Book Review & Giveaway - Corked: A Memoir

About The Book
Meet Kathryn Borel, bon vivant and undutiful daughter. Now meet her father, Philippe, former chef, eccentric genius, and wine aficionado extraordinaire. Kathryn is like her father in every way but one: she's totally ignorant when it comes to wine. And although Philippe has devoted untold parenting hours to delivering impassioned oenological orations, she has managed to remain unenlightened. But after an accident and a death, Kathryn realizes that by shutting herself off to her father's greatest passion, she will never really know him. Accordingly, she proposes a drunken father-daughter road trip. Corked is the uncensored account of their tour through the great wine regions of France. Uproarious, poignant, painfully introspective, and filled with cunning little details about wine, this is a book for any reader who has sought a connection with a complex family member or wanted to overcome the paralyzing terror of being faced with a restaurant wine list.

About the Author

Kathryn Borel was born in 1979 in Toronto, the daughter of a hotelier. After several years, she became the older sister to Nico, who was named after the family cat. She spent her early years living in hotels in Paris, Bermuda, Dallas, and New Jersey, finally settling in Quebec City.

In 2002 she moved to Toronto to follow a man. The relationship ended. She continues to live in Toronto where she works at the Canadian Broadcasting Company. She has written food and wine reviews for radio and print. Her journalism includes a column which ran in the National Post under the title "Indignities." Corked is her first book.

 My Take On The Book
When you look at the cover or think about the name of the book your first impression is that that book has something to do with wine drinking. The book itself though does not live up to this outward illusion. The book actually is more of a study of an anti social father who treats his daughter with utter disrespect. Though the father is a bully and a sad case of a father, his daughter still tries to reach out to him through something that he enjoys, wine.

The books shows the need of a daughter to know a father no matter how cruel he can be.The daughter in this book puts up with so much and even on the trip that they take together, the reader can see how hard the daughter is working even though she is not getting much in return. She does persist though and there are times within their journey together that true bonding occurs and the daughter and father see each other through clear eyes. It will be interesting to see whether their journey will reap future rewards beyond the covers of this book.

The book itself takes you on a roller coaster ride of emotions that makes you want to read more as you go along. You do find yourself relating to the plight of the daughter while despising the father, but such is the nature of the book itself.

If this book sounds like one you want for your own collection you can find it on Amazon! 

Giveaway
How would you like to win a copy of this book? I am giving away 5 copies of the book to lucky readers. All you need to do is leave a comment telling me why you would be interested in winning this. The contest will run for one week and will end on February 27, 2010.

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  All opinions expressed in this review are my own and not influenced in any way by the company.  Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer or provider. Please refer to this site's Terms of Use  for more information. I have been compensated or given a product free of charge, but that does not impact my views or opinions.

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