I Hear She's a Real Bitch Book

“A terrific, beautifully written, frank, and funny memoir, and a compelling argument for pulling down the long outdated system of ‘bro’ culture that has dominated the industry since what feels like the beginning of time.” - Anthony Bourdain

From the moment she opened her first bar, Jen Agg knew she could only be her own boss from then on. I Hear She’s a Real Bitch tells the story of how she fought her way through the patriarchal service industry and made it happen, from getting her first job pouring drinks all the way to starting Toronto’s culinary revival and running some of Canada’s most famous restaurants. And she shares what she discovered through years of hard work and learning from her mistakes: how to run a great restaurant that’s also a great business.

 

Readers who loved Gabrielle Hamilton’s bestselling Blood, Bones, and Butter will devour this raw, uninhibited debut. Studded with Agg’s frank and often hilarious observations on an industry in which sexism has been normalized, I Hear She’s a Real Bitch is more than just a story about starting a restaurant: it is a rallying cry for a feminist revolution in the culinary world.

Review

"Whatever Jen Agg says is worth listening to. As owner of Toronto's excellent The Black Hoof, she's one of the most vocal and interesting observers of the peculiar subculture of the restaurant business. I Hear She's a Real Bitch is the book a lot of us have been waiting for. A terrific, beautifully written, frank, and funny memoir, and a compelling argument for pulling down the long outdated system of 'bro' culture that has dominated the industry since what feels like the beginning of time." - Anthony Bourdain

"Jen Agg has produced a memoir every bit as distinctive as her extraordinary restaurants. It is equal parts steel, grit, sass, TMI and analytic brilliance. Nobody is better at creating the modern bistro, a joint that's someplace, yet also relaxed; meticulous, but utterly without pretension. Agg, it turns out, has an ear to match her eye; she is a dismayingly good writer, and her book is a double how-to: how to be a garishly successful restauranteur; and how to be a semi-completed human being. She has brought every bit of her unique verve to I Hear She's a Real Bitch. (PS: She can be, but she really isn’t.)" - Stephen Metcalf, critic-at-large at Slate and host of the Culture Gabfest podcast 

"The culinary world needs more Jen Aggs.... If you don't know the name Jen Agg, consider this your notice: It's time to meet her and hear her out." - Eater

"Acerbic, beautifully written, and deeply thoughtful, Agg’s memoir is about not just making it in a man’s world, but making it into a woman’s world, too." - Refinery29

"Jenn Agg's story comes with a side of empowerment." - Bustle

"Bracingly honest...Agg’s writing is often fun and highly captivating." - PureWow

"Agg does more than talk about her life and growth as a businesswoman. She also exposes double standards in the restaurant industry.... You’re going to want to devour this one the day it comes out." - HelloGiggles, "8 New and Upcoming Memoirs That Will Really Make You Think"

"One of Canada's most influential restaurateurs the woman who introduced Toronto to charcuterie and the $15 cocktail can write, too. In her candid and chatty new memoir, Agg dishes on the grit it takes to be a successful woman in a dude-dominated world, falling in love with her artist husband and, of course, her reputation for being a 'real bitch.'" - Chatelaine

"Jen Agg insists on being heard. Her plainspoken yet breathlessly disclosing memoir is compulsively readable, highlighting her natural gift for not just telling it like it is, but remembering with heart and with humor. Much like dining at one of her perfectly-lit restaurants, reading Agg is a full-blown experience of the senses. I am grateful for her voice and for how generously she storytells. I read I Hear She's a Bitch all the way through, in one sitting, only putting it down once near the end, so as to delay reaching its final pages." - Durga Chew-Bose, author of Too Much and Not the Mood

 

"With a memoir title like this, how can you not immediately fall in love with Jen Agg? A first-person account of the restaurant industry and its sexism, I Hear She’s a Real Bitch packs a powerful punch that’ll have you rooting for Agg the whole way through. Incredibly frank, razor sharp, and outrageously funny, this book is just what the food world needs, but it’ll leave you feeling inspired and empowered no matter your line of work. If you want to know what a badass boss looks like, look no further than Agg." - Shondaland

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Penguin Books; Reprint edition (September 12, 2017)

Language: English

Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches

Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces

About the Author

Jen Agg is the owner of The Black Hoof, Grey Gardens, Rhum Corner, and Cocktail Bar in Toronto and Agrikol in Montreal. She is the author of I Hear She’s a Real Bitch, and is a big fan of nachos. You can find her most nights, in one of her spots, tipping back rosé as slowly as possible, which is to say, not that slowly at all.