This week I finally found Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book at my local raw food restaurant.This book has it all. Most raw books I've bought or seen are little more than recipe books with a couple of chapters of very basic information about the raw food diet in the beginning. Alissa's book has very good information about the science behind the diet (but in a concise, easy-to-read format), the hows and whys, the benefits, success stories, before and after pictures, and much more. Plus all the recipes, which look really good. I'm really enjoying reading this book.
There are two negatives to the book, however. First is it's price. At first, I didn't mind the $30 price tag because it is a very large, high quality book. The pictures are great, the pages are glossy, and the layout keeps the reader's attention. But after reading the book, I realized quickly that this book didn't NEED to be so big...which brings me to negative point number two: the size.
This book is HUGE. It is very heavy. I feel like I'm carrying around a dictionary. It doesn't make for easy transporting. The easiest way to read it is to lie it flat on a table, or possibly in your lap, if you don't mind the weight. Laying on your side in bed is impossible...it is forever sliding off the bed, or slipping out of your hands. I dropped it spine-first onto the side of my foot while sitting in bed--a six inch drop--and it HURT!! Really hurt!
Also, the words on each page are in narrow columns, with one column per page. Only half of each page is used. Then, each chapter uses one whole page just to display the chapter number on it. And many of the chapters have less than one page to them...and remember, only half of each page is used! While this does make for an easy-to-read format, it goes too far. I think the book easily could have been condensed into a smaller, easier to carry book without sacrificing quality or readability.
I do like the heavy, glossy pages, as I think this will be a book I will read and use often, especially in the kitchen. But when so many people in the raw food movement are environmentally conscious, the amount of wasted space in this book seems to be a bad business decision. I think the size and weight of the book could be reduced enough to lower the price to $25 , which would make the book easier to sell to people on a limited budget.
All that being said, I'm still glad I bought it. I'm sure it will prove very useful. There is also a companion DVD available on Alissa's website. The price of that seems extremely high to me...$29.95! There is a discount if you buy the book with it, but again, people like me might not be likely to buy such an expensive DVD without reading the book first to see if they like Alissa's style. But having read half the book so far, I would like to check out the DVD someday, when I can afford it.
Alissa carries other products on her site, such as raw food items and appliances. Be sure to price shop, though. I think a lot of her prices seem to be okay, and she's running a really great special on the Vita-Mix right now. Her raw food forum is a great resource as well.
I haven't finished the book yet or tried any recipes, but based on the first half of the book, I'd give it at least four stars, maybe five. Definitely a great introductory book for those wanting to go raw.
2 comments:
I totally agree with your assessment of the book. Alissa mentioned on Rawkin Radio once that the book had large margins so people could take notes. Great. Cool. Except for the fact that the paper on which the book is printed is this glossy stuff that will make a ballpoint pen smear. Its like you need a Sharpie to take your notes.
The shipping prices on her site are outrageous. I'm not spending $9.00 to have a small jar of coconut butter sent to my home. Or a nutmilk bag for that matter.
With that said, I love Alissa. I don't always agree with her, but I do really appreciate the work that she does and I think she's a great representative for the raw community. She's pretty mainstream, so it makes us look less, well, weird.
I'd love to hear what you think of the recipes in the book. Frankly, I haven't been too thrilled with them, but I haven't tried a wide range- only what was on the menu plan.
I'm absolutely in LOVE with Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. Best raw uncook book I've encountered yet!!
I see you're expecting a baby in a few days. Good luck!!!
Whoa, her shipping is that high? I'll make note of that!
I've tried her marinara. Pretty good. It's spicy, though, because of the cayenne. I love spicy, but it's kind of weird in marinara. Very sweet, too, though I don't mind sweet. Might want to cut back on the dates if you don't like sweet.
Her tomato salsa is awesome. My husband tried it, and actually likes it, though he hates raw tomatoes and every other salsa I've begged him to try, lol. Though the second batch I made, that he tried, was very light on tomatoes, as I was low on them.
Haven't tried Ani's book, but I hear good things about it. I'll have to check it out.
Sorry this reply comes so late, I never saw that it had been posted.
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