Be Ready When the Luck Happens: A Memoir (Unabridged)
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4.6 • 592 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This is absolutely everything you would want in a memoir from chef-turned-lifestyle-goddess Ina Garten. There are casually revealing details about her life, lessons learned from her nearly five-decade career, stories both hilarious and unexpectedly emotional—and, of course, Jeffrey. Ina’s unconventional marriage (they’re madly in love and, for most of their relationship, have seen each other only on weekends) is the spine of this memoir. That said, Ina’s own story, growing up in suburban Connecticut with emotionally distant parents, then becoming a college student, military wife, and Washington bureaucrat before deciding on a whim to buy a struggling beachside food store in the Hamptons, is pretty fascinating. (Turns out her store was called The Barefoot Contessa even before Ina bought it!) Best of all, Ina tells her story in the same relatable, down-to-earth voice she’s made famous on TV, so she already sounds like a cherished pal. Be Ready When the Luck Happens is an utter delight. The audiobook comes with a handy PDF of images and recipes like Ina’s legendary Engagement Chicken and her sumptuous brownies.
Customer Reviews
Who Knew?
I have heard of this woman as she’s clearly been part of famous foodie/kitchen queens for a long time but I had no idea what inspired her work, how savvy a business person she is, nor how fun and youthful she seems in real life. Her anecdotes about ending up in the pool when the cops came or sliding out of college dorm room window really bring out a side that we would likely never see on the cooking show. Just a really interesting “how she made this” back story and her reading it made it feel so much more authentic than if I had read it with my own voice in my head. Well done Ms. Garten! PS Ina+Jeffrey #relationshipgoals ❤️
Ina
Just the best.
Quintessential textures of beauty, joy, connection, and cuisine
This book is a verbal masterpiece of quintessential textures of beauty, joy, connection, and cuisine—a must-listen for anyone who loves transformation and healing and is a foodie at heart.