Make It Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life

by Marcus Samuelsson, Veronica Chambers

In this inspirational autobiography, world-famous chef and owner of Red Rooster Harlem, Marcus Samuelsson tells his extraordinary story and encourages young people to embrace their mistakes and follow their dreams. Based on his highly praised adult memoir, Yes, Chef, this young adult edition includes an 8-page black-and-white family photo insert.Marcus Samuelsson’s life and his journey to the top of the food world have been anything but typical. Orphaned in Ethiopia, he was adopted by a loving couple in Sweden, where his new grandmother taught him to cook and inspired in him a lifelong passion for food. In time, that passion would lead him to train and cook in some of the finest, most demanding kitchens in Europe.Samuelsson’s talent and ambition eventually led him to fulfill his dream of opening his own restaurant in New York Red Rooster Harlem, a highly acclaimed, multicultural dining room, where presidents rub elbows with jazz musicians, aspiring artists, and bus drivers. A place where anyone can feel at home."'Step up to the challenge; don't avoid it. Win or lose, take the shot.' Samuelsson neatly serves up inspiration and food for thought."--Kirkus Reviews"The perfect book for teen foodies and a great choice for others, thanks to its . . .  compelling story . . .  and sound advice."--VOYA"A delightful read. . . .Samuelsson effectively connects his love of food to his personal journey."--School Library Journal

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Food, Biography, Biography Memoir, Cooking, Autobiography

209 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 9, 2015

About the author

Marcus Samuelsson is the acclaimed chef behind Red Rooster Harlem, Ginny’s Supper Club, Streetbird Rotisserie, and American Table Cafe and Bar by Marcus Samuelsson; a committed philanthropist; and a New York Times-bestselling author. The youngest person to ever receive a three-star review from The New York Times, Samuelsson has won multiple James Beard Foundation Awards including Best Chef: New York City, and was tasked with planning and executing the Obama Administration’s first State dinner. Samuelsson was also crowned champion of television shows Top Chef Masters and Chopped.

His newest book is The Red Rooster Cookbook: The Story of Food and Hustle in Harlem. Other cookbooks include Aquavit and the New Scandinavian Cuisine, The Soul of a New Cuisine, New American Table, and Marcus Off Duty: The Recipes I Cook Off Duty. His acclaimed memoir, Yes, Chef, has also a young adult edition entitled Make It Messy.

Reviews

[Erica · Rating 3 out of 5]

From what I understand, this is the young adult adaptation of Yes, Chef only I don't think that's really what this is. Not having read Yes, Chef, I can't say for sure, but I suspect this is more an abridged version of that memoir.

And why is an abridged version necessary? Why is a young adult adaptation necessary? It seems to me that the original memoir should be readable to teens. Why isn't it? Is it boring? What's in it that isn't suitable for the 14-18 age range? I can't imagine, though I tried.
I wondered if the original didn't sell well with its intended audience and this was a second go? I wondered if reviewers felt Yes, Chef to be stilted and maybe pretentious and so it was lightened and put into YA territory? I would read Yes, Chef for comparison but now I don't want to, not after reading this.

It's not that I didn't like this book, I did. I liked it just fine. But, see, this guy, he lives in the food world. People who live in the food world tend toward arrogance and this dude seems no exception. Is it the artistic aspect of making food pieces that creates such an attitude? Is it all the training and the hard hours and the opinionated critics that create a protective barrier which then comes across as haughtiness? I don't know. I've see it in pilots, in surgeons, in most specialized professions of which I've had the (mis)fortune to come into contact. That's not to say every chef, every pilot, every surgeon is an ass. But out of the ones I know, many are. Most are. It probably just comes with the territory.

This chef, he's interesting. He was an Ethiopian victim of illness who, along with his sister, was adopted by a Swedish couple in the early 70's. His grandmother Helga taught him to cook. His father taught him work ethic. His best friend, Mats, taught him camaraderie and teamwork. His mother loved him and his sisters gave him cool gifts. He was a small, black kid in a town of giant, white people. He wanted to be a soccer star but was too small so he became a chef, instead. Despite the love and support from his family, he didn't fit in and he wanted, like many of us do, to find where he belonged, to find his tribe. This chronicles his search, skimming over his mistakes, skimming over tragedy, focusing on the inspiration, dedication, and hard work that took him from a small town in Sweden to running Aquavit in NYC. And, again, it's all interesting but it's not very engaging. I wasn't left thinking, "Man, I'd love to sit down and listen to this guy tell his stories in person" and that's kind of what I aim for when I read a biography. I want to be so caught up in the person's story that it pains me to end the book and not have the subject's phone number or email address so that we can continue the conversation, so that I can check in to see how things are going from time to time.

As a young adult story of stick-to-itiveness and motivation, I guess this works but I sure wasn't fired up to follow my dreams after reading this. Then again, I'm far from being a teenager and I have way more cynicism than any gaggle of emo hipsters combined.

I would, however, recommend this to karen solely because of the NYC restaurants mentioned. Also: Food.

[Carol C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should explain that I read this book after having read Samuelsson's very similar memoir aimed at adults. I was curious to see if this would be something I'd be interested in trying to get my kids to read. There was a heavy focus on many details of Samuelsson's work in several kitchens. It seems those details might only be engaging to a narrow group of teens - those already interested in or knowledgeable about the cultinary world. The thing that made "Yes, Chef" so charming was the emphasis on food as a connection to one's personal history and food as a means to learn about culture and bring people from various cultures together. This book did not hit on that as much. It also left out everything about Samuelsson meeting his current wife and finding his biological family in Ethiopia. These were elements that may have made the book more personally interesting to teens. There were some photos of his biological father and his wife, so it does pique the reader's interest in something they never learn about. At times, the book felt unevenly paced, and occasionally the author mentions something that he hasn't yet talked about as if the reader should understand what he means. This made it feel like a not very carefully examined edit of "Yes, Chef." Finally, Samuelsson chooses to mention that at 19 years of age he got a girl pregnant and that his father agreed to support the child financially until Samuelsson himself was on his feet financially. The child, a girl, is born, and then we NEVER HEAR ABOUT HER AGAIN. This, in my mind, is the biggest flaw of the book. Either don't mention it or talk more about it - how it affected him over the years and how he fulfilled his responsibility to this child. I won't be giving this one to my kids.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book thinking to possibly add it as a memoir/non-fiction to my upper middle school library.
While it was a pretty good read for me, I'm not so sure the kids will get into it as much. Lots of food descriptions.

I did like how he his life was going in one direction (soccer) and after that dream fell through, his second choice worked out probably even better than his first would have. Good lesson for the students.

I felt he sort of glossed over his girlfriends and daughter. Is his daughter really not that important of a part of his life? Teenagers need to know the consequences of actions!

[Anne Mercer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Make it Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life by: Marcus Samuelsson

Marcus Samuelsson is world famous chef with an interesting and inspiring life story. Ethiopian born and Swedish raised, in this autobiographical work written for young adults, Samuelsson connects his life experiences to his love of food while encouraging ‘will-be’ foodies and entrepreneurs to follow their passion. Readers will fall in love with Samuelsson and be inspired by his life story.

This title was purchased to add to our high school library’s college and career collection. The author includes an eight page black and white photo insert. 213 pages.

[Katherine Schmitt · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this definitely suffers from being an adaptation of an adult book. It feels choppy, like parts are obviously missing. It does interest me, and make me want to read the original version, but I would only recommend this to a teen who definitely didn't want to read a longer book.

[Belen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that the story of this chef was interesting. It was cool to see how he got famous.

[Leyva Yadira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This author is extraordinary addictive.

[Renata · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty quick, engaging read for me. I've started watching Chopped reruns and I enjoyed reading about Marcus's journey toward becoming a chef. I do wonder if this might go in a liiittle deep on the food terminology? But I know a lot of teens like watching Food Network and stuff, so I guess any teen who was interested enough to pick this up would probably be at least a little food savvy.

I was talking to Abby, who read Yes, Chef, which is the full, grownup memoir, and it sounds like one of the biggest differences between the 2 books is this one cuts off around the time Marcus is age 25, when he gets his first head chef job (but before all the TV and stuff). This kinda makes sense, on the grounds that youths might be more interested to read about him as a youth, and also that the full version might be intimidatingly long? But, they probably want to know more about him as TV chef, so... IDK. Also: this version ever-so-casually mentions that he fathered an illegitimate child at the age of 20 and then never ever mentions that child again. Apparently, in the full memoir (and IRL), he reconnected with her when she was 14. IDK, I kind of wish they hadn't mentioned the kid at all if they weren't going to bring her up again later?

But I did like how this showed how you can change paths and still find success, even without college. And I also liked the way Marcus talks frankly about race. He was adopted from Ethiopa as a baby and raised in Sweden, and he talks about microaggressions like people not expecting him to speak Swedish, or expecting him to be great at basketball. It's not the main point of his narrative by any means, but for some (white) kids reading this it might be one of the first times they hear about stuff like that.

I'm planning to booktalk it to 7th/8th grade--I don't think it's going to appeal to every teen but I think there are enough kids who would be excited about it to make it worthwhile. Especially since, you know, there's a POC right there on the cover and I struggle to find enough books to those to make everyone feel represented when I do my school visits.

[Zane Swank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marcus Samuelsson's "Make it Messy" is all in all a good book. However, it tends to sometimes slip into a confusing and vague memoir of Samuelsson's life. The book provides great insight into what goes on behind the scenes in kitchens of restaurants across the globe and Samuelsson paints those chapters in great detail - the team work that chefs and kitchen workers must have amidst the chaotic hustle and bustle of their work environment. He took much time and effort into detailing the ingredients he used in meals he would prepare as an upcoming chef, clearly exemplifying his culinary prowess. With that being stated, I feel more time could have been used into detailing his life experiences growing up into an adult - we learn he got a girl pregnant at the age of 19, but just as soon as we've been introduced to this happening, it is never mentioned again. As a matter of fact, we hardly learn of the girl's name he slept with. We also learn of his fellow coworker dying in a car accident in which Marcus is present along with several other of their friends; again, this occurrence is described very briefly and leaves the reader wondering what became of that group of friends after that tragedy and, again, we are beaten over the head a few pages later with more cooking and ingredients. His racial background is mentioned and the adversity he faced as a result in trying to become a chef. The reader can take away the over-arching message: to keep trying until you finally make it with hard work and dedication - however, I feel this memoir focuses more on the culinary experience and less on the human experience. Though some younger people may find this book worthy of a read, I feel most wouldn't be interested in this niche memoir.

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Marcus Samuelsson and I want to give this book five stars, but I just can't. First, this is very much a repeat of Yes, Chef which was absolutely wonderful. I understand that this was intended for younger readers, but it wasn't enough different to actually be necessary. It simply reads like an abridged version of his first, and wonderful book. And, I don't like abridgements. Does anyone?

A few problems:
He mentions fathering a child and that his mother expects him to pay every month to support her. But, that's all that is ever mentioned. Did he? Does he know his daughter? Does he have any regrets? If this is a biography for kids, why mention it at all if you aren't going to deal with it? Young readers will not connect with the father, but with the unwanted daughter. I'm not sure why this was a part of the story. Yes, it is part of Marcus' story, but it really doesn't fit with the tone of the book. Nearly everything else is about cooking. Maybe just to show that he made mistakes too??? Not well enough done for that, in my opinion.

Another problem was that his message, "Make it messy." Didn't really come through. It was in the title and the last page - but that's about it. Kind of weirdly disconnected with an abrupt feel to the ending.

The book is worth reading for the first two chapters, My African Mother and My Sweedish Mother. WOW! I cried more than once thinking of Marcus' two mothers.

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this memoir. I have had YES CHEF on my to-read list and am now even more eager to get to that one. This is an adaptation for young people and that does show, especially toward the last half of the book where subjects are either only briefly handled and dropped or mentioned as if they had been written about.

Having said that, I still lean toward 4 stars because of Samuelsson's voice, his inspiring personal story, the behind-the-scenes look at his career and the life lessons he so earnestly wants kids to hear.
There are a surprising number of kids and teens who really are interested in food and cooking and I don't know of any other books that really look at the career and how the job itself works. Samuelsson's story of being adopted after his mother died of tuberculosis and being raised by a really amazing Swedish family is a fascinating one all by itself. There are strong lessons that Samuelsson clearly wants to give kids but I never felt the lesson was annoying or intrusive. Instead it is part of the person he has become. The sense of Samuelsson's personality is very strong here and his direct clear voice is one of the pleasures of the book.

There are a lot of cooking terms but I thought they were well explained and I think my favorite part of the book was the exploration of food and flavors as well as the look into the kitchen and cooking life.

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

I gave this one star because it is a book targeted at young adults and in it Marcus Samuelson casually mentions that he had a fling, the girl got pregnant, and he took off as fast as he could to go cook around the world and never looked back. That's HUGE. That's just about all the details the book gives. There was no epilogue to say that he redeemed himself somehow. There was no remorse expressed for leaving the mother of his child AND his child high and dry. I read the whole book waiting for more information about his daughter. None came. In fact, waiting for that information to come absolutely overshadowed the chef stuff.

If this hadn't specifically been a book targeted at young adults, it wouldn't have been so offensive. This book seemed to say, "Young men, have unprotected sex. No big deal. A child does not need to become YOUR burden. You can walk away and live your dreams!" And to young women it said, "Well, suck it up ladies. If YOU have a baby, YOU get to take care of it. The menfolk have dreams to fulfill and cannot be bothered by you and a baby."

[Drew Dietz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having finished the full length version, “Yes, Chef” it is clear Veronica Chambers writes with great finesse that accomplishes more than just telling Marcus Samuelsson’s life story. This abridged version is efficient and tactful in removing some of the more complex or mature facets of this memoir like racial and cultural complexity, immigration/visa status, etc. Some of those bits provide important context for a more accurate timeline and reality- portraying a more realistic perspective of the difficulty of rising through kitchen ranks. “Make It Messy” is a successful stand alone piece but when compared to its counterpart “Yes, Chef” there is a clear standout. I think a solution would be to include brief transitions for the removed passages from the full length book. I would be curious to learn about the background research + discovery period for this book and to what extent the collaboration between auto-biography subject and ghost writer occurred.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this 4 stars on the basis of it being targeted as a young adult book, which I didn't realize until after I had finished it. His story is interesting, and he tells it in a fun way. There were a couple of times where he seemed to refer to experiences that he hadn't talked about before, but that makes more sense knowing that this is an adaptation of what I'm guessing is a more complete adult version. It's definitely a great read for any kids thinking of going into the restaurant industry. It was also interesting to note the similarities between his experience in restaurants and the way it's portrayed in Sous Chef, which I also enjoyed.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Make it Messy is about an Ethiopian Swedish chef who lives in the United States. From his early Swedish memories to the hard work he invested in kitchens around the world, the stories here are a actually quite tidy little vignettes, stitched together to tell a larger story. There are missing elements - what happened to his daughter? how did he meet his wife who is pictured in the inset? how did the meeting between his birth father and adoptive mother go? but the story that's here is engaging and worth reading.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very readable memoir and now that I understand it was perhaps a young adult version of an earlier book it makes sense. Still I was disappointed that there obvious omissions that left the reader unsatisfied for example no resolution of the question of his daughter or explanation of the cause of the unexpected death of a key character. Even for the sake of brevity and a younger audience these key issues should be addressed. But Samuelsson is an interesting man and this read is interesting because of that.

[Margaret Verner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I appreciate that although he (obviously) talks a lot about food, he explains everything so that we who are more microwave-inclined could still follow the technical stuff. I loved all of the culture that he brought in in a respectful way through food--Swedish food from when he was growing up, French and German food when he was in culinary school, Ethiopian food when he went back to his birthplace, etc. He didn't just talk about food, he talked about places and people and experiences. I enjoyed it.

[Julie Trapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chef Samuelsson has written a very interesting book documenting his life from adoption by a Swedish family to his life in his mid 20s. Much was accomplished by such a young, black male. He worked in kitchens honing his skills with much attention to details. He worked longer hours and harder than his counterparts which paid off with a very prestigious job. The only thing lacking was any information about his wife. There is a photo of their wedding, but no mention of meeting her in the book. If that was to be the case, leave out the photo.

[SaraJane · Rating 3 out of 5]

pg. 194 "Hard work is its own reward. Integrity is priceless. Art does feed the soul."

pg. 202 "In those two weeks, I saw my own face reflected a thousand times over, which gave me not only a sense of belonging unlike I'd had anywhere else in my life, but also a deep reminder of how fate had steered my life on such a different course."

pg. 210 "Mistakes are okay. What matters is that you take the time to learn the lessons and that you make the effort, when you can, to make them right. As the saying goes, 'Never a failure, always a lesson.'"

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting account of Chef Marcus Samuelsson's' unlikely rise to "great chefs of the world" fame. His journey was anything but typical. Chef Samuelsson has performed every kitchen job imaginable in his quest to fulfill a lifelong passion for cooking. However, he started out wanting to be a professional soccer player. Follow along as he moves from job to job until he lands a restaurant kitchen of his own. Fun, 8 page photo insert included.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not familiar with Chef Marcus before finding his bio on the YA shelf of my local library. I was drawn to his title, because I too have a messy life. However, I found there was real discontinuity between the title and what lay between the covers. The narrative glossed over the messy bits and tidied everything up into a pat ending by the last page. While Chef Marcus' cooking sounds like an exotic explosion of flavors, this telling of his story felt over-processed and bland.

[Saleena Longmuir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was aware of Marcus Samuelsson from various cooking competition shows, but I didn't really know anything about him. With this biography, I learned quite a bit. I don't know if he explicitly wrote this for a teen audience, but it seemed like it was aimed in that direction. He gives his background of growing up in Switzerland after being orphaned in Ethiopia as well as his struggles to make it as a chef in NYC. A quick and interesting read for anyone who enjoys biographies or chefs.

[Sherri Rosen]

Liked it but seemed too much,like his memoir

Kept feeling I had the wrong book because this present book is so like his memoir. Read it first before the others!

[Ben Truong · Rating 3 out of 5]

Make It Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life is an autobiography written by Marcus Samuelsson with Veronica Chambers. This memoir gives insight into the life and food of one of America’s top chef retold for the young adult audience.

Marcus Samuelsson (born Kassahun Tsegie) is an Ethiopian Swedish chef and restaurateur. He is the head chef of Red Rooster in Harlem, New York.

During a tuberculosis epidemic in 1972 in Ethiopia, Samuelsson’s mother walked 75 miles with young Marcus on her back to a hospital in Addis Ababa. She died there, but he and his sister survived and were adopted by a Swedish couple.

In clear and straightforward prose, Samuelsson chronicles growing up in Sweden, going to school, playing soccer, and working his way up the hierarchy in various restaurants on his way to becoming a chef.

Make It Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life is written somewhat well. The memoir is written in a motivational tone as if Samuelsson is coaching youths to following their dreams and goals. Now a world-renowned chef, Samuelsson neatly serves up inspiration and food for thought for the many young people interested in cooking.

All in all, Make It Messy: My Perfectly Imperfect Life is a well written autobiography about the inspirational journey of Samuelsson to becoming not just a top American chef, but a world reknown one.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love cooking, and watching cooking, and talking about cooking. Among the many career paths I could have chosen was Librarian (which I am), chef (maybe one day), or SNL Sketch writer (much less likely).

One thing that I love more than anything is the place where culture and cooking meet. Marcus Samuelsson gives the young reader a glimpse into that. He is of Ethiopian descent, was adopted by Swedish parents, and calls America home now. Samuelsson shares with us the confluence of his cultures and his love for bold and comforting flavors.

In this book, you will see where Marcus came from and where he got his love of cooking. You will see how his competitive nature and drive helped him move up the ladder. You will also see a man who recognizes that racism exists, who points it out, but remains positive and determined to make a change. I also appreciate that Marcus shares some of his failures, especially of a personal nature. He shared how he wanted to hide from taking responsibility, but that he had good parents who stood up and showed him how to be a man.

There is so much to like about this biography written for young adults. Did it feel a little sparse in places, like I needed a little more information to know the man? Yes. But all in all, as any good biography should, it showed us an interesting and accomplished man unvarnished.

Great book for readers 13 and up.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love food writing, story telling, and traveling... which captures the essence of this book. This is a book written for a teenage audience, and would be a top recc for any teenager interested in cooking.
As a teacher note, I would love to teach chapters 4-5 as mentor text for food narratives.

"Although I was still a kid and years away from any thought of becoming a chef, I was learning the beauty of food within a context: how important it is to let the dishes be reflective of your surroundings."

"I always had three things that held me in good stead: I was humble, I was willing to work hard, and I loved food."

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
I’m a fan of Marcus Samuelson; I love his story, his Ethiopian roots, and the way his hard work has turned into so many really cool successes. I read and enjoyed “Yes, Chef!” and loved all the detail and stories in this part of his history. I love his mother, his grandmother, and the ways he so warmly writes of his Swedish roots and family.

[Vinay Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love cooking, and watching cooking, and talking about cooking. Among the many career paths, in this book find the same what I love to do. I am a food blogger so this book helped me to learn a lot which I can implement in my blogging page.

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

The storytelling isn’t as good as the actual story. I’ve heard better things about Yes, Chef and look forward to reading that.

[Taylar LeA'Nne · Rating 2 out of 5]

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm