Kylie Kwong Book Talk

Tipped off by my friend Penne that Kylie Kwong was holding a series of talks to publicise her new book, I decided to try and find an event near me in Sydney. Shearer's book shop in Leichardt came up trumps.

Here in Sydney authors seem to give talks in small independent book shops to publicise their new offering. It's not something I've seen back home in the UK, where a signing session in the biggest chain book shop going is all you ever seem to get.

With fond memories of David Thompson's book talk and because I love Kylie's food, I was keen to hear her in person for the first time. First impressions, blimey she's got very long fingers! Do you think that's a pre-requisite for all chefs?

I was actually a bit disappointed by Kylie's talk. In contrast to David Thompson who captivated and engaged his audience, Kylie was reading from a speech and there wasn't a lot of passion or inspiration. She wondered off script for five minutes to talk about one of her favourite suppliers which was great, but then sadly returned to her pre-prepared speech.

Kylie was also giving us a bit of a sales pitch for the book, and not a very effective one at that. Everyone there was a fan and so probably didn't need the sales patter. It would have been much more interesting to learn something new about Kylie as a person, her restaurant or just am amusing anecdote.

As you can tell I wasn't overly impressed! However, being an exceptional cook, doesn't mean you are a great public speaker. I'll happily stick with her wonderful duck in blood orange sauce any day!