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Sign up todayBe Ready When the Luck Happens
A Memoir
Narrator
Ina Garten
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Length
8 hours 47 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“What a treat! I loved hearing Ina tell her life story in this entertaining memoir. She is so wise, inspiring, and fun! Sprinkled with business insights and personal revelations, it drew me right in. Highly recommend! ”
— Amy • Banter Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“To call this book a delight is an understatement! This book and all the stories and recollections that Ina shares with readers are as delicious as the famous roast chicken that Jeffery delights in each Friday night. Down to earth, fun, at times heart wrenching and utterly inspiring, this book is as wonderful as anything that Garten has shared with us over the last 20+ years. ”
— Claire • Wild Sisters Book Company
Bookseller recommendation
“A prominent fixture in the cooking world for decades, Ina Garten has at last written a book about her life, Be Ready When the Luck Happens. Readers and cooks know her for her uncomplicated, delicious recipes, and a relaxed style that makes entertaining look easy. Now at the age of 76 years, Ina has plenty of interesting things to say about life's opportunities and obstacles. In the mid-1970s, Garten was working in the White House writing the president's budget for nuclear energy programs. She made a complete career change and bought a specialty food store. And that was only the beginning of her career in cooking. Surprising revelations about her home life growing up show a beautiful and genuine vulnerability. Along the way she has thrived on challenges during the highs and lows of her choices- always authentic and staying true to herself. In the end, readers can feel a real understanding for the remarkable contributions Ina has made in the food world with her recipes and appealing way to bring people together. Her philosophy with those she cares about, I love you; come for dinner is simple, yet perfect wisdom. ”
— Amy • Dog-Eared Books
In her long-awaited memoir, Ina Garten—aka the Barefoot Contessa, author of thirteen bestselling cookbooks, beloved Food Network personality, Instagram sensation, and cultural icon—shares her personal story with readers hungry for a seat at her table.
Here, for the first time, Ina Garten presents an intimate, entertaining, and inspiring account of her remarkable journey. Ina’s gift is to make everything look easy, yet all her accomplishments have been the result of hard work, audacious choices, and exquisite attention to detail. In her unmistakable voice (no one tells a story like Ina), she brings her past and her process to life in a high-spirited and no-holds-barred memoir that chronicles decades of personal challenges, adventures (and misadventures) and unexpected career twists, all delivered with her signature combination of playfulness and purpose.
From a difficult childhood to meeting the love of her life, Jeffrey, and marrying him while still in college, from a boring bureaucratic job in Washington, D.C., to answering an ad for a specialty food store in the Hamptons, from the owner of one Barefoot Contessa shop to author of bestselling cookbooks and celebrated television host, Ina has blazed her own trail and, in the meantime, taught millions of people how to cook and entertain. Now, she invites them to come closer to experience her story in vivid detail and to share the important life lessons she learned along the way: do what you love because if you love it you’ll be really good at it, swing for the fences, and always Be Ready When the Luck Happens.
* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF of recipes and images from the book.
Ina Garten is a New York Times bestselling author, the host of Be My Guest and Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and Max, for which she has won five Emmy Awards and a James Beard Award. She lives in East Hampton, New York, with her husband, Jeffrey.
Ina Garten is a New York Times bestselling author, the host of Be My Guest and Barefoot Contessa on Food Network and Max, for which she has won five Emmy Awards and a James Beard Award. She lives in East Hampton, New York, with her husband, Jeffrey.
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Reviews
“[Ina Garten] has created an inviting and relaxing world that’s the equivalent of one of her cocktail recipes. To use a Barefoot Contessa catchphrase, How great is that?”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)“A freewheeling handbook for life . . . Be Ready When the Luck Happens is a romp, filled with adventure and serendipity, a magic act that makes the hard stuff of life seem like both education and play.”—The Washington Post
“Simplicity is at the core of [Ina Garten’s] appeal . . . her approachability, charisma and close connection to the sensibilities of the home cook have given her a devoted following.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Though a good deal of luck often came through for her along the way, Garten’s lively memoir emphasizes how hard work and unrelenting tenacity were what made the magic happen. An entertaining foray into this well-loved cooking host’s illustrious life.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Garten emphasizes the importance of doing what you love. Her story is a testament to the power of following one’s passion and the impact of hard work and dedication. . . . Whether you’re a longtime fan of the Barefoot Contessa or new to Garten’s work, this memoir is sure to leave you feeling inspired and ready to tackle your own dreams.”—Medium
“Be Ready When the Luck Happens is a wildly entertaining and compulsively readable story about curiosity and courage, challenges and coconut cupcakes. It’s also a love story for the ages. Smart and funny, warm and engaging, Ina Garten proves just how lucky a person can be if she’s willing to work hard, get over her past, and be fully and fearlessly engaged with life.”—Ann Patchett, author of Tom Lake Expand reviews
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