This book is superb. The writing is as good as it gets — vividly descriptive, informative, scholarly (lots of supporting references and credits) and, above all, witty and funny par excellence. I have not enjoyed reading a book as much as this in a long, long time, and I read a LOT. The neologism “LOL” was invented for this book.The book is a collection of articles originally published in Vogue. I had always thought of Vogue as a glossy overpriced rag filled with photos of underfed models in clothes nobody I have known, or ever will know, would ever be seen wearing. Who knew that writing like this was contained within? It would be like going into a McDonalds and finding McFoieGras on the menu. The book itself is analogous to the many feasts described within: each chapter is like a delicious course, to be savored and contemplated. I read a chapter a day to not over-satiate myself. On several of these days I followed up by actually cooking one of the recipes, and I was never disappointed. I have bookmarked many others for later use.This is the acme of cookbooks: it does not waste space on photos or diagrams, and for that I, for one, am thankful. A thousand words of this man’s writing is superior to any number of pictures of pie. The book is dietetic because the author has done all the eating for you and summarized his findings so you can stick to the good stuff. I immediately bought Mr Steingarten’s other book (which, thus far, is just as good) and who knows, maybe one day I will don a disguise and buy a copy of Vogue. Should the author ever see this review I say to him: hats off, forks out, and bottoms up.