Beat Till Stiff - A Woman's Recipe for Living

Razor-witted, wise and just a touch scandalous, Beat Till Stiff: A Woman’s Recipe for Living is about the universal themes that affect all women, with an emphasis on transformation.

Once a counsellor, nurse and cook and now a writer, television presenter and all-round fabulous woman, Peta Mathias is the queen of transformation. ‘I have always been fascinated by events in life where something changes into something else following the simple introduction of a transforming element. With egg whites, it was the introduction of a whisk, with Edith Piaf, it was the day she met her first impresario; with tattooing, it was the discovery that if you make a hole in the skin and rub ash into it, the blue colour will stay there forever.’ With this theme in mind, Peta explores the transformation of herself, people, objects, elements, moments, colours and anything she considers important, naughty or personal.

Peta Mathias gets personal in Beat Till Stiff with many of the essays being autobiographical. Peta shares lessons learnt in her pilgrimage through life, such as how she stopped strangling her mother, why redheads have more fun, how to buy hope and whether having an orgasm really makes a difference to sex, procreation or world peace. Some of the essays in Beat Till Stiff are scurrilous, many are funny and others autobiographical, but all are thoroughly entertaining.

"Beating egg whites till they’re stiff is a metaphor for life – just when you thought your existence would never be more than flaccid transparent snot, something happens to turn it into tight white light." —Peta Mathias, Beat Till Stiff

Sarah Healey has designed and illustrated Beat Till Stiff; with its striking slip cover and the quirky line drawings scattered throughout, this book is perfectly unique. Women will fall in love with Peta Mathias and the fun encapsulated in this book.

Beat Till Stiff is the third in her bestselling collection of humourous musings delving into selfhelp and relationships. These include her guide to womanhood Can We Help It If We’re Fabulous? (Penguin, 2008), where Peta shared with us her thoughts on being a woman and Just In Time To Be Too Late (Penguin, 2009), where she turned her attention to what it means to be a man in the twenty-first century.

Peta Mathias is a respected and prolific chef, author, broadcaster and television presenter. She also finds time each year to run very popular culinary adventures to Morocco, the south of France and India, intended for travellers who love to cook.

Peta has written ten books about food and travel and presented the prime time television food and travel show, Taste New Zealand, for twelve years. She now has her own television production company, Red Head Media, which makes food/ travel television. Her latest programme is currently airing on Prime TV on Tuesday nights – ‘Culinary Adventures in the South of France’. Peta resides in Auckland but also spends half the year in the south of France. www.petamathias.com

Peta and I will be touring around New Zealand from 15-20 November and heading through these regions:

Please check out our website for the full event details.

print