James Villas (1938–2018)

It is really hard to like a book, or at least relate to a book, if you don't like the main character. I would not be Loretta's friend and put up with her judgemental nature if someone paid me. That being said, I was surprised at how well this man wrote a woman. Just because I didn't like her does not mean that she was not believable. Loretta had a gastric band put on her stomach and basically lost half of her weight. Now she looks at anyone overweight and sees them as disgusting. Granted, show more she previously saw herself as disgusting (and really still does), so she is not just hateful. She judges everyone on their weight and appearance without really getting to know anyone in the book. When a boyfriend leaves her for her "disgusting" friend, she is appalled and thinks that something is wrong with him. This is her journey and the realization that skinniness does not bring automatic happiness takes a while. I enjoyed the book, but would not read anymore about Loretta or company. show less

James Villas has written over a dozen cookbooks and books about food, as well as writing in Town & Country, Bon Appétit, Gourmet and Esquire. With such credentials, what in the world possessed him to write this dud? Although he’s a southerner, this book comes across as if written by someone who reviles the south. He didn’t miss a cliché.

From country music (did he choose to name certain ones because they sound funny to him? - Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Dwight Yoakam) and songs (Jesus Take show more the Wheel, Mama, Get the Hammer) to church hymns (by name).

From food that southerners cook - collards, okra and jalapeno cornbread, and snacks like Cheese-Its,

From roller derby, watching Paula Deen on tv, NASCAR, line dancing, to Dixie Stampede.

I found the tone of this book denigrating. show less

Every recipe in this book looks divine and scrumptious and drool-worthy. The intro, the short history, the sources for bacon...all interesting and helpful. I may put this on my "to be purchased" list of cookbooks. The biggest disappointment in the book is the lack of pictures. There's only one photo about every five to eight recipes. I much prefer cookbooks with a lot (every recipe or every other recipe) of glorious food photos. I like to drool over the styling as much as the food.

Hungry for Happiness is the story of Loretta Crawford, a 36-year old woman who's husband leaves her for another, thinner woman. Loretta decides to change her life and starts by having lap band surgery. Before her surgery she weighed 280 pounds (and was only 5'4"). Even though Loretta is losing weight, she still loves to cook and word gets around that she's one of the best cooks around. Soon she has her own catering business. Also, as she loses more and more weight, she catches the eye of show more more and more men.

I noticed some reviewers didn't like Loretta's Texas dialect and thought it was over the top. I'm not Texan so I can't say for sure if it was realistic but even if it wasn't I thought it was charming and funny.

I think the overall message of this book was that there are no simple solutions to life's problems. Loretta thinks that weight loss surgery and losing weight will automatically make her happy but she doesn't realize that she has underlying issues that caused her to gain the weight in the first place. However, I don't feel like Loretta ever really understood that and I would have expected her to eventually have some sort of revelation. This book started out with a bang and ended with kind of a whimper. show less