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Although Spaghetti and Meatballs is really an Italian-American dish, not one you’re likely to find in Italy, it is still […]
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A trip to Courmayeur, Italy, a mountain town in the Valle d’Aosta, at the foot of Mont Blanc and near […]
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It’s autumn and time for squash soup. My Red Kabocha Squash Soup was inspired by Thomas Keller’s (restaurateur of the […]
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Despite the ridiculous book, Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche, Quiche Lorraine is one of my favorite luncheon dishes. It can […]
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It’s the end of season for quality tomatoes. The best way I know to celebrate this finale is to make […]
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Stir-Fry Pepper Steak is one of my favorite Chinese dishes—though it no longer seems to be fashionable. I rarely see […]
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I have always loved Stuffed Artichokes. When I was a child, my grandmother made them only for Christmas Eve dinner. […]
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I love Eggplant Parmigiana, but I have been unhappy with my own recipe and with the many others I have […]
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Pink Lemonade Pie is a perfect end-of-summer dessert. It’s easy to make, requires very little cooking, it’s tangy, light, and […]
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August and September are the months I like to make tacos. Why? Because my Ground Sirloin Tacos and Pico de […]
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The perfect summer dessert should require minimum cooking, be light, refreshing, feature summer produce, and offer a lovely appearance. Here […]
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Vitello Tonnato,, or veal with tuna, is a perfect dish for hot summer days. Although it does require about two […]
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Soufflé omelettes are a quite different experience from regular omelettes. Often they are fruit omelettes. (See my Strawberry Soufflé Omelette […]
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It’ summer. It’s hot. It’s humid. You need a satisfyingly flavorful, easy-to-cook, one-pan dinner. It’s Ukrainian Baked Chicken. This recipe […]
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Salade Lyonnaise is a very traditional French bistro first-course offering. Even in its simplest form, it’s a bit of work […]
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Summer calls for cool, refreshing salads. And one of the best to fulfill that need is Lentil Salad. It’s easy […]
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It’s strawberry season! I felt the urge to create a new dessert that would feature this spring fruit, and I […]
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One of my favorite appetizers is Fonduta Piemontese, which also makes a lovely luncheon dish. It’s basically an Italian version […]
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Lobster Thermidor: Expensive? Yes. A myriad of pricey ingredients? Yes. Time consuming? Yes. Worth it all? Absolutely. I began my […]
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Looking for the perfect hors d’oeuvre or appetizer? Cannellini-Pesto Spread may be your answer. It’s quite easy to make and […]
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Is there a more comforting food than homemade chicken soup? If there is, I haven’t found it. My go-to Chicken […]
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If you live in the Northeastern United States, the Midwest, or Appalachia, it is ramp season—a season that can be […]
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Nowadays high-quality raised donuts are not difficult to find. However, I find that quality cake donuts are quite another matter—thus […]
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Back to the ’50s! The much derided Tuna-Noodle Casserole of that era can actually produce a quite delicious, easy-to-prepare, and […]
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If you’re looking for a quite easy first course or light luncheon dish that also makes a lovely presentation, you […]
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Zuccotto Fiorentino is an elaborate dessert of sponge cake and cream fillings that is popular in Florence. It is said […]
Go to Books Tab for Information on My Autobiography
Critical Acclaim for The Wrong Side of the Room
“The book’s second half is fully stocked with accounts of stage shows galore—not to mention impressive name-dropping (Barbra Streisand, Betty Grable, Dorothy Lamour, Gene Kelly). These anecdotes from the theater’s social scene glide alongside vivid imagery from the author’s performances and other successes. The book also has a delightful, chatty sense of humor with moments of wry wit that make it exciting to read.
In the end, it effectively celebrates a life of artistic inspiration alongside the giddiness and glory of live theater.”
—Kirkus Review
Read the entire Kirkus Review here.
Readers’ Favorite Review
by Asher Syed
The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater by Norman Mathews is an autobiography chronicling the author’s life as he transitions from a confusing and often abusive childhood, born in a sleet of uncertainty (literally, as it turns out). Masked by imagination and written with a humor that most would not be able to apply to such situations, Mathews is able to harness this creativity and hitch it to his own ambitions as a rising star. When an injury threatens to derail an ascent that defies all odds, Mathews is forced to reinvent and reignite himself once more, and does so amid a whole host of personal and professional turmoil, scandal, and the kind of stories that are all the more shocking – and inspiring – because they are actually true.
Norman Mathews delivers a riveting memoir with The Wrong Side of the Room that opens with a contentious genesis and powerfully surges through to its finale. This is the ultimate tale of a man who is knocked down seven times and gets up eight, except in this case our tenacious narrator is struck to the ground far more than that. But he does continue to rise and appears to have carved out a genuine niche for himself until, “I woke up one morning with a strange pain in my back and running down my right leg. In a few days, it got much worse, and I began limping.” With the support of his partner Todd, he buys a Steinway, dives into formal education, and…well, at first that all implodes too. But Mathews is the consummate phoenix and, much like he displays in the writing of this book, skillfully maneuvers the trajectory of his life’s own narrative into a story that we are fortunate enough to have shared in The Wrong Side of the Room.
Impressively candid, exceptionally informative, deftly written, organized and presented, “The Wrong Side of the Room: A Life in Music Theater” is an extraordinary memoir that will have special and particular appeal for anyone with an interest in show business. . .very highly recommended for both community and academic library Contemporary American Biography collections.
—Midwest Book Review