Garlic and Sapphires

On a recent trip to Tower Records--a lame excuse for a book store, but the only one nearby--I picked up this book. The cover immediately caught my eye--and, let's be honest, I always judge books by their covers. I think people who say they don't are lying. The cover is the first thing to catch your eye; if you think the cover looks interesting, then you read the title and if that appeals to you, then you read the back cover...isn't that the natural progression? Where did the phrase, "Don't judge a book by it's cover" come from anyway? How else are you supposed to pick books--are you supposed to go down the ailes looking only at the titles? Wouldn't the colors and illustrations on the covers catch your eye before you could even get to the titles? I digress.

This cover looked particularly appealing, so I moved on to the title and then--still intrigued--I read the back cover. It looked like a very entertaining read, so I bought it. What a find! Ruth Reichl, now the editor in chief of Gourmet magazine, writes about her adventures as food critic for the NY Times. In order to maintain anonymity while reviewing some of the biggest restaurants in NYC, she takes on the guise of a series of eccentric personalities. The only rule that Reichl uses when she goes to any given restaurant is that her guests can order as much as they can eat, but she gets to try everything--my kind of rule! The way she describes the food in this book just makes your mouth water. And, she even includes some of her favorite recipes, which I fully intend to try. This is the first break from fiction I've taken in a while, and I was very pleased with this selection. Even if you are not as obsessed with food as I am, you would probably still really enjoy this book. It's interesting, it's funny, it's very well written and it gives an insight into the theater and politics of eating out.