Austin Area Reading Circle
Reader's Guide
March 2008
Garlic and Sapphires
Ruth Riechl
The book...lifts the lid on the city's storied restaurant culture from the democratic perspective of the everyday diner. Reichl creates wildly innovative getups, becoming Brenda, a red-haired aging hippie, to test the food at Daniel; Chloe, a blonde divorcée, to evaluate Lespinasse; and even her deceased mother, Miriam, to dine at 21. Such elaborate disguises—which include wigs, makeup, thrift store finds and even credit cards in other names—help Reichl maintain anonymity in her work...
- Would you describe Ruth Reichl as a writer who uses food as her subject, or as a "food warrior" who happens to write?
- Initially, Ruth doesn't seem to be comfortable with her disguises. When do you think she began to get into them?
- Have you ever wished you could be someone else for a while?
- Why do you think it was easy for her to create a whole persona around the disguises?
- What was it about her reviews that made her such a popular critic? Or do you think she was not popular?
- What kind of relationship did she have with her husband? Why do you feel the way you do? What was the relationship with her son?
- We learned a lot about Ruth's relationship with her mother in Tender at the Bone. How did it influence her role as a critic?
- Why do you think Ruth became dissatisfied with her job?
- Why do you think that she was receptive to talk about the Gourmet job?
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