| A Review of: Yours in Food by Greg GatenbyCookbooks tend to be big sellers at Christmas time, but one which
appears to have evaded the radar of food buyers-and of food-book
reviewers-is Yours In Food. The book has been put together by John
Baldessari, one of the leading visual artists in America, best known
for his photography and conceptual art. Here he has assembled a
number of images of dining, taken by other photographers in various
decades of the twentieth century, and has cropped them, or painted
them, or modified them in some way so as to make them his own. Since
this is leading-edge work in the visual arts, it won't be to the
common taste. But what makes the book savoury for a broader palate
are the musings on food by some celebrated Americans who have written
both attention-getting prose and who have strong connections to the
visual arts. Among these are Paul Auster, Dave Eggers, Francine
Prose, and Lynne Tilmann. David Byrne, a co-founder of the rock
group Talking Heads, also contributes a short essay that is both
amusing and informative. For the person whose kitchen shelves droop
under the weight of too many cookbooks, this is yet a worthy addition
even though it lacks a single recipe.
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