Fatima Ali (–2019)

nonfiction/memoir - Pakastani-American woman (incidentally also Muslim and queer) trains to be a professional chef at the CIA, impressing enough people to compete on Chopped and Top Chef, and is diagnosed with terminal cancer at age 29 (Ewing's sarcoma, relatively rare but not rare enough). CW/TW: childhood sexual abuse, mixed experiences with doctors (some better, some worse) and HMOs (predictably worse).

As told by Fatima and her mother Farizeh (a successful businesswoman, divorced and show more remarried) with help from culinary journalist Tarajia Morrell and support from Fatima's brother Mohammad.

This is a fascinating and moving story (keep those tissues handy at the end!) that I tore through in two sittings. Highly recommended. show less

Maybe I should have known better, but I didn’t think anything of it when I started reading this book. I thought maybe it was just another memoir of how someone made their dream come true, and that would have been interesting enough. So, when I read the preface and realized this was a memoir for someone who is no longer with us, and on top of it died young, I didn’t know what to think. This is the story of Fatima Ali, a little brown girl, who was born in Pakistan, and never let the world show more tell her something was impossible. Fatima may only have had 29 years, but I can say from reading her story that she really seems to have lived. She didn’t get everything she wanted, but she did so much, from attending one of the best cooking schools to going on Top Chef. At her heart she was a brilliant chef, who just wanted to bring the world good food, and a message; Pakistan has a lot to offer the world besides terrorists. The challenge for the writer here was to convey the message of Fatima Ali without being Fatima, and I would say in that mission Tarajia Morrel has succeeded beautifully. This story has it all, humor, tragedy and a wonderful story. If you have any heart whatsoever though be prepared to ugly cry your way through this, for how unfair it is that Fatima is gone, for all her suffering, the ways that the American healthcare system failed her, and above all for the family she left behind who carries on without her. It’s definitely worth reading whether you had heard of Fatima Ali, or like me, had no idea who she was. It doesn’t matter, her life can mean something to everyone. Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review. show less

Wow. What a beautiful book. If you want to be inspired and read about badass women, this book is for you. However, you must also be prepared for heartbreak.
Chef Fati was such a gem to this world and the culinary scene. She is someone who left this earth way too soon.
I have read other autobiography books, but none are this raw. At times it felt as if her words were like a raw onion that she was cutting, and my eyes cried as if I were right there next to her.
Through this book, she teaches us show more that death and time wait for no one. So go eat at that restaurant and go achieve your dreams. show less

I first came across Fatima on her season of top chef. She was tenacious and more than a little pig-headed based on how they edited the show. I read this book because it was honestly a gut punch to learn that she had died of cancer. She was so young. I can't help thinking, if she had chosen to make her career in a country with universal health care could it have made a difference?

This book takes you through her short life from soup to nuts. Or from dahl to sushi. I listened to this on audio show more because I knew I wouldn't get through it as a physical book. As it is I spent months listening to the audio. It contains both her perspectives and her mother's on key events from her life. show less