Iliana Regan

this was fine.. this book will make you move slow and i think that’s the point. it’s like a walk in the woods. what i did enjoy: the author's descriptions of picking berries and foraging and cooking mushrooms which made me want to run out and find my own paradise off the grid. what i did not enjoy: the fact that i didn't know this was her second memoir and i didn't appreciate her references to her first memoir i felt like i was missing something. Iliana Regan did not leave out any of the painful parts of her story, but somehow optimism and love of family still seemed to be at the heart of this book. overall not a bad read, just not my favorite!… (meer)

I found Iliana Regan’s childhood interesting. She must’ve been a very precocious child. Her knowledge of mushrooms in the outside world is very interesting. I’ve been to her restaurant in Chicago. I don’t think I would go to her new place, Milkweed In. it would be too much like camping for me, but I think her food would be very interesting to try, as a lot of creative people, she seems to be depressed. Her writing style was hard for me to get into. It was a little bit too detailed oriented.… (meer)

Overall, this was a really interesting read that kept me going. Regan is a chef, and had owned a Michelin rated restaurant in Chicago. She opened a small bed and breakfast with her wife, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. This book alternates between her experience in the Hiawatha forest, and stories about her childhood as the daughter (or maybe son?) of an Indiana steelworker. She deals with issues around gender identity, addiction, connection to the earth, and lots about mushrooms.

My quibbles with the book: going back and forth in time was confusing at points, and I felt there were things left out, or not fully explored. Some of that might be clearer if I had read her first memoir [Burn The Place]. But definitely, she leaves a lot unsaid, which has the advantage of leaving the reader to think, but I would have liked a bit more certainty.

Also, she has this writing quirk of writing lists of things. It's OK once in a while, but is pretty much every page or two and got old for me. Example:

"There were lots of squirrels, chipmunks, field mice, porcupine, fox, coyotes, deer and other small creatures that made a surprising amount of noice, considering how small they were, walking around at night. It was probably just that."… (meer)