The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

Publishers Information

About The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

Publisher Web Link: http://www.penguin.com/

The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry: Love, Laughter, and Tears in Paris at the World's Most Famous Cooking School

This is the funny and inspiring account of Kathleen Flinn’s struggle in a stew of hot-tempered chefs, competitive classmates, her own “wretchedly inadequate” French, and the basics of French cuisine. Flinn was a thirty-six-year-old middle manager trapped on the corporate ladder—until her boss eliminated her job. So she cashed in her savings and moved to Paris to pursue her lifelong dream of attending the venerable Le Cordon Bleu cooking school. Fans of Julie & Julia and the late Julia Child will be richly rewarded by this vibrant tale of self-discovery, transformation, and ultimately love.

Author Information

About Kathleen Flinn

Author Web Link: http://kathleenflinn.com/

I am a writer, author, speaker, cooking and writing teacher who splits her time between Seattle and Anna Maria Island, Florida.

I began my writing career after throwing a dart at a map when I was 17. It landed at Gary, Indiana. I drove north to Chicago where I started my writing career as a regular freelancer for the Chicago Sun-Times and interning at Playboy magazine. Following a couple of newspaper jobs, including one as a reporter for the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune, I went on to edit Internet Underground, a national print magazine that was highly acclaimed for its originality and design; the L.A. Times referred to it as “Spy meets Wired.”

In the mid-90s, I joined Microsoft as the founding restaurant producer for Sidewalk.com, the company’s nationwide series of online city guides. When they were sold to Citysearch, I went to work for MSN in London, eventually heading up editorial for MSN.co.uk.

As I progressed up the corporate ladder, I spent less time writing, creating and producing. Instead, I spent more time working on budgets, managing stuff and doing reports. Urged on by my then boyfriend, Mike, I left Microsoft in December 2003 to pursue a lifelong dream of studying at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris. I earned a diplome de cuisine from the school in 2005. You can read all about this in my memoir “The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry.” I’m at work on a second book now.

Over the years, in addition to being a journalist and corporate type, I have also held a number of odd jobs. At various times in my career, I have been employed as a magician’s assistant, professional Tarot card reader, singing telegram messenger and stand-up comedian.

In 2004, I married Mike, a Renaissance type of guy who invents, designs and provides technical consulting in addition to flying small planes, driving fast motorcycles and jumping off mountains with a paragliding wing.

I presently serve as the chair of the Food Writers, Editors & Publishers section of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. I’m also a member of the American Society of Journalists & Authors, Society of Professional Journalists and the Author’s Guild.

You can reach me by email via kat@kathleenflinn.com

Cookbooks by Kathleen Flinn

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The Sharper Your Knife, the Less You Cry

by Kathleen Flinn