I love food. You could even call me a Food Network addict. This book brought out in me the same fire that The Food Network brings out. There were a lot of stories and a lot of sub-plots but when it all came down to it, the food is the only reason I enjoyed reading this book. I'll explain myself a bit further.
Specifically, the hearty food is what involved me so much. I have always loved the south and southern food. That being known, the food they served just always sounded so good. They had roughly chopped potatoes and beef. Just beef, no messing around. There was gravy and always some kind of great tasting breakfast. From eggs to bacon, to grits, to biscuits. The rest of the book is somewhat repetitive and confusing.
As I will mention in class, I believe that all of the chapters are broken down into one of three categories. These categories I have titled as 'continuous', 'boomerang', and 'oddball' chapters. The continuous chapters, such as "The Washington Pigs" go from on event to the other in chronological order. These chapters are the easiest to follow and understand. The boomerang chapters start with a central even and work from it in each of the sections in the chapter. The chapter about the first day of school for Denise displays this method clearly. Every individual story within the chapter begins with Denise being in class and goes off on a tangent into a whole new time or story. The oddball chapters are the chapters that fit in the extra stories that don't fit into the other chapters. These oddball chapters are the most difficult to decipher, but give the most background information on all of the characters.
This method of analyzing the book forced me to read the entire thing (I hate that) and with that reading I actually came to enjoy the book. I wonder how she went about writing this, outlining it or just putting it all on paper and mixing ...