God made our bodies, and feeding them in the ways they need to be fed." (p 114)
I loved this reminder near the end of the book. "Food matters because it's one of the things that forces us to live in this world -- this tactile, physical, messy, and beautiful world -- no matter how hard we try to escape into our minds and our ideals. Food is a reminder of our humanity, our fragility, our createdness." (p 250)
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