Stand Facing the Stove: The Story of the Women Who Gave America The Joy of Cooking: The Lives of Erma S. Rombauer and Marion Rombauer Book

If you think that writing and publishing this cookbook was a "piece of cake," you may find this book a shocking insight as I did. If you use "Joy of Cooking," the long and tortured history of its various editions finally going to press in will leave you amazed that it was ever published at all. And if you think of the Midwest mother and daughter who wrote it as compatible and mild-mannered, you are in for some big surprises.

Mendelson researched this book for over 10 years, which makes it dense with facts. Some sections seem non-chronological, in that first she tells the story from one perspective, then backtracks and tells it from another. Though sometimes she gives us too much information, the research is monumental. And who would imagine the story of a cookbook would be so complex and dramatic?

The story begins with Rombauer family history within the German community of Cincinnati in the Victorian era. Numerous themes are explored: ethnic community pride and its annihilation during WWI America, changing economics eliminating hired kitchen help in most households, suicide as an economic motivator, and parental dissatisfaction with grown children.

After self-publication of the first edition of "Joy," themes revolve around popular types of home-cooked foods and how they changed throughout time, and resultant writing of new editions with a diverse and sometimes petty and loathsome array of publishers, editors, family members, lawyers and friends drawn into the project (or refusing to be drawn in).

The first edition of "Joy" was published in 1931, and consisted of recipes collected by Irma Rombauer, a non-cook. The book is expanded and several other editions published by Bobs-Merrill, who engaged in copyright abuse and intimidation tactics. Many are the conflicts--between Irma and daughter/collaborator/co-author Marion, between publisher, illustrators, and authors, between Irma and family members. Both Irma and Marion develop health issues that make them fight for their lives, and in Marion's case also for the last and best edition.

This book is a great read, even though a few chapters in the middle seemed to backtrack--I would have liked more integration or fewer facts at that point. Still, it is utterly amazing the detail included--the Preface states the enormous and contradictory records that Mendelson fine-tooth-combed in which to write this fact-dense volume.

By all means read it if you use "Joy of Cooking," you will gain a new perspective on the sectional organization, the descriptions and the unique style in which the recipes are written (bold blocks of ingredients separated by plain text instructions on what to do with each block). And if you've ever wondered what "Cockiagne" means in your "Joy" recipes, the answer is most delightfully revealed here. (HINT: the book also tells about how cooks never read cookbook Forewords!)