Gawker 
Enter your username and password.
New York, 9:31 AM
Wed Dec 2
52 posts in the last 24 hours
Tip Your Editors:
Tipline: 646-214-8138
Editor-in-Chief:
Gabriel Snyder |
West Coast Editor:
Richard Rushfield |
Contributing Editors:
Valleywag:
Ryan Tate |
Media:
Hamilton Nolan |
Politics:
Alex Pareene |
Investigations:
John Cook |
Entertainment:
Brian Moylan |
Nights:
Adrian Chen |
Azaria Jagger |
Ravi Somaiya |
Weekends:
Foster Kamer |
Video Editor:
Richard Blakeley |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
11/05/09
11/05/09
The writing was good, and the stuff about his family was poignant, but in terms of the book's focus — his weight struggles — it was kind of a bore. Frank never really suffered any consequences from his bulimia, or using amphetamines, or fad dieting.
It's not like he was hospitalized or diagnosed with some life-threatening disease, or as if there was any climactic turning point in his weight struggles at all. He basically just hired a personal trainer because some guy he flirted with at a party never called him back.
I have no idea how this can sustain a TV series. But yeah, sure, whatever. Maybe it'll be a sitcom about a food critic's wacky secret ops hijinks! Alias meets Kitchen Confidential! (Which, as far as the book goes, was, uh, a single chapter?)
And I really hate to say all of this, because I generally like Bruni. Despite some of the unflattering personal traits I've heard about from some of his colleagues. Meh.
11/05/09
Ha. That doesn't sound like Emmy material. Might have been a S&TC episode, though. #frankbruni
11/05/09
So while on the one hand, it's great for him that he was able to recognize his bad habits and curb them (helped, in part, by taking a job that forced him intro controlling food portions because it required him to eat so much), it's not a very relatable story, let alone a TV premise.
I mean, it barely even made a great book! I walked away thinking, "Well, great, so if I had lifelong weight issues, I'd just need to convince a major metropolitan newspaper to hire me as its chief dining critic so I can manage what I eat and afford a trainer!"
11/05/09
So did that guy at the party ever call him back? I'm trying to decide if I should buy the book. #frankbruni
11/05/09
Eventually he goes to report for the Times in Rome, where he learns more about portion control and shacks up with some dude while visiting Athens (which I think is the last serious relationship he talks about in the book, besides a passing mention of his current boyfriend towards the end).
It's an engaging read, and, like I said, the stuff about his family and his personal struggles are poignant, but only if you're really interested in Frank Bruni.
I'm sure people with weight or eating issues will relate to his the struggles he describes, but I don't think there's a lot in terms of pay-off or resolution (which, granted, I don't think is what Bruni was setting out to do when he wrote this).
And if you're interested in learning about his career as a food critic, the book — sadly — doesn't really reveal anything you can't find through some creative Google-fu.