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Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family
A moving reflection on motherhood, friendship, and women making their mark on the world of food from the author of Feast.
Food writer Hannah Howard is at a pivotal moment in her life when she begins searching out her fellow food people—women who’ve carved a place for themselves in a punishing, male-dominated industry. Women whose journeys have inspired and informed Hannah’s own foodie quests. On trips that take her from Milan to Bordeaux to Oslo and then always back again to her home in New York City, Hannah spends time with these influential women, learning about the intimate paths that led them each toward fulfilling careers. Each chef, entrepreneur, barista, cheesemaker, barge captain, and culinary instructor expands our long-held beliefs about how the worldwide network of food professionals and enthusiasts works.
But amid her travels, Hannah finds herself on a heart-wrenching private path. Her plans to embark on motherhood bring her through devastating lows and unimaginable highs. Hannah grapples with personal joy, loss, and a lifelong obsession with food that is laced with insecurity and darker compulsions. Looking to her food heroes for solace, companionship, and inspiration, she discovers new ways to appreciate her body and nourish her life.
At its heart, this lovely and candid memoir explores food as a point of passion and connection and as a powerful way to create community, forge friendships, and make a family.
Food writer Hannah Howard is at a pivotal moment in her life when she begins searching out her fellow food people—women who’ve carved a place for themselves in a punishing, male-dominated industry. Women whose journeys have inspired and informed Hannah’s own foodie quests. On trips that take her from Milan to Bordeaux to Oslo and then always back again to her home in New York City, Hannah spends time with these influential women, learning about the intimate paths that led them each toward fulfilling careers. Each chef, entrepreneur, barista, cheesemaker, barge captain, and culinary instructor expands our long-held beliefs about how the worldwide network of food professionals and enthusiasts works.
But amid her travels, Hannah finds herself on a heart-wrenching private path. Her plans to embark on motherhood bring her through devastating lows and unimaginable highs. Hannah grapples with personal joy, loss, and a lifelong obsession with food that is laced with insecurity and darker compulsions. Looking to her food heroes for solace, companionship, and inspiration, she discovers new ways to appreciate her body and nourish her life.
At its heart, this lovely and candid memoir explores food as a point of passion and connection and as a powerful way to create community, forge friendships, and make a family.
255 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 1, 2021
About the author
Hannah Howard
3 books135 followersHannah Howard is a writer and food expert who spent her formative years in New York eating, drinking, serving, bartending, cooking on a hot line, and flipping giant wheels of cheese in Manhattan landmarks such as Picholine and Fairway Market. She received her BA from Columbia University in creative writing and anthropology in 2009. She is currently pursuing her MFA in creative nonfiction at the Bennington Writing Seminars, where she is a recipient of the Lucy Grealy Scholarship. Her work has been published in New York Magazine, VICE, and Self. She also mentors women recovering from eating disorders by helping them build happy, healthy relationships with food and themselves. She lives in New York City.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 172 reviews
August 16, 2021
PLENTY was too much
I am sorry, knowing how hard the author worked on this book, I was exhausted reading it and wished it had been a book of essays, or journaling or short stories. I had a hard time jumping from the anorexia, to food, to travel, to a long story about another food woman…then into marriage and more words than anyone needs describing a possible miscarriage….then long story’s about friends…and on to weddings and mom and dad’s life and Pop Pop…It just was not my kind of book. I had a friend who had a food column in a local paper for years so I thought reading this would kind of let me know what kind of life she had with all their travels attending food functions world wide but it kind of ended somewhere between possible mis carriage…oh and then a lot about the dog ACE and then at the end, we got to the pandemic…yes this is a VERY recent book…right up to June 2020…..I again apologize but there will be readers out there, I hope, who will honestly enjoy this book because maybe they identify with the author…I didn’t.
I am sorry, knowing how hard the author worked on this book, I was exhausted reading it and wished it had been a book of essays, or journaling or short stories. I had a hard time jumping from the anorexia, to food, to travel, to a long story about another food woman…then into marriage and more words than anyone needs describing a possible miscarriage….then long story’s about friends…and on to weddings and mom and dad’s life and Pop Pop…It just was not my kind of book. I had a friend who had a food column in a local paper for years so I thought reading this would kind of let me know what kind of life she had with all their travels attending food functions world wide but it kind of ended somewhere between possible mis carriage…oh and then a lot about the dog ACE and then at the end, we got to the pandemic…yes this is a VERY recent book…right up to June 2020…..I again apologize but there will be readers out there, I hope, who will honestly enjoy this book because maybe they identify with the author…I didn’t.
November 20, 2021
In
Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family
, a food writer pays tribute to the women in the food industry who served as role models or mentors, juxtaposed with key events in her life.
As I’ve said before, I’m totally obsessed with food and cooking (and eating, of course), so when I see a memoir by a chef or food writer (or eater, lol), I, well, devour it. I enjoyed Hannah Howard’s last book, Feast , so I was really excited for this one.
The food industry has always been male-dominated, so Howard thought it was important to highlight the women she has met through her career—chefs, cooking teachers, restaurant/cafe owners, cheese makers, food purveyors, buyers, etc. But while each anecdote is important, Howard also shares her own struggles amidst these profiles.
She discusses what it’s like to be a woman in the food industry who has struggled with an eating disorder, and spends a significant amount of the book addressing the challenges she and her husband faced with having a child. It’s a powerful look at how even when you work in a fascinating field that people may envy, you still can face real problems.
Howard imbues her work with a great deal of emotion, and those who have struggled with fertility and/or eating disorders may find some of the book triggering. I would have liked more food-related content (I have a one-track mind), but this was an interesting read!!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
As I’ve said before, I’m totally obsessed with food and cooking (and eating, of course), so when I see a memoir by a chef or food writer (or eater, lol), I, well, devour it. I enjoyed Hannah Howard’s last book, Feast , so I was really excited for this one.
The food industry has always been male-dominated, so Howard thought it was important to highlight the women she has met through her career—chefs, cooking teachers, restaurant/cafe owners, cheese makers, food purveyors, buyers, etc. But while each anecdote is important, Howard also shares her own struggles amidst these profiles.
She discusses what it’s like to be a woman in the food industry who has struggled with an eating disorder, and spends a significant amount of the book addressing the challenges she and her husband faced with having a child. It’s a powerful look at how even when you work in a fascinating field that people may envy, you still can face real problems.
Howard imbues her work with a great deal of emotion, and those who have struggled with fertility and/or eating disorders may find some of the book triggering. I would have liked more food-related content (I have a one-track mind), but this was an interesting read!!
See all of my reviews at itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.
Follow me on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.
August 30, 2021
In Howard's first memoir, Feast, she navigates her eating disorder in her early adulthood and the beginning of her career in the food industry. Now in recovery, Howard recounts the next phases of life (getting married, trying to get pregnant, getting pregnant, getting a dog, buying a house, etc.) through her relationships with other women, mostly in the food industry, that have inspired her through their strength, determination, and love of food.
I'll be honest, I didn't enjoy this. I enjoyed her first memoir well enough, but this one was just kind of boring. She weaves her personal narrative into chapters about inspiring women she's met in the food industry -- who honestly, felt more like convenient or happenstance choices vs actually impactful or inspiring to her. This structure detracted from the memoir; it reads more like interviews done for a magazine. The bits about her life, though personal and vulnerable, felt disjointed with the other content. And I hate to say it, but the author just wasn't particularly interesting or likable. I can totally appreciate that she is a sensitive woman, and has faced hardships, but it really seems like she crumbles into tears at the slightest provocation, and generally doesn't have much personality. I don't want to be mean, but it felt like this book was rushed together & poorly edited to get done just after her pregnancy.
I'll be honest, I didn't enjoy this. I enjoyed her first memoir well enough, but this one was just kind of boring. She weaves her personal narrative into chapters about inspiring women she's met in the food industry -- who honestly, felt more like convenient or happenstance choices vs actually impactful or inspiring to her. This structure detracted from the memoir; it reads more like interviews done for a magazine. The bits about her life, though personal and vulnerable, felt disjointed with the other content. And I hate to say it, but the author just wasn't particularly interesting or likable. I can totally appreciate that she is a sensitive woman, and has faced hardships, but it really seems like she crumbles into tears at the slightest provocation, and generally doesn't have much personality. I don't want to be mean, but it felt like this book was rushed together & poorly edited to get done just after her pregnancy.
May 18, 2021
I had the honor and joy of reading this book before it officially comes out in September, and I can't recommend it highly enough —I honestly struggled to put it down!
Hannah's story exudes her passion for food and is an honest and moving memoir covering her travels to France, Spain, Oslo, and Vermont, to name a few, and meeting inspiring females from the food world along the way, including back in her hometown of Brooklyn.
Hannah endured personal pain and joy during her journey and it was written so beautifully!
Hannah is a very talented writer and storyteller and whilst I was reading it, I felt like I was in front of a cozy fire with a glass of red wine, listening to her experiences, and I felt like I wanted to give her a giant hug at the end!
As well as the personal story, as a fellow food fanatic, I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book and found it very engaging and super interesting (it also makes me want to jump in a car and drive up to the Vermont Creamery right now!).
Such a great read!
Hannah's story exudes her passion for food and is an honest and moving memoir covering her travels to France, Spain, Oslo, and Vermont, to name a few, and meeting inspiring females from the food world along the way, including back in her hometown of Brooklyn.
Hannah endured personal pain and joy during her journey and it was written so beautifully!
Hannah is a very talented writer and storyteller and whilst I was reading it, I felt like I was in front of a cozy fire with a glass of red wine, listening to her experiences, and I felt like I wanted to give her a giant hug at the end!
As well as the personal story, as a fellow food fanatic, I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of the book and found it very engaging and super interesting (it also makes me want to jump in a car and drive up to the Vermont Creamery right now!).
Such a great read!
June 28, 2021
*****This is such an enjoyable read! I didn't want the book to end.
Reading the book is like watching a movie, thanks to Hannah Howard's vivid writing style. She describes a cross-country trip with a friend in such vivid detail I felt like I was traveling with them. For those who like to live vicariously, Ms. Howard also exposes delicious "behind the scenes" snippets of kitchen jobs most people never even think about. Chiefly how ambitious chefs enjoy taking the extra steps for quality work and service even if they're at Starbucks or Whole Foods. Looking forward to seeing all the awards this scintillating food-oriented book is going to rack up.
Reading the book is like watching a movie, thanks to Hannah Howard's vivid writing style. She describes a cross-country trip with a friend in such vivid detail I felt like I was traveling with them. For those who like to live vicariously, Ms. Howard also exposes delicious "behind the scenes" snippets of kitchen jobs most people never even think about. Chiefly how ambitious chefs enjoy taking the extra steps for quality work and service even if they're at Starbucks or Whole Foods. Looking forward to seeing all the awards this scintillating food-oriented book is going to rack up.
April 14, 2022
Hannah Howard is a really good writer. She can make things that might seem banal feel alive and interesting. The book feels like previous written essays with memoir stitched in and less like a cohesive memoir in essays or memoir at all. The women in the book were interesting but the narrative arc was tough to spot.
August 30, 2021
The book “Plenty” is a memoir that looks at new motherhood, relationships, family and surviving in the world of food. Howard also authored “Feast” in 2018
“Ihave more freedom when I write fiction, but my memoirs have had a much stronger impact on my readers. Somehow the ‘message’, even if I am not even aware that there is one, is conveyed better in this form.” ~Isabel Allende
One thing that stuck me upon reading both “Feast��� and “Plenty” by Hannah Howard is that the work was extremely descriptive yet, at the same time, perfectly pared down. Howard has an incredible knack for using economy in her writing without appearing to do so. As an example, you can read a page where there is a description of food that is jarringly perfect, then next, it will give you a scene that will knock of you over with its devastating intensity.
Both of Howard’s books take no prisoners and offer a perspective that is uniquely the authors. Most of both ‘Plenty’ and ‘Feast’ are very poignant and there is a roller coaster style to her work where she drops bombshells of horrible events, or tragic events that will trigger you even if you can’t identify with them.
I won’t provide spoilers for this memoir, but I will say that there are very harrowing scenes in their intensity and simplicity. An horrible act that is seen as life-changing receives mere paragraphs and not mentioned again. That would seem somehow wrong if it were not actually like that in life. Often we are given chapters and chapters over things that cannot be changed and here Howard underlines them by not belaboring the point. We cannot feel what Howard felt, but we are allowed an understanding of what happened and can use our imagination to empathize.
Food writer Hannah Howard is a very engaging writer, and having met Howard in an interview, I have found her to be a very engaging person. Bringing this to her work, she offers an intimacy that creates a readable narrative that is not the usual “narrative dump” of most memoirs. Howard provides an intimacy that can create an empathy for her and what she endures in the book. Memoirs provide narratives that are not our own, but we find ourselves submersed in the details and identifying with the protagonist and what they went through, living in their shoes for a moment.
Howard in her writing and defining herself in her memoir comes across as both tough and vulnerable, happy and incredibly depressed, troubled but confident. It’s this complexity that makes her works so winning as she comes across as complex as most of us are and that’s what makes the memoir so readable. You wind up feeling like you know her after reading her work.
Howard spent early adult life introduced to various types of work in the food industry. Both Plenty and Feast illustrated the variety of work she’s done in restaurants, cheesemonger shops, and more. Howard outlines what the reality of what it is like to be a woman working in an intensely male-dominated industry. I was shocked at some of the behavior displayed by the male chefs in this book.
In Feast she wrote about her eating disorder with great detail. Howard actively writes about looking to her food heroes for solace, companionship, and inspiration, and in the process, finding new ways to appreciate her body and find self-healing. Howard also currently is a mentor to women recovering from eating disorders by helping them build healthier relationships with food and themselves.
Howard married a very charming British man, with a propensity for puns. She portrays him well without overdoing it, underlining his good points without overstating him in the narrative. She portrays the people in her life as flesh and blood characters. (The chapter about her “Pop-Pop” is my favorite). Again, you must remind yourself that you do not know the people in the book because you begin to feel as though they are individuals you have known for years.
Howard wrote about her previous pregnancy and miscarriage and following pregnancy in a way that was very personal and inspirational. Writing about what must has been a heartbreaking and reeling experience with open frankness that is different from other memoirs I've read where such an occurrence might have been the main narrative. Howard balances her fear and the complexity of her situation while illustrating her experiences as a woman chef balancing motherhood and career in a frequently unyielding industry.
Reading Howard’s work made me feel as though my struggles with my own “imposter syndrome” in the library world, as a person who struggles with ADHD, I often feel like I don’t belong in an academic library. While Howard’s struggles with her eating disorder are different than mine, she creates an idea that we can get through the things that plague us lifelong and triumph after all. So often in the narrative of the story Howard soldiered on when confronted with things that would cripple another and still she rose to triumph. Her perseverence and honesty are admirable and one can find much inspiration in her story.
I’m looking forward to the next book by Hannah Howard. I enjoy her work very much and hope that she has a long career as a writer. I get so much enjoyment from her work as I know you will.
“Ihave more freedom when I write fiction, but my memoirs have had a much stronger impact on my readers. Somehow the ‘message’, even if I am not even aware that there is one, is conveyed better in this form.” ~Isabel Allende
One thing that stuck me upon reading both “Feast��� and “Plenty” by Hannah Howard is that the work was extremely descriptive yet, at the same time, perfectly pared down. Howard has an incredible knack for using economy in her writing without appearing to do so. As an example, you can read a page where there is a description of food that is jarringly perfect, then next, it will give you a scene that will knock of you over with its devastating intensity.
Both of Howard’s books take no prisoners and offer a perspective that is uniquely the authors. Most of both ‘Plenty’ and ‘Feast’ are very poignant and there is a roller coaster style to her work where she drops bombshells of horrible events, or tragic events that will trigger you even if you can’t identify with them.
I won’t provide spoilers for this memoir, but I will say that there are very harrowing scenes in their intensity and simplicity. An horrible act that is seen as life-changing receives mere paragraphs and not mentioned again. That would seem somehow wrong if it were not actually like that in life. Often we are given chapters and chapters over things that cannot be changed and here Howard underlines them by not belaboring the point. We cannot feel what Howard felt, but we are allowed an understanding of what happened and can use our imagination to empathize.
Food writer Hannah Howard is a very engaging writer, and having met Howard in an interview, I have found her to be a very engaging person. Bringing this to her work, she offers an intimacy that creates a readable narrative that is not the usual “narrative dump” of most memoirs. Howard provides an intimacy that can create an empathy for her and what she endures in the book. Memoirs provide narratives that are not our own, but we find ourselves submersed in the details and identifying with the protagonist and what they went through, living in their shoes for a moment.
Howard in her writing and defining herself in her memoir comes across as both tough and vulnerable, happy and incredibly depressed, troubled but confident. It’s this complexity that makes her works so winning as she comes across as complex as most of us are and that’s what makes the memoir so readable. You wind up feeling like you know her after reading her work.
Howard spent early adult life introduced to various types of work in the food industry. Both Plenty and Feast illustrated the variety of work she’s done in restaurants, cheesemonger shops, and more. Howard outlines what the reality of what it is like to be a woman working in an intensely male-dominated industry. I was shocked at some of the behavior displayed by the male chefs in this book.
In Feast she wrote about her eating disorder with great detail. Howard actively writes about looking to her food heroes for solace, companionship, and inspiration, and in the process, finding new ways to appreciate her body and find self-healing. Howard also currently is a mentor to women recovering from eating disorders by helping them build healthier relationships with food and themselves.
Howard married a very charming British man, with a propensity for puns. She portrays him well without overdoing it, underlining his good points without overstating him in the narrative. She portrays the people in her life as flesh and blood characters. (The chapter about her “Pop-Pop” is my favorite). Again, you must remind yourself that you do not know the people in the book because you begin to feel as though they are individuals you have known for years.
Howard wrote about her previous pregnancy and miscarriage and following pregnancy in a way that was very personal and inspirational. Writing about what must has been a heartbreaking and reeling experience with open frankness that is different from other memoirs I've read where such an occurrence might have been the main narrative. Howard balances her fear and the complexity of her situation while illustrating her experiences as a woman chef balancing motherhood and career in a frequently unyielding industry.
Reading Howard’s work made me feel as though my struggles with my own “imposter syndrome” in the library world, as a person who struggles with ADHD, I often feel like I don’t belong in an academic library. While Howard’s struggles with her eating disorder are different than mine, she creates an idea that we can get through the things that plague us lifelong and triumph after all. So often in the narrative of the story Howard soldiered on when confronted with things that would cripple another and still she rose to triumph. Her perseverence and honesty are admirable and one can find much inspiration in her story.
I’m looking forward to the next book by Hannah Howard. I enjoy her work very much and hope that she has a long career as a writer. I get so much enjoyment from her work as I know you will.
January 29, 2022
I'm not sure that everyone who wants to write a memoir should actually write a memoir, especially when they're considerably young (40's and below). The fact that Hannah Howard (who I presume is in her mid-30's) has now written TWO memoirs just seems like a little overkill to me, and even more so after reading "Plenty."
Plenty feels like a few different things: a meditation on what life in eating disorder recovery is like, a series of profiles on women in the food industry, and a log of the ups and downs of Howard's first pregnancy. The problem is that none of these things are really done well, or even attempt to connect with each other. You can see when talking about the various women she describes that Howard is a good writer, and that she has a lot of experience profiling chefs, cheesemakers, etc. but the women for whom she names each chapter after rarely make a second appearance in the book, or even receive closure on their stories. More often than not, each chapter goes like this: I went on a trip to a village in Europe and met (insert women's name here). She was warm and inviting and told me how she got started in (corner of food industry) with her husband/partner/man friend. It was hard at first, but now she's thriving. We enjoyed great conversation over logs of goat cheese and creamy pesto. I was pregnant but sipping wine and brandy and bourbon and margaritas. I couldn't wait to get home and see my husband, Tony.
And that's it. That's the whole book. Look, I love travelling and I love good food, and I really did enjoy the descriptions of both, but without a central point, the book got so repetitive. I just don't really understand why Howard wrote this book, and I don't think she knows either. This whole thing would have worked better as a series of Intagram posts on her personal page; fun dinners with friends, updates on her pregnancy, portraits of how much she loves her husband and dog, apartment design ideas... I don't know. This book just didn't do it for me. I could have spent thirty seconds scrolling through snapshots rather than five days reading about it and come away with the same things.
Plenty feels like a few different things: a meditation on what life in eating disorder recovery is like, a series of profiles on women in the food industry, and a log of the ups and downs of Howard's first pregnancy. The problem is that none of these things are really done well, or even attempt to connect with each other. You can see when talking about the various women she describes that Howard is a good writer, and that she has a lot of experience profiling chefs, cheesemakers, etc. but the women for whom she names each chapter after rarely make a second appearance in the book, or even receive closure on their stories. More often than not, each chapter goes like this: I went on a trip to a village in Europe and met (insert women's name here). She was warm and inviting and told me how she got started in (corner of food industry) with her husband/partner/man friend. It was hard at first, but now she's thriving. We enjoyed great conversation over logs of goat cheese and creamy pesto. I was pregnant but sipping wine and brandy and bourbon and margaritas. I couldn't wait to get home and see my husband, Tony.
And that's it. That's the whole book. Look, I love travelling and I love good food, and I really did enjoy the descriptions of both, but without a central point, the book got so repetitive. I just don't really understand why Howard wrote this book, and I don't think she knows either. This whole thing would have worked better as a series of Intagram posts on her personal page; fun dinners with friends, updates on her pregnancy, portraits of how much she loves her husband and dog, apartment design ideas... I don't know. This book just didn't do it for me. I could have spent thirty seconds scrolling through snapshots rather than five days reading about it and come away with the same things.
September 1, 2021
Memoir of a woman surrounded by women, loving and making food. She loves her cheese and reminds me of a friend. The first two thirds of the book were difficult to place in time and I kept wondering just what year we were in. Until the last chapter when were were in the beginning of the pandemic and things were clear. First book to read about living during COVID.
3.5 stars rounded up for that last chapter that finally put time in place.
3.5 stars rounded up for that last chapter that finally put time in place.
August 16, 2021
Enjoyable memoir
I gave this book three stars because I felt that the story meandered and that perhaps the author may be a bit too young to already be writing a memoir. I was expecting a book more like Ruth R’s Garlic and Sapphires I guess. This book was marginally entertaining but lacked some depth.
I gave this book three stars because I felt that the story meandered and that perhaps the author may be a bit too young to already be writing a memoir. I was expecting a book more like Ruth R’s Garlic and Sapphires I guess. This book was marginally entertaining but lacked some depth.
August 18, 2021
The foodie in me loved the memoir overview. But I wonder what made her story so special/unique that made her want to share it? It was a little bit information overload. Deviated from her story and shared a lot of side stories. It was ok but the ending seemed super abrupt.
December 21, 2021
Do you enjoy reading books that center around food?
I have become increasingly obsessed with food books, and PLENTY was a scrumptious memoir!
Howard, a food writer, wonderfully pays tribute to women in the male dominated food industry, covers her travels, passion for food and friends, family and personal battles along the way with honesty and intrigue. The foodie in me gobbled this right up!
A warning: discussion of eating disorders and struggles to have a baby. I appreciated how she was open and honedt about these issues.
Thank you to @thomasallenltd for sending me this book opinions are my own.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
I have become increasingly obsessed with food books, and PLENTY was a scrumptious memoir!
Howard, a food writer, wonderfully pays tribute to women in the male dominated food industry, covers her travels, passion for food and friends, family and personal battles along the way with honesty and intrigue. The foodie in me gobbled this right up!
A warning: discussion of eating disorders and struggles to have a baby. I appreciated how she was open and honedt about these issues.
Thank you to @thomasallenltd for sending me this book opinions are my own.
For more of my book content check out instagram.com/bookalong
August 18, 2021
A time slice of life through the eyes of many
I received this book via Amazon first reads as I was interested in checking out a memoir and it was timed near perfectly. Though I started reading with mixed feelings the topics and the people within quickly grew on me. I could see the author’s life develop and blossom through the many friends and family who came and went through the chapters. From heartbreak to euphoria, from blandness to gastronomic pleasure, from the hustle of planes, trains, and taxis to the solitude brought in by a virus, the book connects, accelerates, yet deposits comfortably to the next chapter (of Hannah’s life)
I started with three but end with five, unequivocal, stars.
I received this book via Amazon first reads as I was interested in checking out a memoir and it was timed near perfectly. Though I started reading with mixed feelings the topics and the people within quickly grew on me. I could see the author’s life develop and blossom through the many friends and family who came and went through the chapters. From heartbreak to euphoria, from blandness to gastronomic pleasure, from the hustle of planes, trains, and taxis to the solitude brought in by a virus, the book connects, accelerates, yet deposits comfortably to the next chapter (of Hannah’s life)
I started with three but end with five, unequivocal, stars.
May 25, 2022
This book wasn’t unpleasant to read, but it lacked focus and didn’t, to me, deliver what was promised. This is a memoir, which to my understanding means it covers a particular aspect of someone’s life. Was this about the author’s food mentors? Her eating disorder? Her ability to have a baby? Her search for a home? Her dog? While all these things might interweave as part of the total story (food mentors, motherhood, and eating disorders WERE mentioned in the book summary), I often felt that they didn’t get woven together, but were just laid side by side. And the food mentors sections were lacking. The author did a good job of describing these women and what they did in their careers, and why what they all did was important in some way, but I never felt that these women were her mentors. It read, again to me, as a personal journalistic presentation of the women, with no mention that I could recognize as to how they mentored the author. I think a good editor could have helped the author clean up this book to be far better and to deliver on its promises.
November 12, 2021
Plenty was a fine book. I did really enjoy listening to Hannah’s stories about life, her love/hate relationship with her body and, of course, food. I mean who doesn’t want to hear stories about cheese?? 🧀
With all that said, I lost interest multiple times with this book. I think some of that was attributed to stories just going on for a really long time, but some of the issue was because there were stories that ended being about other people and their backstories and that just didn’t really fit with the whole concept of the memoir in my opinion. The timeline also hopped around a lot, which I know a memoir is more about the stories than an actual timeline but a new story would start while simultaneously leaving another story hanging, and that just wasn’t very enjoyable.
Overall this book really was fine. The stories that were good and heartwarming definitely outweighed any annoyances I had while listening to this so I would say this book is still worth a try. 😊
With all that said, I lost interest multiple times with this book. I think some of that was attributed to stories just going on for a really long time, but some of the issue was because there were stories that ended being about other people and their backstories and that just didn’t really fit with the whole concept of the memoir in my opinion. The timeline also hopped around a lot, which I know a memoir is more about the stories than an actual timeline but a new story would start while simultaneously leaving another story hanging, and that just wasn’t very enjoyable.
Overall this book really was fine. The stories that were good and heartwarming definitely outweighed any annoyances I had while listening to this so I would say this book is still worth a try. 😊
September 27, 2022
I am reading this for a book club, but I’ll be honest, it was not really what I expected. I thought it would be more about food and as a memoir I expected an older author. Kind of like “Eat Pray Love.” It felt like I was overhearing someone’s conversations. I am positive the moments shared were huge to the author and anyone who knows her personally, but it felt very “Dear Diary…” to me. I did however love the descriptions of food and locations and the side stories of other foodies she formed bonds with. Made me want to travel just to eat.
August 1, 2021
Unique, Personal Look at Food, Friends, and Family
As a total foodie who once worked in the industry, I found this food, friends, and family memoir an engrossing read. In the introductory chapters, the author details her sometimes difficult relationship with food. She's a food professional who had an eating disorder that many women—inside and outside the food industry—could understand. She is brutally honest about how this affected her body, mind, and actions. This memoir is not only about the author but about female friends (peers) in the industry. The book globe-trots and state-hops, adding to the fun. The author has a fantastic way of showing us her relationships with these other unsung, often mistreated food industry women. As a reader, I felt I got to know them as well as the author, easing into each story because of the author’s smooth and easy-to-read style. I could even “taste” the foods described; I love it when food writing does that. The author weaves in a few other subjects as well, like her struggle to start a family and our fat-phobic culture. From my description, it might sound like this book is comprised of disparate parts, but the author pulls everything together and makes it work. If you've worked in the food industry, you will probably see aspects of your experiences reflected here. I could not put the book down. Highly recommended.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
As a total foodie who once worked in the industry, I found this food, friends, and family memoir an engrossing read. In the introductory chapters, the author details her sometimes difficult relationship with food. She's a food professional who had an eating disorder that many women—inside and outside the food industry—could understand. She is brutally honest about how this affected her body, mind, and actions. This memoir is not only about the author but about female friends (peers) in the industry. The book globe-trots and state-hops, adding to the fun. The author has a fantastic way of showing us her relationships with these other unsung, often mistreated food industry women. As a reader, I felt I got to know them as well as the author, easing into each story because of the author’s smooth and easy-to-read style. I could even “taste” the foods described; I love it when food writing does that. The author weaves in a few other subjects as well, like her struggle to start a family and our fat-phobic culture. From my description, it might sound like this book is comprised of disparate parts, but the author pulls everything together and makes it work. If you've worked in the food industry, you will probably see aspects of your experiences reflected here. I could not put the book down. Highly recommended.
My book blog: https://www.readingfanaticreviews.com
July 14, 2021
I had the pleasure of reading an advance copy of Hannah Howard’s upcoming book Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family. Hannah is a beautiful writer and this memoir tells her story, with a focus on the women in food she meets along the way. As someone who really values friendship, I loved seeing these women as major parts of her story. She discusses eating disorder recovery, miscarriage and eventually the birth of her daughter with honesty and hope. I didn’t want to put it down.
March 29, 2022
I loved this. It was an enjoyable read. The main plot is the food/restaurant world and the strong women that the author has come to love and respect. The ending took me by surprise, but I'm the best way. The last chapter was about bringing her daughter into the world - as my youngest is a mutual pandemic baby, it hit me right in the feels as she does a beautiful job describing the pain and joy and chaos and beauty of bringing life into the world.
June 3, 2021
This book makes me smile the entire time I'm reading it. I brought it with me to Ghana and enjoyed every minute of reading while I felt I was being transported to other countries around the globe! Hannah's writing literally makes me feel warm in my being and I've enjoyed savoring this book the way Hannah describes so beautifully savoring every victual and each pivotal life moment along the way!
December 18, 2021
I enjoyed this read very much, but am giving it only 3 stars because I was left wanting more yumminess. I did not feel full or completely satiated at the end. I wanted more! I understand that her earlier book is/may be better and so I look forward to reading that one. Hannah is a beautiful writer and really brought me into her story. I could feel the emotions and taste the foods. A fun read!
February 9, 2022
I enjoyed this a lot and enjoyed all the tips for where to eat in New York! It seemed disjointed rather than a cohesive narrative, which wasn't bad necessarily but interrupted the flow and sometimes made it difficult to follow the timeline. It was unclear how exactly she overcame her eating disorder. Overall an enjoyable read about the food industry and life.
July 18, 2022
I love Hannah Howard and couldn’t put Feast down, so when I saw Plenty, I ordered it immediately. I find her love of food complicated by body image issues endlessly relatable, and her immense talent as a writer shines through in Plenty. This book is perfect for anyone who loves food and friendship. I hope this isn’t Howard’s last memoir.
August 4, 2021
4.25. A very delightful book about the power of food, friends, and family (with a major focus on cheese). The author struggled with an eating disorder for years, so it was surprising she ended up in the food business. However, you can feel her profound love of food grow as she tames her eating disorder. Happy reading.
August 2, 2021
I loved Hannah Howard’s first book Feast and unsurprisingly also loved her follow-up, Plenty. It’s a book of essays about her travels to meet impressive women in the food world, all while she and her husband try to start a family. She writes soulfully and beautifully and tenderly, and explores very tough topics in such a gentle and relatable way. Her books are so very human and thought provoking — and her descriptions of food, once again, are mouth watering. Truly this book is a treat, and I can’t wait to read whatever she creates next.
April 18, 2023
If you told me I'd be getting emotional reading about a food writer's passion for food, I wouldn't have believed you. I highly recommend you pick this book up...
June 26, 2021
Public discourse, especially in the food industry, has centered on dismantling unjust structures that perpetuate sexism, racism, and classicism, and Hannah Howard’s coming book Plenty adds another dimension to the conversation about women’s codified roles in food.
The Food World has been dominated by a punishing, patriarchal system for a long time, but recently it has begun to unravel, and allow for marginalized voices, including women to emerge. In Howard’s latest memoir, Plenty, she recounts her conversations with women chefs, cheesemakers, barge captains and more about how they rose through the male-dominated food industry to claim their place. In a world where women like Hannah Selinger can reckon with predatory and abusive work environments created by chef David Chang, the journeys of the women Howard chronicles are important threads of the larger story of gender, race, and class disparity that is being written far beyond the celebrity kitchens we read about.
There were many points I felt kinship with Howard’s journey while reading. I too worked in and owned restaurants forever. I have always loved and hated food—the wonder of new ingredients, the community it can create, the satisfying feeling of bringing something from raw material to a fully transformed dish was always at war with my broken body image and constant feeling that eating would make me uglier. Howard has a line that sums this push-pull, “Food could make us whole, even if just for a minute, and it could break us into pieces.” Beyond my own internal struggles though, I keenly understood the battles many of the women she wrote about had with the insidious discrimination rampant in the food industry.
Like Paola, I eventually opened my own business to not just escape the constant harassment, lack of opportunity, and lack of support for women in the food industry. An important point Howard introduces with Paola’s story is how women are making space for what they value in food. For Paola it was talking and sharing about food, going to the library to research and read about it, and traveling to experience it in other places. For me it was being able to provide a place where other women who struggled with childcare, who wanted to explore their own point of view, and wanted a space where they felt safe to work free of constant crude comments and unwanted touches could work in an industry they loved.
The chapter where Howard talked about her experience at Parabere Forum sent me straight to the internet. A conference that brings together women food activists, chefs, farmers, and sommeliers to commune over the food industry sounded like a dream. “Despite the patriarchy, these women in food had seen new possibilities and carved out paths to do meaningful, creative work, to nourish each other and the world with food and purpose and potential,” Howard wrote. I wanted to be a part of this community.
Plenty traverses so many experiences of women who choose to work in the food industry in its 239 pages. Howard’s struggle with motherhood weaves another aspect of longing to her narrative. The ups and downs of her life are relatable and endearing. Readers will feel her loss of Sweet Pea and cheer the moment Simone makes her way into the world. This book will nourish readers who have felt oppressed by an industry they have given their heart and soul to, for people who struggle with their self-esteem and body image, for those who long for a family, and in a larger sense, for everyone seeking a community where they belong.
The Food World has been dominated by a punishing, patriarchal system for a long time, but recently it has begun to unravel, and allow for marginalized voices, including women to emerge. In Howard’s latest memoir, Plenty, she recounts her conversations with women chefs, cheesemakers, barge captains and more about how they rose through the male-dominated food industry to claim their place. In a world where women like Hannah Selinger can reckon with predatory and abusive work environments created by chef David Chang, the journeys of the women Howard chronicles are important threads of the larger story of gender, race, and class disparity that is being written far beyond the celebrity kitchens we read about.
There were many points I felt kinship with Howard’s journey while reading. I too worked in and owned restaurants forever. I have always loved and hated food—the wonder of new ingredients, the community it can create, the satisfying feeling of bringing something from raw material to a fully transformed dish was always at war with my broken body image and constant feeling that eating would make me uglier. Howard has a line that sums this push-pull, “Food could make us whole, even if just for a minute, and it could break us into pieces.” Beyond my own internal struggles though, I keenly understood the battles many of the women she wrote about had with the insidious discrimination rampant in the food industry.
Like Paola, I eventually opened my own business to not just escape the constant harassment, lack of opportunity, and lack of support for women in the food industry. An important point Howard introduces with Paola’s story is how women are making space for what they value in food. For Paola it was talking and sharing about food, going to the library to research and read about it, and traveling to experience it in other places. For me it was being able to provide a place where other women who struggled with childcare, who wanted to explore their own point of view, and wanted a space where they felt safe to work free of constant crude comments and unwanted touches could work in an industry they loved.
The chapter where Howard talked about her experience at Parabere Forum sent me straight to the internet. A conference that brings together women food activists, chefs, farmers, and sommeliers to commune over the food industry sounded like a dream. “Despite the patriarchy, these women in food had seen new possibilities and carved out paths to do meaningful, creative work, to nourish each other and the world with food and purpose and potential,” Howard wrote. I wanted to be a part of this community.
Plenty traverses so many experiences of women who choose to work in the food industry in its 239 pages. Howard’s struggle with motherhood weaves another aspect of longing to her narrative. The ups and downs of her life are relatable and endearing. Readers will feel her loss of Sweet Pea and cheer the moment Simone makes her way into the world. This book will nourish readers who have felt oppressed by an industry they have given their heart and soul to, for people who struggle with their self-esteem and body image, for those who long for a family, and in a larger sense, for everyone seeking a community where they belong.
February 13, 2022
A beautiful memoir! I loved all of the descriptions of food and the emotions of impending motherhood.
July 31, 2021
Hannah Howard’s Plenty
Have you ever wanted to travel the world on a culinary treasure hunt? Hannah Howard takes us along her journey sharing the sights, sounds, smells and “feels” that go with the territory, or terroir, if you will, in her new memoir Plenty: A Memoir of Food and Family.
While Feast, Hannah’s first memoir, brought us inside the very personal and often challenging world of a young writer, finding her way in a tough and gritty business while balancing life, love and an eating disorder. Feast set the stage how Hannah evolved, with sheer force and determination, into the writer she is today.
Plenty is an uplifting memoir from one of the most prodigious food writers of the day. From the very first page we are invited to stand right along Hannah as she winds her way around NYC and the world at large sharing her adventures in food travel. She is the greatest friend to travel with as she shares her love and deep dive into the provenance of her subjects and their makers.
In Plenty we meet visionaries, producers, chefs, friends and family, all who have inspired and impacted Hannah’s journey
The warp and weft of Hannah’s writing creates a literal, hand-knit blanket of emotions and experience. Through Hannah’s eyes and heart we feel the texture of NYC, and the uniqueness that is Brooklyn. We travel to incredible destinations, Italy, Spain, England and beyond while Hannah adds layers. She adeptly tells the stories of many strong women weaving their experience and challenges around her own deeply personal growth and struggle to build a life, a career and a family.
Plenty is thoroughly fulfilling in a uniquely personal and intimate way. It is a journey you don’t want to end. Hannah is an intellectually curious and vulnerable lover of life. How lucky we are to be packed up in her suitcase for this global, deeply satisfying adventure. Plenty extols the virtues of womanhood and is quietly incredibly impactful through the stories of Rachel, Paola, Manal, Janise, Wendy, Allison, Haylee and SImone.
The richness of Plenty must be shared with friends and family as it is a celebration of both.
August 27, 2021
I enjoyed this memoir-ish book about women in food. The food writer author reflects on her personal life and those who have impressed and inspired her. Some intriguing tales, but a bit choppy and disconnected at times. Still, some food to try and potential places to visit.
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