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The Diet
Books: CookBooks: Joy of Cooking: Item 8
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The Dietby Edita Kaye
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: Creative, but can't deliver on it's promises, July 17, 2006 Reviewer:O. Brown "Ms. O. Khannah-Brown" (Twopeas, WA) - ** What I liked about this book was that it was an extremely creative way to present a diet---as a novel, making it much more interesting. The premise of the novel was fascinating---to delve into a woman's psyche as she loses her entire life due to her problems with food, and then regains herself and her life through "the diet"---very mysterious and intriguing. It's a short hardback novel, though, seemingly 274 pages, but there are 119 chapters with lots of resulting white space and a larger size font. So it's probably the equivalent of about a 165 page book or so. I read it in an hour. The plot is slim, simplistic, and pretty unbelievable. The characters are flat and not explored to much degree at all, even the feelings and thoughts of the main character, Cate. She predictably feels bad (suicidal) when she gains lots of weight and good when she is losing. That's pretty much it. She doesn't really "begin to love herself" until the last line of the novel. I was hoping for so much more with such a great idea to start with. "The Diet" in a nutshell: healthy, wholesome, tasty, "gourmet-type" (or foodie type) low-carb eating all the time. In the morning, what the author calls "cal-free carbs", which seemed to me to be fruits, veggies and some whole grains. In the afternoons and evenings, protein and no carbs. Highly processed foods are out, which fits in not only with every diet's program, but every foodie's lifestyle. That's it. I was disappointed in this, too. With "the diet", Cate's pounds melted away, she got back everything she lost in her life, but even more and better, and lived a happy life because she'd found "the diet". This book is founded on a great premise, but does nothing much with it, and felt like a huge waste of my hour. I really missed any serious exploration of Cate's feelings because so much could be done there. There is definitely a lot of hype surrounding "The Diet", and I'm not sure why---can't figure it out---but it's definitely a big marketing hit. The cover is pretty compelling, and seems to promise a lot, just like the book, but unfortunately it can't deliver any depth at all. **
Book Description
The DIET is a novel. It is the story of Cate, slim, successful, with a husband, a family and the owner of The Cookery a successful cooking shop and school. Food had given Cate everything. Success. Family. Fame. Love. And then, one day, food betrayed her. She lost her husband, her family, almost her life. In fact, she lost everything--except her fat. Trapped on a carb-craving merry-go-round Cate ate herself into a lonely prison of fat. And then one desperate night, a miracle happens. Cate discovers the secret of The Diet and the food that sets her free to love and be loved again. She learns that a true diet isn't about failure but success, isn't about denial but about the blessings in food. The Diet novel is the story of a woman who finds not fear or fat in food, but forgiveness, not suffering but love.
Because The DIET novel is a story of love. Love of a mother and daughter. A sister. A friend. A woman and a man. Love of family and faith and the food that binds them all together.
About The Author
In her first work of fiction, Edita Kaye is building on her successful career as a writer on health and nutrition. She is also the author of such popular cookbooks as Bone Builders: The Complete Low fat Cookbook Plus Calcium Guide and Cooking Skinny as well as The Fountain of Youth and Skinny Rules. She was the executive producer and host of her own national PBS series, The Fountain of Youth. Edita has appeared on Network and Cable Television programs, as well as being a frequent guest on a wide variety of radio shows. Edita has also appeared in magazines and newspapers including; The Chicago Tribune, Redbook, Ladies' Home journal and First For Women. The Doubleday Book Club, The Literary Guild, and The Christian Book Club have included some of Edita's books in their selections. She loves to cook, eat and write about food. And when she isn't stirring up something delicious in her kitchen, she loves to talk about food to national and local groups, offering laughter, inspiration, and a little prayer along with her recipes. If you would like Edita Kaye to speak to your group, just send a request to publisher@thewavegroup.com.
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