A Review: The Reluctant Entertainer by Sandy Coughlin

I suppose I was expecting something different from this book, The Reluctant Entertainer by Sandy Coughlin. I guess I could say I was expecting practical advice on things to do for entertaining a group of friends: you know, "this is what a place setting is supposed to look like" or "this is when this kind of wine should be served".

As it turns out, this is more of a book of affirmations to bolster the confidence of the inexpert entertainer. Basically, she says this: "Don't worry about making things perfect. Just be yourself." And it IS good advice! I have much more fun entertaining when I just shrug my shoulders and say, "My guests have doubtlessly seen a few unwashed dishes before. I'm not going to freak out about it."

And I won't say that she doesn't give ANY practical advice. She does have recipes and a few recommendations for when to serve them or how to give a nice party.

But I was hoping for more practical advice and less affirmation. I can't give this book a bad review because I'm sure it would be useful to someone whose main entertaining problems are nerves and worrying about "perfection"... I generally don't, though. So I wanted some of that practical stuff -- "what to serve on a midsummer's evening" -- "what to do to keep your guests entertained" and such. Oh well. -- Mrs. Hall