Gastroanomalies...

...is the name of the latest book by James Lileks. I got my copy about a week ago, but I've only read a chapter or so. The problem is: it's funny. So funny that you wind up laughing uncontrollably until it hurts. And when you're riding on a commuter train, that tends to make people sort of move away from you. While that may be useful for getting and keeping a seat, it can be a problem when the conductor starts talking quietly into his radio while staring at you. That's even more true on planes these days. So I'm kind of limited as to where I can read it.

But maybe you can contain yourself better. See, it's a sequel to his earlier book, "The Gallery of Regrettable Food." Like that one, it contains real recipes from period cookbooks (mostly the 1930s through, say the 1960s, I believe) which pretty much leave you wondering, "What were they thinking?" One chapter is "The Wonderful World of Aspics." And then there's "How to Drive Off Your Husband with Lousy Cooking." As the book's blurb notes, "Recipes involving ingredients like ground meat, bananas and cottage cheese sound innocent enough - unless you mix them all together in a strage attempt to cover every food group at once."

You get the idea, I hope. Now get the book. Just don't read it too much in public or be prepared for the reactions...