It was a time of innocence, nuclear families, traditional values . . . and BAD FOOD.
In an era where cooks wanted to put their best foot fo... read full description
In an era where cooks wanted to put their best foot fo... read full description
reviews
Jan 05, 2008
Tracey
rated it: 
James Lileks brings his own quirky/snarky view of The Good Old Days back to the world of home cookery during the middle of the 20th century.
I don't normally buy this kind of humour book - the ratio of photos to text doesn't quite give me the feeling that I've gotten my money's worth. However, since James provides a great deal of similar material (as well as a fun podcast and a generally entertaining blog) on his website for free, I consider buying the book a way of paying him back More...
I don't normally buy this kind of humour book - the ratio of photos to text doesn't quite give me the feeling that I've gotten my money's worth. However, since James provides a great deal of similar material (as well as a fun podcast and a generally entertaining blog) on his website for free, I consider buying the book a way of paying him back More...
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Jan 25, 2008
karen
rated it: 
okay, i collect the better homes and gardens cookbooks from the sixties and seventies,so i actually have the recipes for most of these "regrettable" foods; and aspic aside - this food is wonderful!! who doesnt love meats wrapped in other meats and covered in cheese? this book is heart attacks made easy - this is my kind of gluttony.i wish there were actual recipes, though - for all of you tofu-suckers who havent yet been lured in by the baked-bean-whole-hot-dog-whole-pickle sammich....
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Dec 16, 2007
Emily
rated it:
I know, how could I be so exacting as to lowball a book of pictures of food from the 50's with a mere 3 stars? Have I no soul?! The problem is the commentary. Lileks is about one tenth as funny as he thinks he is. The pics are admittedly amazing and I resent his bringing me down with his trying too hard.
Nov 28, 2010
Sarra
rated it: 
I wish I could give it no stars. Or negative stars. As with all other Lileks books, the pictures are fantastic and the commentary is grating, juvenile, lazy, and not funny. Worse, though, is that it's offensive. Rape jokes? Check. Racist jokes? Yep. Ethinc jokes? 'Fraid so. Classist jokes and stereotypes? Yes. Casual, multiple jokey references to the KKK (as if they are a funny little group and not a centuries-old terrorist organization responsible for countless murders)? Yes, and how. Honestly,
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Mar 18, 2010
Pamala
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Matt had to leave the room because he didn't find it as funny as I did and my laughing got annoying. I laughed out loud almost every other page, and not just a giggle but a full hearty laugh. I'm laughing just thinking about it! :) This book is good for a quick pick-me-up if you're feeling down, especially if you've just burned dinner or made a recipe that failed. No matter what you did, I'm sure it was better than 99 percent of the items in this book. I almost wish it came with the recipes
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Dec 29, 2007
Rob
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If this book hadn't followed on the heels of The Gallery of Regrettable Food, I'd have given it four stars. But the rib-splitting perfection of the predecessor has set the bar somewhere in the ionosphere, and thus I found Gastroanomalies painfully disappointing. Oh, the pictures themselves showed great promise, especially for second-run material: the molds and aspics glistened hideously, and the mere sight of the Lard-basted Lard Logs constricted my arteries. Yet the presentation as a whole s
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Feb 15, 2011
Jessica
rated it:
More frightening recipes, mostly from th 1960's and '70's. What really makes this collection unique is his notes on how, after his mother died, he discovered that she collected awful recipes, many of which are used here. He had no idea, and she wasn't keeping them to use, but clearly because they were so terrible. It's a neat little peek into his mother's personality, and where he got his own fasctination with such things.
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Jun 04, 2009
Kim
rated it:
GUFFAW. Comments a bit edgier than the author's Gallery of Regrettable Food - e.g. meat wads enjoying connubial relations with zucchini (I'll never look at a stuffed zucchini the same again) and I'll long cherish the hard boiled eggs a la firing squad - slices on end "back to the wall" against the side of a dish of some sort which someone in their infinite wisdom had decorated with a red dot (paprika? food coloring?) center of the yolk...
Jan 09, 2008
Mark
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James Lileks is back with more awful dreck from this nation's shameful culinary past. I promised to write a rant about the sheer number of ring molds that were apparently the apex of home cooked culinary achievement in the 50s and 60s. Maybe it had something to do the with "atoms of peace" of President Eisenhower.
They'd put anything in gelatin: meat, fruit, vegetables, fruit and vegetables, meat, fruit and vegetables together in some kind of dadaesque mockery of food, as i More...
They'd put anything in gelatin: meat, fruit, vegetables, fruit and vegetables, meat, fruit and vegetables together in some kind of dadaesque mockery of food, as i More...
Apr 25, 2011
Jennifer
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If this hadn't been a follow up to "Gallery of Regrettable Food", it would have gotten a higher rating. He should have stuck with that format. However, this book was one of the funniest I've read in a while, and gave me lots of great ideas for the next church picnic. <evil laughter>
Jun 05, 2011
Cindy
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So dang funny! The most frightening foods I've ever seen. Some of the commentary is over the top vulgar, but some is hilarious. So be warned before letting your kids see what has you laughing so hard. Just let them know whatever you're making for dinner, it could be much, much worse.
Dec 26, 2009
Mary
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This book and a couple of Lilek's other books always make me giggle. The combination of old cookbook photos and his take on them is priceless. Recommended for anyone who just wants to laugh a little (or needs a reminder what some of grandma's dinners were REALLY like).
Sep 10, 2010
Kirsti
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James Lileks finds weird pictures from old books. Then he reprints the pictures and adds sarcastic comments about them. You would think I would be tired of this, since this is the fourth Lileks book I have read. But I'm not.
Mar 16, 2011
Jennifer
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Stomach turning yet amusing. I'm just glad I don't have to actually eat the horrifying array of dishes presented here. This could be a dieter's best friend as after a few pages I had completely lost my appetite.
Nov 27, 2009
Benjamin
rated it:
Quick, fun, funny. Not quite as hilarious as The Gallery of Regrettable Food, but close. I mean, it's basically a "horrible old recipes" blog in hardcover, but he's a funny writer and that elevates the material.
Aug 27, 2009
Lynda
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Hey, this is my Mother you are satorizing. Guess what, some of us love this stuff. I love community cookbooks that glorify this food. Having said this, it was a fun read.
Nov 17, 2010
Somer
rated it:
Typical Lileks fare. Not quite as funny as some of the stuff I've seen on the web. Always makes me question the culinary styles of days past!
Jan 24, 2008
Phil
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I think James Lileks is one of the best satirists on the American scene today. In this volume he takes us on a tour of recipes and food ideas from the Age Of High Fat and Ultra Sugar. This book is enough to turn you into an anorexic. Lileks biting commentary highlights the appalling dishes that are laid before you. Oh those crappy doctors! This shows how happy and free we were before they invented cholesterol and blood sugar. since its just a series of somewhat unrelated articles you can just pi
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Sep 19, 2009
When I picked this up, I expected a bit of snarkiness but I also expected actual recipes. I was looking forward to trying to recreate a few of these crazy dishes myself and passing my own judgment on them. What I actually got was pictures from vintage cookbooks with captions that were supposed to be funny. In fact, it can be funny in small doses -- say, as individual entries on a blog. Take said blog and compile all the entries in a book, and the humor becomes annoying. I have three other books
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Oct 31, 2009
David
rated it:
Hilarious. Side-splittingly funny at times. James Lileks is the funniest man on the Internet.
Sep 23, 2010
Stephani
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A very funny book with no real purpose. Just the thing for when you have a few minutes to kill.
Dec 27, 2007
James
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James Lileks returns to his "Gallery of Regrettable Food" with another collection of horribly unappetizing foodstuffs from the Cold War. Amazing that we survived that swill! There were a few standout laugh-till-you-cry pages, but for the most part it was more of the same. When it's Lileks on bad food, though, more of the same is a very good thing.
Mar 25, 2008
Kristen
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This was just as fun as his first food collection. There are always a few hysterical pages, and the rest range from meh to funny. I think he's definitely funnier when he's riffing on the people and/or the setting. The highest proportion of misses are when he's coming up with alternative ingredients.
Apr 22, 2008
Needleroozer
rated it:
This is yet another book in a bunch by James Lileks that makes fun of the past via cookbooks, parenting guides, and interior decorating books. This one had less laugh aloud moments than the other three of his that I've recently read, but it was still amusing and quick and easy to read.
Apr 07, 2008
Robin
rated it:
This is hysterical. Its just a collection of pictures and stuff from cookbooks in the "golden age of cooking" (30s-60s)...and boy oh boy is the stuff disgusting looking!!! The author's comments make it that much more amusing.
Dec 26, 2007
Debby
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Okay so this book is silly and what little writing is in it is terrible...but the pictures, old advertisements and vintage recipes are good laughs. Now if only I could get my hands on the cookbooks the author pulled these from...
Jun 28, 2008
Deb
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Prepare to LOL. All of his books are funny, but this one takes the cake (!). Bad magazine pictures of food with his hilarious accompanying captions. Highly recommended.
Oct 06, 2008
Melody
rated it:
Amusing little confection. Man, we sure eat funny stuff- and here are the photos to prove it. Mostly from the 50s, the concoctions here are cringe-worthy and hilarious.
