Adam D. Roberts
Goodreads Author
Born
in Oceanside, NY, The United States
Website
Twitter
Genre
Member Since
October 2012
URL
https://www.goodreads.com/amateurgourmet
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Food Person
5 editions
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published
2025
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The Amateur Gourmet: How to Shop, Chop, and Table Hop Like a Pro
7 editions
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published
2007
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Secrets of the Best Chefs: Recipes, Techniques, and Tricks from America’s Greatest Cooks
9 editions
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published
2012
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Give My Swiss Chards to Broadway: The Broadway Lover's Cookbook
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* Note: these are all the books on Goodreads for this author. To add more, click here.
Adam’s Recent Updates
"love books about restaurants, chefs, cooking, food, and all the other related topics. This compelling story had everything and more: Isabella, our main character, and Molly, our once popular soap opera actress who’s somewhat down on her luck due to s"
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"5 | I picked this up at Blue Willow Bookshop in Houston and ended up buddy reading with my mom (and also Katie and Kim, too! <3). I hadn’t heard of it, but even before reading the summary saw blurbs from Steven Rowley and J. Ryan Stradal and knew the"
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"Thank you @aaknopf and @amateurgourmet for the gifted copy
I read FOOD PERSON by Adam Roberts and I’m OBSESSED. Imagine if The Bear and Emily in Paris had a book baby, and it was ghostwriting a cookbook for a scandal-prone ex-starlet who thinks burrat" Read more of this review » |
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"I'm shocked by how much I liked this book (in a good way).
And no, it's not just because this cover is so fantastic that I would literally frame it and hang it on my wall. (Can I? Seriously. I would buy a print. Gonna hunt down a hard copy of this boo" Read more of this review » |
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Adam Roberts
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Adam Roberts
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An excellent, bird's eye view of a genius chef going through a personal, professional crisis. Noma suffered a scandal in 2013 when Norovirus sickened a bunch of guests and Rene Redzepi, who was perched on the highest peak of the culinary world, took ...more | |
Adam Roberts
is currently reading
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Adam Roberts
rated a book it was amazing
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James McBride is such an exuberant, joyful storyteller, he could write a novel about oatmeal and I'd read it. This book is a marvel: expansive, complex, and rich while also being something of a page-turner. The way McBride jumps perspectives, culture ...more | |
Adam Roberts
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“If I just do Molly's book, it'll go uncredited. No one will know that I worked on it. It'll do nothing for me or my career. I may as well have not written anything at all."
"But is that what this is all about for you? You and your career? Is that why you became a writer, so that people would know who you are? Or was it to do work that matters?"
This was spilling over into the same debate that they'd had on their first date. Gabe was comfortable in the shadows, setting his ego aside and staying out of the limelight. But was Gabe doing the honorable thing or the cowardly thing? What kind of career could you have--- as either a chef or a writer--- if nobody knew who you were? Isabella wasn't sure that she wanted to give up her shot at the limelight just yet.
"You can be a well-known writer who does good, meaningful work... They're not mutually exclusive," countered Isabella.
"Is it good, meaningful work when you're betraying someone who trusts you? To expose all of their secrets and stories from their private life?"
That one stung.
"It's not a betrayal when you're telling the truth," argued Isabella, repositioning herself to face Gabe.
"If someone lets you into their world," said Gabe, rolling to face her, "isn't there a presumption of privacy? I can't imagine writing a tell-all about any of the chefs that I've worked for, even when the chef was shitty. Nobody in my industry would ever do that."
"Of course they would! Haven't you ever seen The Bear?"
"The Bear's a TV show."
"But it started as a book."
"I'm pretty sure it didn't."
"The point is," said a flustered Isabella, getting out of bed, "the right choice will be obvious to me when it's time."
She said it with such conviction she almost believed it herself.
"The right choice is obvious to me now.”
― Food Person
"But is that what this is all about for you? You and your career? Is that why you became a writer, so that people would know who you are? Or was it to do work that matters?"
This was spilling over into the same debate that they'd had on their first date. Gabe was comfortable in the shadows, setting his ego aside and staying out of the limelight. But was Gabe doing the honorable thing or the cowardly thing? What kind of career could you have--- as either a chef or a writer--- if nobody knew who you were? Isabella wasn't sure that she wanted to give up her shot at the limelight just yet.
"You can be a well-known writer who does good, meaningful work... They're not mutually exclusive," countered Isabella.
"Is it good, meaningful work when you're betraying someone who trusts you? To expose all of their secrets and stories from their private life?"
That one stung.
"It's not a betrayal when you're telling the truth," argued Isabella, repositioning herself to face Gabe.
"If someone lets you into their world," said Gabe, rolling to face her, "isn't there a presumption of privacy? I can't imagine writing a tell-all about any of the chefs that I've worked for, even when the chef was shitty. Nobody in my industry would ever do that."
"Of course they would! Haven't you ever seen The Bear?"
"The Bear's a TV show."
"But it started as a book."
"I'm pretty sure it didn't."
"The point is," said a flustered Isabella, getting out of bed, "the right choice will be obvious to me when it's time."
She said it with such conviction she almost believed it herself.
"The right choice is obvious to me now.”
― Food Person
“Can't we just agree to disagree?" she asked.
"It's a little bigger than that," said Gabe as he got into bed.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, it's making me question your character.”
― Food Person
"It's a little bigger than that," said Gabe as he got into bed.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning, it's making me question your character.”
― Food Person
“I'm not sure why you gave me such a personal book if you cared about it so much."
Isabella's fuse, famously long, now blew in an instant.
"I gave it to you... because I thought that maybe, somewhere, inside of you... there was the tiniest semblance of a soul."
Isabella's cheeks were bright red, as was her neck, as hot tears filled her eyes.
"What did you say?"
"I thought that maybe... maybe beneath all of the... all of the hair products and the lip gloss and the eye shadow," said Isabella, her voice shaking, along with her hands, "there was an actual human being inside of you. But... there's nothing human about you."
The look on Molly's face was one of both shock and awe at the fury stirred up in Isabella.
"You're just... an empty vessel. You're all exterior. And you'll never write a great cookbook or do anything great in your life, because... because whatever part of you was human, whatever part of you existed that could connect with other people, is gone and it's all been replaced by... by... Botox."
Isabella put her mug down and headed for the door. Molly, too stunned to speak, watched her.
As Isabella pulled open the handle, she turned back one last time:
"Good luck with the cookbook. You can delete me from your phone. I'm going to keep you in mine and change your name to an emoji, just like you did with me. Only your emoji is going to be... it's going to be a smiling piece of shit!”
― Food Person
Isabella's fuse, famously long, now blew in an instant.
"I gave it to you... because I thought that maybe, somewhere, inside of you... there was the tiniest semblance of a soul."
Isabella's cheeks were bright red, as was her neck, as hot tears filled her eyes.
"What did you say?"
"I thought that maybe... maybe beneath all of the... all of the hair products and the lip gloss and the eye shadow," said Isabella, her voice shaking, along with her hands, "there was an actual human being inside of you. But... there's nothing human about you."
The look on Molly's face was one of both shock and awe at the fury stirred up in Isabella.
"You're just... an empty vessel. You're all exterior. And you'll never write a great cookbook or do anything great in your life, because... because whatever part of you was human, whatever part of you existed that could connect with other people, is gone and it's all been replaced by... by... Botox."
Isabella put her mug down and headed for the door. Molly, too stunned to speak, watched her.
As Isabella pulled open the handle, she turned back one last time:
"Good luck with the cookbook. You can delete me from your phone. I'm going to keep you in mine and change your name to an emoji, just like you did with me. Only your emoji is going to be... it's going to be a smiling piece of shit!”
― Food Person
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Sharon
Oct 12, 2012 01:41PM

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