11-24-07 The Year of Eating Dangerously by Tom Parker Bowles - Non-Fiction

4 - Parker Bowles writes a wonderful book that is part foodie dream and part sociologist's research. Each country and town he visits is written up in a combination of cuisine and the economy and society that birthed that cuisine. He covers the familiar, chilies in New Mexico and BBQ in Tennessee, and the exotic, ant eggs in Laos and fugu in Japan, with a candidness that is endearing. Parker Bowles is also very self-abasing, noting humorously his penchant for fierce hangovers on days he is to tour the markets of the various countries. He knowingly displays many of the stereotypes and preconceptions most of the Western world carries for certain countries and their food, but attempts to work through them to give a truer picture. If you're a foodie or an amateur sociologist, this book will be an enjoyable read.