Glutton for Pleasure: Signature Recipes, Epic Stories, and Surreal Etiquette

Food Network veteran Blumer (The Surreal Gourmet) draws on recipes debuted on TV and on tour in Blumer's Toastermobile (an Airstream trailer topped with two huge aluminum toast slices) The self-styled "patron saint of dysfunctional kitchens" whips up an intoxicating meal, equal parts memoir, lavish art book, multigenre soundtrack, and culinary tour de force. Readers may wonder whether Blumer is channeling Salvador Dalí and Walt Disney or merely a frat house prankster obsessed with retro kitchen gear, but the author provides ample substance along with extreme style. He covers every possible detail, from arranging a kitchen, to choosing and preparing ingredients, executing special techniques, planning a dinner party, selecting wine and cheese, and achieving impeccable (and quirky) presentation. For example, Blumer plates his "shrimp on the Barbie" with a Barbie doll; spoons Chinese chicken salad into wonton wrapper "snow-cones"; and serves pound cake strips in french fry containers. Despite Blumer's leap-before-you-look philosophy, his streamlined aesthetic yields quick, easy, delicious—and eye-opening—results. (Oct.)