Hot Dog Taste Test

Hanawalt, the author of My Dirty Dumb Eyes and designer for the animated series Bojack Horseman, turns her cartooning eye toward food and foodie culture—among other topics—in her second collection. With essays on Vegas buffets, Argentinian cuisine, and swimming with otters (many originally published in Lucky Peach magazine), Hanawalt takes a kebab skewer to the pomposity that’s grown up around food and dining. The cartoons evoke an idiosyncratic absurdity akin to Roz Chast’s work (“Baking tip: keep your sweet tooth away from your salt molar”). Of particular interest is Hanawalt’s account of observing Wylie Dufresne, which approaches the chef and his work not from a pedestal of haughty criticism or with the kowtowing awe that pervades “cheflebrities,” but simply as a woman who loves food of all kinds. New Yorkers will get a special kick out of the detailed breakdown of the city’s sidewalk cuisine, but Hanawalt’s self-aware humor (with a side order of deeply affecting personal stories) will whet anyone’s appetite. (June)