It reads like a celebrity food blog. There are short essays of how food offered comfort in their darkest moments. Some are followed by recipes. The photography is bright and adds to the story abstractly unlike traditional food photography.

So when I saw who was included in this book, I knew I had to check it out. I love Samantha Irby, Chelsea Peretti, Bowen Yang and Alice Waters! There were also some great stories and recipes from people I wasn't as familiar with. Some of the photos were a little interesting, I get the intent to show messiness or what the story is about though. I also wish every story had a recipe! Ultimately it was a fun little book where I found some recipes I want to try. I received an advance review copy for free and I'm leaving this review voluntarily.

Recipe for Disaster is a unique blend of memoir and cookbook. Alison Riley has pulled together stories and recipes from 40 different people. Some you will have heard of; some you may not know about. They all talk about a low point in their life or a particularly memorable moment and a food that they associate with it. Some stories are funny; some are sad. I gleaned some wonderful-sounding recipes and a few food tips (such as: make a big batch of softrito and freeze it in ice cube trays - something I used to do when I bothered to make my own pesto sauce).

In the end, I was left wanting more, so that’s probably the reason I’ve given it 3 stars instead of 4.

Thank you to NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

Enjoyed from beginning to end if your a foodie grab this book.Full of essays photos stories related to food and the place food plays in our lives,Honest open so many stories raw real open.#netgalley #chroniclebooks

Even though the reason the recipes were included were for low moments in life, this book is such a love story. A few contributors weren't all that interesting, but for the most part these were great reads and interesting recipes.

Thank you go NetGalley for the ARC for an honest review.

A very unique cookbook that features a collection of stories from the heart with a recipe to go with the story. This is a cookbook about finding your own special comfort food when times are dark. I thank Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read and review this special cookbook.

What a delightful collection of essays, photographs, and recipes describing the impact of food.

This is the perfect book to thumb around when you want to read something touching but not too heavy.

Like a shared bowl of warm soup, this heartwarming collection keeps the reader company.

Food is something that is part of a lot of my memories growing up and still to this day. I am serious, every Christmas we have challah bread French toast and it is perfect. Memories are around food from the good times and the bad times. This book is filled with those stories from people of all different walks of life. There are stories of hope and stories of times of sadness but all are centered around food and some of these recipes look so damn good. I will for sure be cooking some.


Thank you to Alison Riley, Chronicle Books and Netgalley for my advanced digital copy. All thoughts are my own.

3.5 stars. What an interesting premise: a collection of recipes, each coupled with an essay which reflects the import and meaning of the recipe and helps detail a certain event or time period in the author’s life. These essays employed a wide variety of writing styles, were written by a diverse group of people and were cleverly assembled. Although I most likely won’t make any of the recipes included here, I definitely enjoyed this read. (The photography was a bit strange, however, and definitely not the type of food photos generally found in recipe books.)

A variety of short stories from all sorts of people telling about the foods that helped them when they went through something bad - from 1950's segregation to the 2020 pandemic, and everything in between - job losses, watching a friend die from AIDs in the 1980's, being in NYC on 9/11, divorce, depression, the 2016 election and more - here we get the recipes for that perfect sandwich, soup, bread, cake or taco that helps people get through the bad times. Raw and honest but also with a sense of humor and hope, its a powerful collection, if all over the place in style, format and tone.

I had some high hopes for this book based on the cover and the description, but it just fell really flat for me. The cover seemed funny and bright, but inside the book was dark and gritty. Just a 180 I was not expecting.

The whole vibe of the book was a little too artsy for me and the imagery was just odd and off-putting, especially when thinking of food. It just felt sloppy and haphazard, maybe the stories should have just been on their own OR the photos needed to be a little more catalogue. I tried to finish it but I just felt icky and the last thing I wanted to do was try the recipes if they were in any way related to the graphics!!

If you have an oddball family member who eats food or a friend who needs an interesting coffee table book, this might be a good option. For all other intents ans purposes, I do not recommend this book!

I really enjoyed reading this book. Parts of the book reminded me of real life, which I can relate! Five stars from me. Enjoyable read!

Thank you NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the advance copy of Recipe For Disaster in return for my honest review.

This was a fun and interesting read! Very different food/cooking subject matter for a book, Famous and not-so-famous people write of a struggle they had and how specific foods and/or recipes were a comfort to them. The recipes in the book are not necessarily recipes that I would use---but they are interesting and a reminder to yourself of the foods/recipes that comfort you.

The food photography is beautiful---but a bit confusing as most of the food-related pictures have nothing to do with the recipes that are provided in the book.

I enjoyed some of the stories and just a couple of the recipes. Most are not something I would ever make. I liked that there was some artful photography as well. Food is such an important aspect for most of us, so this book makes sense. A lot of times, gathering with family involves food. Food is so comforting, so to pair stories of upsetting times with food and recipes, just makes sense. It's a quick read and good for people who like to cook. There are all varieties of recipes in this book.

I loved this book. A wonderful read from writers and chefs and musicians and artists of all kinds, all about the foods that served them solace during times of heartache, stress, worry or sadness. A great book to curl up with! It’ll make you want to roast a chicken and simmer a pot of beans!

Honestly, this was kind of disaster. It felt like it was cobbled together at the last minute and was written largely by people who didn’t know what the brief was or care about it at all. One or two essays were okay but largely they were a bunch of nothing. A few paragraphs of thought fragments, some odd interviews? It read like a group project that got slapped together 2 days before it was due. The photography included some of the most unappealing pictures of food I have ever seen.

The recipes seem fine.

Recipe for Disaster by Alison Riley is a book of varying essays, short stories, and recipes from celebrities and prominent people. I opened the book and found myself unable to stop reading it - Samantha Irby’s opener was so compelling I simply had to keep going! Overall, so enjoyable and interesting - the style changed with each entry so it kept it very quick and fun.

My one comment is the photography really didn’t seem to match the content - it felt gimmicky and random when the essays felt so honest. Don’t let that deter you though, it’s a special collection!

Thank you to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the ARC - Recipe for Disaster is out 3/14/23.

Thank you NetGalley and Chronicle Books for the copy of Recipe For Disaster. The writers share a tough time and the food they made that comforted them. I love reading cookbooks and use recipes mainly for inspiration so the addition of touching life stories was a huge plus. I’m not sure I would actually make any of the recipes, but the different recipes and why they were comforting was fascinating to me. I also like how personal some of the stories are and really appreciated the vulnerability of the writers.
I didn't really understand a number of the photos because they weren’t of the dishes and some didn’t even seem to relate to a dish or even cooking. Maybe in a physical book they wouldn’t seem so jarring, but in an ebook some of them were distracting.
This is a book I would buy for a friend going through a hard time to remind them they are not alone.

Do you eat when you are upset? Cooks when you are angry? Comfort yourself with special treats? You aren’t alone. Forty talented writers, chefs, performers, actors and more share their cooking stories in Recipe for Disaster, aptly subtitled 40 Superstar Stories of Sustenance and Survival.

Samantha Irby’s essay Rejection Chicken leads and is one of the best. These are some of the reasons why. A sad playlist called “cool funeral.” “This is a meal you are going to eat on the toilet while you weep.” “Now is a good time, while the chicken cooks, to unfollow your ex on social media.” See what I mean? The recipe follows. There are more. Bob Power slowly eats an expensive roast pig at a restaurant as Hillary Clinton loses the 2016 election. Cooking beans a certain way reminds Liz Lambert of home. As a bonus, Alice Waters shares her Chez Panisse vinaigrette recipe. Recipe for Disaster is delightful, fun to read and will make a great gift. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Chronicle Books and Alison Riley for this ARC.

Recipe for Disaster is a lovely book of short essays that depict times in a persons life where life threw them a curve ball and how food played a role in recovering from their own personal disaster Each essay is from a different person. To be honest I didn’t recognize the names of some of rhe author. But that did not affect my enjoyment of their works. I found the stories engaging and reminded me of events in my own life.

The book is a quick read. The essays are mostly two to three pages. As an added bonus recipes are included

I’d like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Qll opinions are mine and mine alone.