Tender at the Bone: Growing Up at the Table

Chef, food critic, and author Ruth Reichl is the author and narrator of the memoir Tender at the Bone. Reichl’s depiction of herself as a child emphasizes both her feelings of being neglected by her parents and the early development of her interest in food as an ethic of care in opposition to what she portrays as her mother’s careless self-involvement. The narrative follows these threads as Reichl ages into adolescence and early adulthood. It shows Reichl becoming more rebellious and eventually distancing herself from her parents. As the young Reichl educates herself about food, she is also learning about how she wants to be in the world, and her approach to cooking is inextricable from her immersion in artist and activist communities as she seeks alternatives to the thoughtless consumerism she sees in mainstream US culture. By the time the memoir ends, Reichl is an independent adult, married to artist Doug Hollis, and enjoying success as a cook and professional food critic.

Since this memoir centers the building of both personal and professional identity, Reichl devotes narrative attention to the friends, colleagues, and family members who helped form her ideas about life and food.