Patricia Volk's delicious, charming, and wildly funny memoir lets us into her big, crazy, loving, cheerful, infuriating, and wonderful family, where you're never just hungry—you're starving to death, and you're never just full—you're stuffed.
Volk's family fed New York City for one hundred years, from 1888 when her great-grandfather introduced pastrami to America until 1988, when her father closed his garment center restaurant. All along, food was pretty much at the center of their lives.
But as seductively as Volk evokes the food, Stuffed is at heart a paean to her quirky, vibrant relatives: her grandmother with the "best legs in Atlantic City"; her grandfather, who invented the wrecking ball; her larger-than-life father, who sculpted snow thrones when other dads were struggling with snowmen.
Writing with great freshness and humor, Patricia Volk will leave you hungering to sit down to dinner with her robust family—both for the spectacle and for the food.
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"I quite enjoyed reading about Patricia Volk's offbeat family. She seemed to have more than her share of quirky characters at family functions! I like how she discovered so much about her ancestors, weaving the theme of food throughout. She is a fantastic storyteller who I am sure would be able to create a compelling story out of the most ordinary of circumstances. Great read!"
— Maria (4 out of 5 stars)
“This is one of those rare performances when the reader ‘becomes’ the narrator. Every word Rosenblat utters is authentic, and her tone, volume, inflection, and remarkable sense of timing bring the story to life…Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile“Volk has a gift for seeing the world in a grain of salt.”
— New York Times Book Review“In these gorgeous, generous pages...the sweetness never ends.”
— Miami Herald“What the book really memorializes so beautifully isn’t just a restaurant, or a now-vanished style of eating, but a city in its rich and juicy prime: New York.”
— New York Magazine“Rosenblat offers an impassioned reading of this delicious book.”
— Kliatt (audio review)“Emotionally luxurious and heart gladdening.”
— Kirkus Reviews" Actually listening on cd but wanted the cover to show. It's very poignant, sweet, bittersweet. Yesterday, after Disc 2, I finally gave up on this because the stories were so intense, so full of description, so filled with large portions of personalities that I could not finish it. Perhaps I could have finished if I had read it rather than listened to it. But, I felt the way I do after a large piece of fudge-overwhelmed with cloying sweetness. I know it would be a good read, a nibble at a time, but I am currently stuffed! "
— Marilou, 2/20/2014" An overview of her family with an emphasis on the foods they cooked and ate, this was a good book. Almost every chapter focused on a different family member. The only disappointment is that there was so much focus on the negative memories that the author and her parents had of their relatives, instead of the happy memories. "
— Wendy, 2/15/2014" An interesting memoir of e family who brought pastrami to NYC. Very sweet, very readable. "
— Jennifer, 2/13/2014" Not terrible, but I honestly doubt I'd have stayed with it if I had it in print rather than audio. With the subtitle, I guess I thought there'd be more about time spent in the actual restaurants and the running thereof. For most of the book she devotes one chapter to each eccentric Jewish New York relative, mostly great-aunts and great-uncles but also parents, grandparents, sister, and beloved long-term housekeeper. Parts of it are pretty interesting and/or funny, but I think someone who is Jewish or from New York or both would enjoy this much more than I. "
— Jeanette, 2/9/2014" Cute family memoir. I love NYC Jewish culture, this book really puts it out there. Also, like the food descriptions. Should eat before reading it for a long time or you'll end craving some strange things, like cucumber salad or fricassee. "
— Natalie, 2/6/2014" Patricia Volk's memoir is stunning. Her family is full of compelling, complex, flawed, beautiful characters that I started to see my family members in a different way. While food definitely plays a prominent role in Volk's life, the book is not quite the culinary memoir that I had anticipated. It's better. "
— Tara, 1/30/2014" I enjoyed this book as an audiobook from Library2Go. The narrator was perfect, with her Jewish accent and pronunciations. The story itself had very little to do with restaurants and more to do with families and familial relationships. Overall I enjoyed this book. "
— Carrie, 1/19/2014" A great summer time read- what a hoot! I laughed out loud! "
— Jean, 1/19/2014" I didn't read the reviews or really expect anything out of this book when I first started it. I just happened to pick it up at the library. It is not a restaurant memoir, it is a memoir on a family that had restaurants. Just so you know. It's delightful and an easy, quick read. "
— Rachel, 12/31/2013" I found this book to be very humorous. Events that happened in ms. Volk's family are so easily applicable to my non-Jewish family! "
— Margaret, 12/30/2013" Some of this book was really funny. Some of it was REALLY sad. Overall it was a story about an interesting family told by a woman I could identify with quite a bit. Note to my sister: you are on your own if you decide to get a facelift -- ICK! "
— Mary, 11/29/2013" It was ok... A series of vignettes about her family, with no overall story arch. Boring in places and a bit overly sentimental. "
— Hope, 11/22/2013" I'm torn between a 2 star or 3 star rating. I feel betrayed by the title. It was a good book. Maybe even great. But the title just had me wondering about restaurants. "
— Brianna, 11/22/2013" I wish it has been more restaurant and less family. I did enjoy the New York aspect, but would have appreciated more food history. "
— Robert, 5/3/2013" Patricia Volk is a baby boomer, like me. She's a little older. Many of her stories are mine stories. One chapter is devoted to all the diets that she has been on from A-Z. I've been there. Touhing story, light read. "
— Shari, 11/20/2012" The food tastes so good. "
— Amanda, 9/24/2012" A funny and touching memoir of the author's Jewish family, owners of restaurants in New York City from 1888-1988. "
— Judith, 9/22/2012" I am so in love with Patricia Volk's writing. Great read. "
— Iris, 9/8/2012" Some interesting vignettes, but overall very disjointed. I tried to get into it but eventually just lost interest. "
— Colette, 8/16/2012" If you aren't part of her family, this book should have no interest to you. I kept going on this book knowing that it had to get better. It didn't. A complete waste of time. "
— Ryan, 8/11/2012" This looks like a good book. It is for bookclub this month. I need to read it before September 14. Viva la 14 days. "
— Emily, 10/9/2011" Too much family. Not enough food. "
— Cyd, 8/6/2011" My neighbor gave me this book, which I'm glad she did because I usually just stick to fiction and this is an incredible memoir of the author and her very influential upbringing, both on her and the city of NY. Plus recipes! "
— Katie, 6/24/2011" Not usually a big fan of the memoir genre, but this one was great. Really evocative writing about food. "
— Lindsay, 4/12/2011" I LOVED this book, it made me laugh out loud and weep like a baby. It made me want to be in her family and at the same time reminded me why I LOVE my family so much. Any book that revolves around food is a hit with me. "
— Amie, 1/14/2011" Fast, interesting read. Funny, poignant family memoir without being overly sappy or shocking. Just a normal family who happened to be at the heart of New York restaurant life and history for a time. "
— Amy, 1/13/2011" I wish it has been more restaurant and less family. I did enjoy the New York aspect, but would have appreciated more food history. "
— Robert, 12/3/2010" This is a funny, but poignant memoir. She captures various members of her family in the context of what she ate with them or what they fixed for her to eat. "
— Kimberly, 12/3/2010" Little about food and really about her Jewish Family history. Boring and self-indulgent. "
— Lord, 10/13/2010" A great vacation book...quite a kick. "
— Laurie, 8/5/2010" If you aren't part of her family, this book should have no interest to you. I kept going on this book knowing that it had to get better. It didn't. A complete waste of time. "
— Ryan, 8/1/2010" Lots of fun, esp. if you are Jewish. "
— Beth, 7/16/2010" Enjoyed this book, though it's more a series of vignettes about members of the author's family. It doesn't follow a linear path, and not all of the stories are about food, per se. "
— Ann, 7/9/2010" Very enjoyable, although I wish she wouldn't have tried so hard to create extraordinariness, where the story of this ordinary family is delightful on its own. "
— Marshaferz, 5/28/2010" I LOVED reading about her large, unique family. I especially loved the parts about her relationship with her sister, father, and Uncle Hank. <br/> <br/>I can't get enough of memoirs for some reason, and this was no exception. "
— Catherine, 3/29/2010" Interesting, but didn't love it. "
— Jenn, 3/24/2010Patricia Volk is the author of the memoir Stuffed: Adventures of a Restaurant Family and four works of fiction. A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, she has written for the New York Times, the Atlantic, the New Yorker, and Playboy. She lives in New York City.
Barbara Rosenblat, one of the most awarded narrators in the business, was selected by AudioFile magazine as one of the Golden Voices of the Twentieth Century. She has received the prestigious Audie Award multiple times and has earned more than fifty AudioFile Earphones Awards. She has also appeared in film, television, and theater, both in London’s West End and on Broadway.