Allison Riley has put together a collection with an intriguing theme: personal stories of disastrous life experiences and the foods and recipes that made these experiences more bearable.
The most celebrated of this individuals is probably Alice Walker, who provides her recipe for vinaigrette (simple but elegant) and Sarah Silverman, who relates how (store bought) chocolate covered pinwheel cookies saved her during her first experience of severe depression.
All the stories are clearly heartfelt and revealing, sometimes raw; like potato chips, you cannot stop at one.
Illustrations are beautiful and inventively complement the stories. Recommended for lovers of food and personal anecdotes.

I have to admit it. What really attracted me to this book was the cover. But what kept me interested were the essays (and the recipes). Recipe for Disaster is a collection of essays from a wide range of people from the worlds of the arts, food, activism, culture, etc. and they're generally geared toward comfort food. While I may not have heard of many of the writers, their stories were generally interesting and, in several cases like Michael Twitty, very touching. There's a great diversity of writers and recipes, which are as simple as a fruit cup or tuna sandwich. But what is really striking are the photographs in the book - definitely not the typical food styling you see in many food-related books.
I was happy to see that Jacqueline Woodson and I have something in common. Both of us had to face a childhood dinner of liver and onions and needed to come up with creative ways to dispose of it.
Thanks to Netgalley and Chronicle Books for the opportunity to read Recipe for Disaster in exchange for an honest review!

This is a unique collection of stories.

This book was around 3.5 stars for me.

Focusing on difficult moments in life and low moments this is a collection of stories around food. There's a handful of recipes included in the book pertaining to the story being shared. There's some very famous names in this book like Sarah Silverman, Bowen Yang, and Samantha Irby.

I wish there was some consistency between if the story is a recipe or a story, but the uniqueness of each entry reflects the author that shares it. This is a short and sweet book about some tough times and the food that goes with it.

I liked the Alice Waters vignette..it seems like she has written about salad before but I could read anything she writes over and over. I found the
rest of the collection super disappointing..it could have been much better with a whole different set of contributors as the premise seemed
promising. I was totally tired of reading about eggs, and the random cocktail. Not at all up to the Chronicle Books imprint standards..maybe
they were recently accquired

The kitchen table is truly the heartbeat of my home. It’s where we celebrate and commiserate the same way- loudly.

“Food is an integral part of our emotional lives” the introduction of this book begins and then tells the stories that prove it. Part confessional and part recipes this book brings the heart.

Foodies will love it.


*will post my review to Goodreads closer to publication

Recipe for Disaster starts so well. The first recipe is Samantha Irby’s Rejection Chicken.

First things first, you gotta get dumped.”

The whole recipe is the story of heartbreak, self soothing, and chopping and cooking.

I like to slice them on a severe angle because it looks cool and chef-y, but honestly? It doesn’t matter! Does anything??????

Same, Samantha Irby, same. I don’t just eat my feelings, I cook my feelings too. Sometimes I need to fiercely chop a lot of things, and sometimes I need to languidly stir.

The next entry is Sarah Silverman’s remembrances about her first depression and the pinwheel cookies that were the only thing that brought her any joy.



As with the above recipe, sometimes the most comforting thing is that thing you bought at the store.

That’s what Recipe for Disaster is – 41 people sharing a bite from their life and the food that got them through it or is the memory they carry. A little memoir, a little cookbook, a little connection with human beings.

I did not intend to start this book and finish it today. When I initially looked at it, I thought I’d read a couple of entries a day and then try some recipes and get a review out in 2023 (it’s publication date is March 14, 2023). Instead I started with Samantha Irby and every time I tried to put it down, I picked it back up until I gave in and read through. Some bites contain a recipe written out in recipe form, some are a description of a meal or food, sometimes there is a memory and then a recipe and you have to assume they are related, because the memory wasn’t specifically about the recipe, but the moment. One bite isn’t about food at all. There is quite a bit of pandemic cooking, both people who took up cooking to pass the time, and those cooking to nurture their families. Not all the food shared was good, but good isn’t always the point of sharing food.

Alison Riley says in her introduction:

Recipe for Disaster aims to remember, without hierarchy or judgement, that our lowest moments offer something worth sharing: stories, food, and the welcome reminder that we’ve all been there.

Mission accomplished.

CW: depression, death, illness, pet death, war, 9/11, loss of parent, reference to childhood sexual assault.

I received this as an advance reader copy from Chronicle Books and NetGalley. My opinions are my own, freely and honestly given.