#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • GOODREADS CHOICE AWARD WINNER • Meet Elizabeth Zott: a “formidable, unapologetic and inspiring” ( PARADE ) scientist in 1960s California whose career takes a detour when she becomes the unlikely star of a beloved TV cooking show in this novel that is “irresistible, satisfying and full of fuel” ( The New York Times Book Review ) and “witty, sometimes hilarious…the Catch-22 of early feminism.” (Stephen King, via Twitter) A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times, Washington Post, NPR, Oprah Daily, Entertainment Weekly, Newsweek “The most delightful novel I read this year…fresh and surprising…I laughed out loud!” —Philip Galanes, The New York Times “A unique heroine…you’ll find yourself wishing she wasn’t fictional.” — Seattle Times Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a very unscientific view of equality. Except for one: Calvin Evans, the lonely, brilliant, Nobel–prize nominated grudge-holder who falls in love with—of all things—her mind. True chemistry results. But like science, life is unpredictable. Which is why a few years later Elizabeth Zott finds herself not only a single mother, but the reluctant star of America’s most beloved cooking show Supper at Six . Elizabeth’s unusual approach to cooking (“combine one tablespoon acetic acid with a pinch of sodium chloride”) proves revolutionary. But as her following grows, not everyone is happy. Because as it turns out, Elizabeth Zott isn’t just teaching women to cook. She’s daring them to change the status quo. Laugh-out-loud funny, shrewdly observant, and studded with a dazzling cast of supporting characters, Lessons in Chemistry is as original and vibrant as its protagonist.
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Lessons in Chemistry: A Novel
By: Bonnie Garmus
ISBN-10: 038554734X
ISBN-13 : 978-0385547345
Publisher : Doubleday; First Edition (April 5, 2022)
Language : English
Hardcover: 400 pages
Reading Age : None
Dimensions : 6.43 x 1.34 x 9.5 inches
Item Weight : 1.56 pounds
$24.72 $19.78
Customers reviews
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BernieC –
This novel follows the twists and turns in the life of the heroine: Elizabeth Zott, a brilliant research scientist who is tired of being a second-class person just because she is a woman., Elizabeth is a top-grade research schemist but can’t get treated as an equal [much less be lauded for being better than pretty much everyone in her department] and when they demote her and the the department head steals her work and publishes as his own she quits., She meets her soul mate, Calvin Evans, who treats her as an equal partner and recognizes her brilliance. They get a dog and Calvin asks what they should name it. She looks at her wrist watch and says “it’s six thirty” and so it was. This is typical of her most unemotionally rational approach to everyday nonsense, for example that women should wear comfortable clothes and all the other ridiculous (and irrational) social “rules”., By a crazy circumstance she ends up doing an afternoon cooking show “Supper at Six”. They wanted the usual mostly air-headed afternoon cooking show based on the assumption that bored housewives didn’t want to bothered with substantial programming, Zott would have none of it. She basically assumed that long-underestimated housewives deserved to be treated as smart people who have been rudely sidelined and should be *taught* what cooking was all about., This makes the show’s producer go apoplectic but the show was a hit! She was right: women didn’t like being talked down to. She insisted on using “sodium chloride”. She described dished by explaining the chemical reactions that made them happen. And the viewing audience [and the women *crowding* into, studio to watch it live] loved it. Instead of having the quick death that the producer expected, it was a smash hit. It got syndicated around the country and she was a national hero — among women. They not only learned to cook the dishes and the chemistry behind it, but also that they had been treated as second class citizens.. and minds…for far too long., LIfe magazine was going to do a cover story about her and they assumed that it’d be the usual pry into their personal life and get cute anecdotes for a feel-good story about a surprising TV star. The reporter who was interviewing her got gobsmacked by her and didn’t write the article that Life expected:, Despite what Elizabeth Zott will tell you, Supper at Six is not just an introduction, to chemistry, he wrote that day on the plane. It’s a thirty-minute, five-day-a-week, lesson in life. And not in who we are or what we’re made of, but rather, who we’re, capable of becoming., I couldn’t have said it better myself. Go read this book!
Vikki Y –
I will try not to give anything away but first of all, this novel should not be described as being funny, comical, etc. because it is not. To be honest with you, the first half of the book left me pretty depressed and angry due to the hardships our main character Elizabeth Zott goes through as a chemist who is a woman, living in the 1950s California. The problem with the literal 50% of the book is that the author, Bonnie Garmus, introduces her readers to the Zott in the 1960s and then goes back to the 1950s in exposition-style for half of the book. The entire first half of the novel felt like a building-up to the point where the “real” story is supposed to begin, which is it sort of did, at approximately 52%, according to my Kindle. For example, we found out that something tragic occurred in Zott’s early years within one sentence (i.e. literally “X happened to X because of this”). There wasn’t room for the readers to form any emotional connection. However, once we did hit the 50% mark, the story seem to flow out more smoothly and didn’t feel as lack of descriptions anymore (or have I gotten used to Garmus’ writing style at that point?). There were witty lines spoken by Zott that may be “funny,” (I only ever cracked up once) and the characters introduced in the second half were more emotive and in-depth unlike the exposition of different players we have read in the first half that make the readers just dislike almost every single one of them. All in all, the second half provided hope and a possible positive direction into the future; it definitely redeemed the entire novel for me. Overall, Lessons in Chemistry was an entertaining read that did not bore me a second and I think this is a very enjoyable women’s fiction.
Amazon Customer –
I fell in love with Calvin, Elizabeth, Mad, Henrietta, Walter, Mason, Wilson, Wakely, Frask (redeemed), and Six-Thirty. Oh, the marvelous Six-Thirty! Each character was unique and special. This story was full of a myriad of emotions – sadness, heartbreak, humor, encouragement, tenderness, redemption and the magical changes when hearts unexpectedly collide together. It has become one of my all time favorite books. This novel is a well written tale that will resonate with me forever. It has so many layers and in the end it will inspire women to really see their worth. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to read more from Bonnie Garmus, a truly gifted writer.
Stephanie Todd –
Elizabeth Zott is does not fit into the typical 1960s housewife mold. In fact, she isn’t a housewife at all. A mother? Yes. A housewife? Never. A scientist? First and foremost!, This heartwarming novel follows the main character’s challenges as a female chemist in the 1960s trying to be taken seriously in a world and industry dominated by men. She faces sexism, harassment, love, heartbreak, motherhood, success, and failure, and, through it all, she is steadfast in her belief that she is no less capable than the men who continuously undermine and oppress her., Elizabeth undermines the misogynistic beliefs of the time with the simplest tool of all: logic. She proves time and again that it’s not only immoral but also illogical to treat women as incapable and incompetent. She not only challenges the men in her life, much to their dismay, she speaks to an entire generation of women, using cooking to teach science and equality., This was an easy, enjoyable read with emotion, laughter, and intellect. I rated it 4 stars because I felt the ending was a bit rushed and tied everything up a little too neatly, and, honestly, a bit unbelievably. But, overall, it’s well worth the read!