Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball by Molly ONeill

Mostly True: A Memoir of Family, Food, and Baseball Reviews

• 
  Diane

  A few weeks ago I posted a review of Julia Pandl's Memoirs of the Sunday Brunch, and Sarah, a Goodreads friend, suggested I might like Molly O'Neill's Mostly True- A Memoir of Family, Food and Baseball. Since those are three of my favorite things, I searched and found the book and read it.
  
  Sarah was right; what a fantastic memoir! Molly is the oldest O'Neill child, followed in succession by five boys in the 1950s and 1960s. They grew up in Columbus, Ohio, a close-knit crew, and much of their lives revolved around baseball (like mine growing up). Her dad loved baseball and encouraged his sons to play the game; youngest son Paul grew up to play for the legendary New York Yankees (and before that, the Cincinnati Reds, a team close enough to home for his parents to watch him play often).
  
  Anyone from a big family will relate to Molly's memories of growing up in a big family. Molly's attitude towards food came from her parents, who had a different idea than many people at that time. Columbus was (and still is) the test-market capital for food products. Grocery stores were filled with product samplers, while ubiquitous today, were not found in may places in the Unites States back then.
  
  The O'Neill's, however, did not serve their children pot pies or macaroni and cheese or tuna noodle casserole or even meat loaf. Her parents "practiced a separation of food groups. We had meat. We had potato. We had vegetable. We had salad. We had dessert.. Each was distinct and none was overcooked. It was humiliating."
  
  Molly first became interested in cooking when she was trying to lose weight. She joined a weight loss support group because her brother mercilessly teased her about having unidentifiable kneecaps. There, a woman gave her a cookbook and Molly started cooking for herself because her mother would not make a separate meal for her. Soon Molly ditched the low calorie cooking and moved on to making recipes out of Julia Child for her grateful family.
  
  She went to college in Massachusetts, became a feminist, wrote poetry and helped to start a feminist, humanist, vegetarian restaurant. As the women who ran the restaurant began to become more and more militant about what could be served, Molly became more creative with ways to make broth without any trace of beef and ways to use tofu.
  
  After college, she settled in Provincetown, working at many restaurants. I loved reading about how Molly got her hands-on education, how she fought for her place in the male-dominated kitchens. Surely growing up with male siblings helped her here.
  
  Molly gained a reputation, and a following, and soon two of her brothers followed her into the business. She got them jobs and they all cooked together.
  
  Eventually Molly went to Paris to learn how to make desserts, she became friends with her neighbor Julia Child, she moved to New York and ended up a New York Times restaurant critic and a famous cookbook author.
  
  Paul was playing for the Yankees while Molly was living in New York, so she spent many games sitting in the stands watching him and her father, who was so thrilled to have a son playing Major League baseball. Molly's mom was thrilled to be able to shop in New York.
  
  This is a book for anyone who is fascinated by food, family and yes, baseball. But it is much more. It is the story of a woman finding her way through her passion and I absolutely loved it. I know I will read this one again and again. Thanks to Sarah for the suggestion!
  
  rating 5 of 5
  
• 
  Paula

  I thoroughly enjoyed Molly O'Neill's autobiography. Her story about growing up in Columbus OH in the 50's and 60's, her subsequent move east and transformation to a renowned writer and chef was a fun literary romp. I liked reading about her relationship with her parents and brothers (one of whom is Paul O'Neill of Cincinnati Reds and New York Yankees baseball fame) who impacted her life as much as her friends and Julia Child and Lillian Hellman, who also influenced her path. A great read for any foodie or '60's person, espeically those coming of age in the midwest.
• 
  Martin

  This is a unique book for me. I loved Molly O'Neill's restaurant reviews and NY Cookbook and her younger brother, Paul, was my favorite Yankee baseball player. This is a memoir of how they grew up and is quite well done and fascinating. Molly goes the baby boomer route into food and Paul goes the jock route into sports. Between them in age, there are four other brothers, all of whom figure in this story. Molly recently passed away and I mourn her loss.
• 
  Anita

  Fun story of growing up with family myth, cooking and baseball.
• 
  Marion Irwin

  I read about Molly O'Neill in the New York Times Obituaries. ( A place where I get some of my best reading inspirations). May she rest in peace.
  
  I read it steadily from the moment I picked it up at the library. The products, fashions, trends and attitudes she records, as well as her observations of her family, growing up in Ohio in the 60's hit some familiar chords for me. Her development as a chef and then food writer are honest and interesting, and practical. I am looking for her next book "New York Cookbook"
• 
  Molly

  We are what we make of ourselves, but our family - warts and all - creates the base that we build everything off of. Molly O'Neill's memoir embraces this theme. She is a well known writer and critic of food for large New York and Boston print publications. Her little brother was a legendary outfielder for the Yankees. But her book focuses mostly on life before the bright lights and big cities. It focuses on her base.
  
  Although I grew up several decades after Molly, I found myself identifying so strongly with many of her tales. Some sweet, some hysterical and some maddening. All having to do with her relationship to her parents and her siblings. Life as the only child morphing into life as the oldest child. Life as a child morphing into life as second in command. Life searching for anything other than what was expected of her.
  
  I felt like Molly was treating me, the reader, as her personal confidant. Like I was there for her, nodding in agreement, providing support along her journey. Until she grew up and turned into that friend whose self-made success becomes more difficult to applaud because they are forever dropping names. I rolled my eyes quite a bit in the last half of the book to be honest.
  
  Maybe she rolled her own eyes too because in the end, she decided to just go back to her base. To her relationship with her family. How they made her who she needed to be to become what she wanted to become. A success.
• 
  Ann

  I lost interest in this book about halfway through. Molly was raised in a fascinating family, a father who was blue collar all the way and five brothers lived baseball as survival in the family dynamics. That left Molly as her mother's helper and confidant. The relationship between the parents was very well portrayed, as was the need for recognition in such a large family.
  
  Then Molly grew up, worked hard, got lucky, met many famous people and became the food columnist for the New York Times. But, even she seemed bored by her success, because the second half reads almost like a list of accomplishments.
  
  
  It might be fun just to read the first half since we all know how it ends.
• 
  Amy

  Kind of rambling, mildly interesting. I read it at bed and get through a couple of pages before falling asleep. I'm not in a big hurry to get back to it but do again the next night anyway. I enjoy reading about this family, I think, primarily because the story makes so many references to Columbus history and locations that I kind of enjoy. Overall though, this story seems like a placeholder for my next good book...
• 
  Sandy

  It left me wanting to know more about Molly and her O'Neill family members. She's had an interesting life. The early years were very detailed, but information on the later years was pretty sparse. I imagine that was to protect people's privacy (the events didn't happen long ago) but the gaps are noticable. She barely mentions her husband and stepdaughter. That's why I only gave it 4 stars. Otherwise, it was easy to read and interesting.
• 
  Jennifer Lindsay

  A love letter to food, to family, to memories, to baseball. Especially a love letter to food. Wonderful writer. Beautiful memoir.
  
  Kicking off the baseball season with a memoir from the older sister of Paul O'Neill (Yankees). Food and baseball and family: some of my favorite things too! Next in line: "The Crowd Sounds Happy" - another memoir surrounding baseball and how it was a respite during childhood for the author. Both of these books I got from PaperbackSwap - love, love!
• 
  Cindy

  Not being a big baseball fan, I did not know about the famous Paul O'Neill. This book was recommended by AMAZON becuase I am a big fan of "foodie" memoirs. While I enjoyed the entire book, the second half was more engaging. A memoir that shows that the American Dream is still alive and well and reachable by persons from all walks of life.
• 
  Alaina

  Molly finds the perfect balance in writing about family, food and baseball in this lovely memoir. This book inspired me to make calls to my family just to say 'hello' and try out new recipes. I really did laugh out loud at times and in the end, I cried. The baseball theme really does make it a perfect summer read.
• 
  Andrea

  Absolutely delightful - a memoir of a famous food critic and cookbook author whose brother just happens to be the former Yankee, Paul O'Neill. The style is extremely witty and entertaining and the family story has moments that will "hit home" with many.
• 
  Lara

  Great account of life in the O'Neill family, from the perspective of Paul's oldest sibling, Molly. Reminds me a bit of Anthony Bourdain's "kitchen confidential" in the sense that she earned her stripes in the kitchen before becoming a "food critic".
• 
  Dolanite

  I love a good memoir and this book qualifies! I especially enjoyed the portions of the book about the author with less focus on her family. This book was clearly a labor of love and it was unique and humorous. If you like memoirs give this one a read..
• 
  Christine

  Thankfully Paul O'Neill was a better baseball player than his sister is a writer.
• 
  Janna

  A book that I was sad to finish because I really enjoyed it. A foodie memoir with a love of family and baseball.
• 
  April

  Story of the O'Neil family. Daughter Molly is a famous food critic and son Paul is a professional baseball player.
• 
  Ernest

  This book is kind of boring because it takes forever to get to the point. I thought that it would mention Paul O'neil by now
• 
  Richard

  Early bits are interesting, but not enough baseball or food for me. Just because you've achieved a minimum level of fame does not make everything you do interesting.
• 
  Suzanne

  Some parts were good, other parts not so much.
• 
  Isabel Rose

  I loved this book! Food and baseball- a very funny read!