Miami Book Fair Clueless On Cookbooks

The food industry is hot hot hot. Chefs are hot hot hot. Restaurants are hot hot hot. Food networks and food festivals and food anythings are hot hot hot. Cookbooks are hot hot hot. Seems as though every chef in the world has written one this year - except for...

By Lee Klein

November 19, 2010

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The food industry is hot hot hot. Chefs are hot hot hot. Restaurants are hot hot hot. Food networks and food festivals and food anythings are hot hot hot. Cookbooks are hot hot hot. Seems as though every chef in the world has written one this year - except for those who are writing one next year. The Miami Book Fair is dumb dumb dumb dumb dumb for ignoring this.

Now I'm a big fan of Test Kitchen, and am happy that Jack Bishop will be appearing. He'll be on stage with Joan Nathan and Linda Gassenheimer. Lee Schrager will be at the Fair with the new SBWFF book too. But Linda and Lee are locals - we can listen to anything the former might have to say on her radio show 52 weeks a year. Joan Nathan? She is to culinary lit what Meg McCain is to political lit.

I use Ms. McCain as an example because she'll be at the Fair, as will Patti Smith and other literary lightweights, which takes down any excuse about cookbooks not being serious enough to feature. I think Dave Barry and his fake rock band will be performing too.

Nathan, Bishop, and Gassenheimer? That's it? This is really an embarrassment.

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