Jack Monroe #427 Frugal home cooking based on lived experience (now contested)

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Thanks to random squig for sharing a newsletter and gifting us this thread title, nominated by @Jelly Bean

Jack has been pretty quiet so a chaos is probably imminent. She hasn’t moved house yet or refunded Patreon squig. She did post a “covertly filmed” video of her wrestling with Content, which was pretty upsetting tbh.

The Slopalong is progressing nicely with more money raised in just over a week than Jack managed to raise between Feb and Sept from Teemill 🤔

Slopalong #2 You can’t polish a turd, but you can cover it in parsley

Congratulations to @OwlChampagne , nominating @NobblyBobbly ’s words for the title. You both win a slice or spoon of a dish of your choice from the last thread, washed down with @That Forensic Man ’s choppy egg. Brava/o for all your efforts. Hardly surprising that none of Jack’s recipes aren’t...
tattle.life
 
Recap: Jack has been quiet but is still promoting Grifty Kitchen, due for release in January. The book was promoted by Waterstones on Twitter with a 50% discount (read: they can't give it away) and received a lot of negative comments about Jack's scams, lies, and Patreon. Meanwhile, Awfullymolly launched a new website with a more detailed, systematic overview of Jack's grifting.

Still no Patreon rewards. Still no VBI. Jack wheeled out Content the dog for, uh, content (distraction) and made a nasty little comment about "funding" SB as if he isn't her own child
 
Dear Canal,
I can't stop thinking about how much Leggy looks like she was drawn by Quentin Blake.
Screenshot_20221113_230558.jpg

I know, I am going to hell for this. But if I can't say it here then I might just blurt it out at work. So thanks pals 😘
 
There was a suggestion on the haunted bird app (sorry I can't find the post that said this) that part of the reason Jack continues to get positive media attention is that the agency representing her has enough better-known clients to use its clout. As in, if a media outlet wants access to an A-list client from that agency (like interview availability, advance copies of new publications, etc), the outlet has to give some attention to a B-list or C-list client like Jack first. If this is true, it would certainly explain a lot. Any fraus or herren have any insight into whether her agency has a reputation for doing this?

Also, the video attached to the Tweet from Bluebird Books is basically shots of the Grifty Kitchen book cover, with captions. No actual Jack appearances, and certainly not as elaborate or detailed as the videos they make for other authors. It also mentions that the accompanying free e-book is "10 brand new recipes and 20 budget-friendly favourites from Jack's previous books". Oh, please please let at least some of those 20 recipes be ones that have been deconstructed in the Slopalong :p
 
frankychester said:
What is the calorific value of the book itself? For comparison, coal is 25–35 MJ/kg.
Click to expand...
There was a discussion on the Food And Drink thread about eating paper. “A taste of Thrifty Kitchen” could be a fun slopalong topic in January?
Click to expand...

@Sideboard Bob I think the most valuable use of the book would be to see who can cook the best meal over it. You are allowed some child's coloured pencils and eucalyptus leaves to get the fire going and you can start it with Contents/Coopsy-boy's matted fur. Plenty of that to go around!
 
To go back to the previous thread and what being with Leggy did for Jack. For me, who probably has a quite similar background to Jack (minus the landlord grandad/dad so possibly a bit more genuinely working class), I remember the first time I met people who were genuinely rich. Up until then, I had sort of thought having a 4 bedroom house was a sign of wealth. Then you meet someone like Leggy who was born with more money than you’ll ever have in a thousand lifetimes and if you let it, you can start to feel hard done by in the lottery of life.

most people give their head a wobble and move on but as per the Fire Service/shift work/trazzers debacle, we know Jack is a perma victim. So at this point the story changes from “I was just a smol middle class pixie down on her luck” to “I’m working class, me mate, born into poverty and now still in it*”

*because my parents weren’t millionaires at the time of my birth.

It means she’s had to retcon her back story but it was too late. And for me, everything she’s done ever since is about trying to maintain that facade and she’s just shovelled tit onto tit and now the whole thing has collapsed under its own weight.
 
I notice the agent (Rosemary wotsit) is still not showing up on the Twitter profile. Although Jack’s profile is still up on the United Agents website (and it’s still the version that hasn’t been updated since 2014 - so professional 🙄). Maybe she has been dumped after all? I mean, this agency has some seriously big clients, and Jack must be a on absolute pain in the arse, for very little return.
Re Bluebird: I wish someone would ask them about their recipe-testing policy. I don’t know about publishing, but I understand that there isn’t usually a budget for this these days and authors are expected to arrange this themselves. I guess big names like That Man will probably do recipe-testing in-house, and others might engage a professional recipe-tester to do this.
It’s obvious from the Slopalong that Jack doesn’t do anything of the sort. And while even the big names will still have the odd recipe that doesn’t work, in Jack’s case it looks like EVERY SINGLE RECIPE is wrong and/or revolting.
Don’t Bluebird bear some responsibility for this? They are trying to flog a book full of defective recipes to people trying to save money. That seems deeply unethical to me.
 
Apologies if this has been posted already, but this appears to be the press release for the publishing industry about Bluebird acquiring the book. Featuring lavish praise from Jack's agent and Bluebird's publisher ("national treasure" :sick: "best-loved expert on budget cooking" :sick: ) plus some typically overwritten comments from Jack herself. "Frugality can be exhausting, complicated and overwhelming; I’ve tried here to make some elements of it genuinely enjoyable, simple and very gently life-changing instead." Yes, I'm sure the people freezing because of fuel costs, and lining up at food banks, find their situation "genuinely enjoyable"....

www.thebookseller.com

Jack Monroe's Thrifty Kitchen and free e-book signed by Bluebird

Bluebird has netted Thrifty Kitchen from anti-poverty campaigner and "national treasure" Jack Monroe.
www.thebookseller.com www.thebookseller.com
 
Last edited:
hoopdedoo said:
Apologies if this has been posted already, but this appears to be the press release for the publishing industry about Bluebird acquiring the book. Featuring lavish praise from Jack's agent and Bluebird's publisher ("national treasure" :sick: "best-loved expert on budget cooking" :sick: ) plus some typically overwritten comments from Jack herself. "Frugality can be exhausting, complicated and overwhelming; I’ve tried here to make some elements of it genuinely enjoyable, simple and very gently life-changing instead." Yes, I'm sure the people freezing because of fuel costs, and lining up at food banks, find their situation "genuinely enjoyable"....

www.thebookseller.com

Jack Monroe's Thrifty Kitchen and free e-book signed by Bluebird

Bluebird has netted Thrifty Kitchen from anti-poverty campaigner and "national treasure" Jack Monroe.
www.thebookseller.com www.thebookseller.com
Click to expand...
Wise & accessible household tricks? Like putting oven trays in your bed and using tumble drier fluff to light up your gas radiators? What a lot of guff.
Love the ‘Monwoe’ from a squig, how did we never think of that? Perfect, and we know how Jack adores a pun.
 
bracrumbs said:
To go back to the previous thread and what being with Leggy did for Jack. For me, who probably has a quite similar background to Jack (minus the landlord grandad/dad so possibly a bit more genuinely working class), I remember the first time I met people who were genuinely rich. Up until then, I had sort of thought having a 4 bedroom house was a sign of wealth. Then you meet someone like Leggy who was born with more money than you’ll ever have in a thousand lifetimes and if you let it, you can start to feel hard done by in the lottery of life.

most people give their head a wobble and move on but as per the Fire Service/shift work/trazzers debacle, we know Jack is a perma victim. So at this point the story changes from “I was just a smol middle class pixie down on her luck” to “I’m working class, me mate, born into poverty and now still in it*”

*because my parents weren’t millionaires at the time of my birth.

It means she’s had to retcon her back story but it was too late. And for me, everything she’s done ever since is about trying to maintain that facade and she’s just shovelled tit onto tit and now the whole thing has collapsed under its own weight.
Click to expand...
Brilliant observation. 👏🏼
 
Tabitha D said:
I notice the agent (Rosemary wotsit) is still not showing up on the Twitter profile. Although Jack’s profile is still up on the United Agents website (and it’s still the version that hasn’t been updated since 2014 - so professional 🙄). Maybe she has been dumped after all? I mean, this agency has some seriously big clients, and Jack must be a on absolute pain in the arse, for very little return.
Re Bluebird: I wish someone would ask them about their recipe-testing policy. I don’t know about publishing, but I understand that there isn’t usually a budget for this these days and authors are expected to arrange this themselves. I guess big names like That Man will probably do recipe-testing in-house, and others might engage a professional recipe-tester to do this.
It’s obvious from the Slopalong that Jack doesn’t do anything of the sort. And while even the big names will still have the odd recipe that doesn’t work, in Jack’s case it looks like EVERY SINGLE RECIPE is wrong and/or revolting.
Don’t Bluebird bear some responsibility for this? They are trying to flog a book full of defective recipes to people trying to save money. That seems deeply unethical to me.
Click to expand...


Nobody on a budget buys these books. Everyone knows this including the publishers
 
hoopdedoo said:
There was a suggestion on the haunted bird app (sorry I can't find the post that said this) that part of the reason Jack continues to get positive media attention is that the agency representing her has enough better-known clients to use its clout. As in, if a media outlet wants access to an A-list client from that agency (like interview availability, advance copies of new publications, etc), the outlet has to give some attention to a B-list or C-list client like Jack first. If this is true, it would certainly explain a lot. Any fraus or herren have any insight into whether her agency has a reputation for doing this?

Also, the video attached to the Tweet from Bluebird Books is basically shots of the Grifty Kitchen book cover, with captions. No actual Jack appearances, and certainly not as elaborate or detailed as the videos they make for other authors. It also mentions that the accompanying free e-book is "10 brand new recipes and 20 budget-friendly favourites from Jack's previous books". Oh, please please let at least some of those 20 recipes be ones that have been deconstructed in the Slopalong :p
Click to expand...
All agencies work on those lines to some extent
 
It's absolutely mental to me that a person with no qualifications is allowed to release a book in the first place. How does it make sense? No food technology expertise, food safety, no knowledge of nutrition, no writing skill. The books are totally thrown together and are reminiscent of a last-minute piece of GCSE coursework for which you'd get a D. She's getting these book deals based on what? A large Twitter following?
 
ChickenPorridge said:
It's absolutely mental to me that a person with no qualifications is allowed to release a book in the first place. How does it make sense? No food technology expertise, food safety, no knowledge of nutrition, no writing skill. The books are totally thrown together and are reminiscent of a last-minute piece of GCSE coursework for which you'd get a D. She's getting these book deals based on what? A large Twitter following?
Click to expand...

Its everywhere now. Mental health 'experts', autism 'experts'... the main qualification for getting a book deal is their own diagnosis. No research, no data, no peer reviewed papers. Just the sound of their own voice. And yes all off the back of a large Twitter following and a Blue Tick.

It really boils my piss.
 
Tabitha D said:
I notice the agent (Rosemary wotsit) is still not showing up on the Twitter profile. Although Jack’s profile is still up on the United Agents website (and it’s still the version that hasn’t been updated since 2014 - so professional 🙄). Maybe she has been dumped after all? I mean, this agency has some seriously big clients, and Jack must be a on absolute pain in the arse, for very little return.
Re Bluebird: I wish someone would ask them about their recipe-testing policy. I don’t know about publishing, but I understand that there isn’t usually a budget for this these days and authors are expected to arrange this themselves. I guess big names like That Man will probably do recipe-testing in-house, and others might engage a professional recipe-tester to do this.
It’s obvious from the Slopalong that Jack doesn’t do anything of the sort. And while even the big names will still have the odd recipe that doesn’t work, in Jack’s case it looks like EVERY SINGLE RECIPE is wrong and/or revolting.
Don’t Bluebird bear some responsibility for this? They are trying to flog a book full of defective recipes to people trying to save money. That seems deeply unethical to me.
Click to expand...
I be Bluebird are watching Twitter and actively shitting themselves. They can’t not publish at this point because they’d lose so much money. But they must be hoping to just quietly drop her once this book has launched.
 
bracrumbs said:
To go back to the previous thread and what being with Leggy did for Jack. For me, who probably has a quite similar background to Jack (minus the landlord grandad/dad so possibly a bit more genuinely working class), I remember the first time I met people who were genuinely rich. Up until then, I had sort of thought having a 4 bedroom house was a sign of wealth. Then you meet someone like Leggy who was born with more money than you’ll ever have in a thousand lifetimes and if you let it, you can start to feel hard done by in the lottery of life.

most people give their head a wobble and move on but as per the Fire Service/shift work/trazzers debacle, we know Jack is a perma victim. So at this point the story changes from “I was just a smol middle class pixie down on her luck” to “I’m working class, me mate, born into poverty and now still in it*”

*because my parents weren’t millionaires at the time of my birth.
Click to expand...

I completely agree with this. Middle class is such a wide spectrum - where I grew up middle class was a large semi, with a holiday abroad and two cars etc. (economically middle class) but then I went to university and met what I still think as posh people - private school, everyone had the accent despite coming from all over the country, horses, second homes, wine cellars etc. - and confusingly these people also identify as middle class!

Suddenly Jack isn't middle class and she's now a working class pixie done good. Because she can't be just average! She needs an angle, she needs to be special! Throw in the third generation immigrant stuff and she's on a roll.
 
Bugger13 said:
Wise & accessible household tricks? Like putting oven trays in your bed and using tumble drier fluff to light up your gas radiators? What a lot of guff.
Love the ‘Monwoe’ from a squig, how did we never think of that? Perfect, and we know how Jack adores a pun.
Click to expand...
I wonder if the boiling soap 'hack' has made it into the book (and hasn't been swiftly removed before print)? She's at risk of kicking it all off again on twitter if so. 🤭
 
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