Play Book Tag discussion

When the author was 3 years old he contracted tuberculosis along with his older sister Linda and his mother. Living in a tiny village in Ethiopia there was no medical care available causing the mother to walk with her two children 75 miles to a hospital. Unfortunately his mother succumbed to the disease while Marcus and Linda recovered. A year later they were adopted by a Swedish family who welcomed the children wholeheartedly into their family. Here, at his grandmother's side, Marcus learned to love food which would become his lifelong passion. Through the years he would work at many different restaurants in several countries perfecting his craft with a strong sense of what makes a pleasing dish and a great deal of ambition. He did suffer racism at times as black chefs were nearly unheard of. Eventually he became head chef at a restaurant in New York City and finally opening the restaurant of his heart, the Red Rooster in Harlem.

I'm glad to see your review as I am presently reading it. I am at the point of his teenage years when he joins a soccer club.

He's had quite an interesting life so I hope you enjoy it, too. I can't say I would be in a hurry to try some of the dishes he created but I feel that way about most fancy fancy foods.

Red Rooster Harlem is actually only 20 or so blocks from my apartment and thus a local place for me. His food there is superb - American, especially southern, comfort.

I read this autobiography several years ago and I was impressed with how unflinching he was in portraying his youthful mistakes, especially his failure to be in his first child's life (from an interlude in his youth). Plus his journey to discovering more about his African roots. Just an amazing story.