Rating: 
Summary: Recipes for the Connoisseur
Review: A book definitely for the serious, devoted baker. "Recipes for the Connoisseur" is what caught my attention. Unsatisfied with the bread I made, this book seemed to offer secret methods and knowledge I yearned for. After successfully creating a wild yeast starter, I proceeded to make the olive-rosemary loaves. Following instructions meticulously I was still skeptical about the results. Having slashed the loaves, loading them into the oven, spritzing, and waiting to peek, I was overjoyed to view crusty, nicely browned, beautifully bloomed loaves. The wonderful aroma proved true in the first bite, and I was hooked! I've gone on to develop my own style of bread, but I credit Nancy's artistry and thorough approach in her book as my mentor in creating great bread. Though other great books have come out since (Crust & Crumb; The Bread Builders; etc.), I feel she set a standard with this book, and all others since have included her book in their bibliographies.
Rating:
Summary: Highly Recommended!
Review: Before reading this book my only bread-making experience was throwing ingredients into a bread machine and never being thrilled with the results. Making the breads in this book take some practice to get right, but the results are well worth the effort. The fig anise bread is outstanding. My neighbors are now asking if they can buy my bread from me.One exception: I'm sure her starter is fantastic, but there's no way I can feed a starter 3 times a day and go through 7 cups of flour every day. Instead, I talked a local artisan bakery into giving me a couple of cups of their starter, which I feed once a day. I also made my own starter from the "Crust and Crumb" recipe, which worked perfectly. These once a day starters still make fantastic bread, and are a sane alternative. So far every recipe I've tried has delivered great bread.
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Summary: Best background information on the chemistry of baking bread
Review: Breads from the La Brea Bakery is the best book I have found so far on the chemistry of baking bread in English or German. It's useful for beginners as well as expert bakers. Unfortunately, the publisher is no longer shipping this book. It would be good if people asked them to reprint it.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent reference - major snob appeal
Review: Despite her protestations to the contrary, the author is a snob with too much time on her hands. Maybe she has two or three days to spend on a batch of bread, but as any baker knows, you can produce delicious, satisfying bread in a fraction of a day. Don't be fooled into thinking you have to undergo her rituals to "take your baking to the next level." At one point she compares yeasted bread to to cake mix (because its so-called inferior character). What rubbish. Yeasted bread has a fine history and great character. There are some useful tips, but you needn't go to the trouble she demands to make great bread. Her obsession with the topic is overwhelming even to experienced bakers. It's hard for me to imagine that she has any fun baking or serving bread...
Rating: 
Summary: too much for one meal
Review: I bought many bread books before this one. Because I want to make bread from sourdough therefore I choose this one. Over all this isn't a bad book. But I think the recipe call for too much for one meal. It call for 6 to 7 cup of flour.
Rating:
Summary: Nancy Silverton taught me to bake
Review: I bought this book because I wanted to learn to make bread that was markedly better than the bread you can typically buy at most bakeries. There didn't seem to be much point in "bread machine bread" or quicker methods if I could just buy it down the street. While it is true that getting started with this book takes some time and determination, the book clearly explains WHY such an effort is worth it and what you are likely to end up with. Reading the background information is really very inspiring, and my results have been progressively more and more fantastic, even under less than ideal conditions. I also like the other things to do with extra started, especially the onion rings. I do really love this book, and I wish I could get Nancy Silverton's Desserts book, which is also out of print.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic for those of us who love breadmaking
Review: I cannot say enough good things about this book. I was worried that the starter that she descibes in such detail would be beyond my capabilities, but it grew beautifully on the first attempt. I have been making bread from her recipes for months now, and I have not been let down once. Nancy Silverton is the best when it comes to descibing how to make great bread. I haven't even opened another cookbook in my extensive library of bread cookbooks since I got hers. Don't be intimidated by the time that is involved, it's worth every minute.
Rating:
Summary: Fantastic Bread
Review: I could never make a good loaf of sourdough bread before I read this book. The first time I made the basic recipe I looked in the oven and the loaf was exploding! It was the best bread I ever made. The book is detailed. The basic recipe is over 50 pages as it explains the how and why of every detail.
Rating:
Summary: Best Bread
Review: I have been a fan of the La Brea Bakery's bread for many years. I have tried many bread recipes at home, but none compare to Nancy Silverton's recipes from her La Brea Bakery. Many will say that this book is not for beginning bread bakers. This is probably true. I belive you should try baking with commercial "instant" or "Active" yeast before you try her methods. All her bread is made with a natural sourdough starter that takes two weeks to create, and requires daily feeding. The result is the best bread on earth. It is a lot of work. I end up baking more than I can eat, but my friends and family benefit from this. The recipes in this book take time: In most cases two days before a loaf is completed. It is worth it. Just schedule your time around the dough rising periods.
Rating:
Summary: Nice to Read, Not So Nice to Bake From...
Review: I have to agree with many of the reviewers here who have mentioned that, although the recipes all sound interesting and Silverton's discussion of wild yeast starters is useful for avid bread bakers, this is not at all a practical book to use. I love to bake bread, but the thought of feeding a starter 3 times a day seems incredibly expensive/wasteful(both in terms of time and money!). Good bread can be made with much less time and cash. I would recommend Peter Reinhart's book, "The Bread Baker's Apprentice", for its excellent and straight-forward bread recipes. His recipes are also for the "conossieur, but they do not require that you become a slave to your bread-baking habit!
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