Be Ready When The Luck Happens
Ina Garten
October 1, 2024, Crown Books
320 pages
There’s a common phrase told to writer’s to make us feel better about the vagaries of publishing- 90% of this industry is luck. Indeed, you hear people joking about their “overnight success” story that only took 15 years of submissions. Which is why the title of Ina Garten’s memoir, Be Ready When The Luck Happens, really hits home. Especially when she explains its provenance in the last chapter. Yes, there is an element of luck involved, but that doesn’t negate the years of preparation that go into making sure one is ready to take advantage of that luck when it happens. Nobody succeeds on luck alone. If I can’t write, or if Ina couldn’t cook, neither one of us would generate many sales.
Reading Ina’s story, I was most intrigued by how the Jewish concept of chutzpah propelled her to success. Many people view chutzpah in a negative sense – refusing to bow to authority or being disrespectful – but in Judaism there are no wholly negative character traits. There are simply aspects of ourselves that we must channel for the greater good rather than using them for the bad. In the case of chutzpah, this means not accepting societal injustice simply because that’s the way it always has been, and not turning down opportunity just because one is scared. When I read about how bank managers wouldn’t count Ina’s income on a mortgage application because they assumed all women have babies and stop working, I knew this was a place for Chutzpah- and so did Ina. In this, and many similar incidents, she found a way to work around unfair obstacles.
She also jumped in head first to a variety of business ventures that would have scared the living daylights of me. I would spend at least 6 months drawing up spreadsheets, consulting with friends, and dithering. Not Ina Garten. Even when things didn’t work out, she managed to get out intact and learn important lessons. Where I would mope and rehash things over and over, she moved on wiser and stronger. I hope to take those ideas forward with me.
Life was not perfect for Ina, her early childhood sounds rough, but she always managed to find a way to move forward and find the positive. While appreciating Ina’s negotiating style – she uses to empathy to think about what the other person will need out of the negotiation – I was surprised to see her state she learned this from her father. To say their relationship was rocky is an understatement. Yet still, she heard the value in what he had to say. The same thing happened when a famous artist criticized her book layout. From each interaction she took the valuable insights, but then stuck to her vision. It displays a generosity and openness that can only be born from confidence.
At the heart of Be Ready When The Luck Happens is Ina’s relationship with her husband, which is an epic love story, but one that had to grow as Ina herself changed. It was truly remarkable to see the love and support her spouse offered her throughout, but also how they each bent over backwards to find out how to accommodate the other without giving up their own dreams. Ina is very candid about the work they had to put in to their relationship, and why a person that always gives off such a strong comfort/mother vibe to me – never wanted to have children. As she says – no one was doing anything wrong, yet still they needed to work on their marriage. And the result of that work was a beautiful life spent together as equals.
Be Ready When The Luck Happens is by no means a kosher cooking story. The recipes interspersed throughout include pork and shellfish. But the ethos here is so very Jewish. To move forward in life confidently, with compassion for those around you, being honest to your vision.