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FOOD: A LOVE STORY
By Jim Gaffigan
352 Pages
Published by Three Rivers Press
ISBN: 080414043X

Let it be said . . . Jim Gaffigan is one of the funniest stand-up guys out there right now. Witty, smart, self-deprecating in so many ways, a loving family man. A clever bit when he’s doing his gigs where he voices the thoughts of his critics in the audience. Hilarious.

So this is what you get in FOOD: A LOVE STORY. Some of it is from his monologues, some of it is short essays on various kinds of food, and some is just purely for fun. How many of you thought of lobster as insects of the sea but never said it out loud? Jim does, right here. How many of you realize how many kinds of barbecue there is? And that cauliflower is just bleached broccoli … and that bottled water is more watery than water …and that EVIAN backwards (as in EVIAN water) is NAIVE? Jim did.

The book is laid out in sections that follow a certain logic. We are taken on a ride through the United States by food style – sea insects on the East Coast, the joy of Pizza (thank you Chicago) Coffee in Seattle, the solid food of the Midwest (can a burger be more burgery?) And then onto different kinds of foods – the futility of fruit, the futility of vegetables, and so on … yes, a distinct pattern of clever observations about the ironic and silly world we call food.

And like a good meal, this book should be taken in useful portions. Its hard to sit and just read this cover to cover … too much humor can back up on you — so this is a great one for reading a chunk at a time – like maybe in the bathroom while you … no, you don’t need the description, but you get the idea.

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