Started off with a bang, looking at the contemporary food scene, foodies, farm to table, and at the same time, the contrast of fast food and rising obesity rates. And then, unless you're into the minutiae of literature, poetry, and art, it comes grinding to a halt. This is a sweeping work, covering various topics of food and how it relates to one or another creative cultural endeavor, and it gets very academic, very quickly.

It's not that it's not interesting for anyone who is passionate about the history of food and its relation to our lives, but it's just really, really dry. There's no question that the author intends it to be anything but, as she delves into different works of art or prose, but that what clearly fascinates her in an obsessive sort of way doesn't come across quite as fascinating when on the receiving end.

I give it four stars mostly for the sweeping arc that it covers - there's more information here than most of us want packed into our brains. And it goes on. And on. And on.....