I Loved, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti (Book Review)

In this memoir Giulia Melucci recounts her past failed relationship with men and the food that she cooked during those years.  I finished the book yesterday (on the beach) and have still not yet decided if I love or hate it.  I read all 276 pages in a few short days, racing through each page trying to grasp at any positive similarities to Sex and the City or Eat, Pray, Love that are promised on the back cover reviews.  I never found any; no exciting sexual retellings nor profound self-discovery.  I could identify with the underdog-like voice that comes through as Melucci writes about struggling to maintain any positive male relationships in her life and I was enticed by the great recipes that are included in the text.  I was frustrated with Melucci for having me read about her boring relationships with the strange men that she is attracted to. She stays in relationships with these men for months after she should have ended it with them, declaring what she refers to as Stockholm's syndrome.  

While the recipes that Melucci includes in the text are not all vegetarian most of them can be slightly altered to make them so.  I have yet to try any of these recipes, though I suspect they will be delicious as most of them are adaptations from other cookbooks or online recipe sites.  If you enjoy reading about mundane, failed relationships and altered recipes I Love, I Lost, I Made Spaghetti is perfect for you.  If not, just stick to Sex and the City or Eat, Pray, Love and epicurious.com