April 06, 2005

Amusing review

From Choice, Feb 2005, p. 1006-7:

42-3185 TX653 2004-18161 CIP
Snodgrass, Mary Ellen. Encyclopedia of Kitchen History. Fitzroy Dearborn, 2004. 694p bibl index afp ISBN 1579583806, $175.00

Taking for its subject the entire history of kitchens and anything that might have happened in them, this encyclopedia contains 300 entries on topics as diverse as cannibalism and brooms. Entries range in length from a few paragraphs to several pages, and each has a brief list of further readings. The volume has a general bibliography and a detailed index. The book is fascinating to browse. Curious about coffee filters? They were invented by Melitta Bentz of Dresden, Germany, who first marketed them from her kitchen. The book's usefulness as a reference source, however, seems limited. Although it covers subjects difficult to find elsewhere (e.g., logging camp kitchens), the range of topics is highly selective and arbitrary. Why an entry on bananas and not apples, or military kitchens but not farm kitchens? Snodgrass does not reveal why particular topics were chosen. A narrower focus covered more exhaustively might have been more useful, and the price is excessive.
Summing Up: Recommended. General and undergraduate libraries.
-D. Richards Minnesota State University--Mankato

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Personally, I want to know how she worked "cannibalism" into kitchens. I always thought of that more as campfire cookery, personally. :D

Posted by gris at April 6, 2005 08:30 PM
Comments

And since I'm still in the same Choice... I just ran across a HORRIBLE pun of a title, and I have to share the pain:
The world's greatest fix: a history of nitrogen and agriculture, by G. J. Leigh.

Posted by: Gris at April 7, 2005 10:38 AM

And another...
Lessons from the golden age of filmstrips: change your underwear twice a week

Posted by: Gris at April 7, 2005 01:34 PM

Ow. OWOWOW.
The Rise of Viagra: how the little blue pill changed sex in America by Meika Loe.

And while I'm at it... a book on The Tudors by Richard Rex. :D

Posted by: Gris at April 7, 2005 04:23 PM

And, continuing my self-commenting... just a line from a review in the Feb. 1 '05 Kirkus that appealed to me: "Overall: exotic and ephemeral, like lychee-flavored bubblegum." (If you're REALLY curious, it was a negative review of Chris Roberson's Here, There, and Everywhere.

Posted by: Gris at April 9, 2005 03:48 PM