From my reading, there does seem to be a big difference in tone between the books and the blog. The books seem to reach out to and try to win over a general audience, while I can barely read the blog because so much of it seems self-promoting (…”when I stopped in at Alinea on my way back from my latest appearance on the Food Network [insert video clip here], who should I end up chatting with but the new, rising celebrity chef…” blah, blah, blah).

I understand that, for someone trying to make a living at all this, that’s part of the point (if not the main point) of a blog – to relentlessly and shamelessly promote brand Ruhlman. But I sure don’t want to read it!

I guess what it comes down to is I feel like he’s limiting himself to a smaller audience because he comes off so incredibly condescending in his writing. Perhaps I’m just misinterpreting tone, but I always find he sounds like such a know-it-all prat, which in turn discourages me from wanting to read his work.

He’s chosen to do this for a living, while I’ve given up on making a living and settled for, well, living. I can appreciate that that makes me a little bit freer to be self-diminutizing, self-ridiculizing, self-metastasizing – anything but a neat, pre-packaged commodity!