Chas Addams Half-Baked Cookbook: Culinary Cartoons for the Humorously Famished [Hardcover]

Charles Addams (Author), Allen Weiss (Foreword)

Book Description

Release date: September 27, 2005

Food and eating were a couple of Charles Addams's favorite subjects. Hungry cannibals, witches gathering around a cauldron, or a king over his blackbird pie often populated his celebrated cartoons. And, of course, Morticia of the "Addams Family" was an avid cook, adding a touch of eye of newt or popping over to the neighbors for a cup of cyanide. So it should come as no wonder that in the 1960s Charles Addams was dabbling with a "cookbook" idea. Addams discovered and compiled some bizarre recipes from antiquated and out-of-the-way sources. These recipes have very Addams-like names, such as "Mushrooms Fester" or "Hearts Stuffed," and serve as a perfect complement to his drawings.

"Chas Addams(TM) Half-Baked Cookbook" is a collection of his work on the world of food and eating, featuring many Addams drawings that have never been seen before, as well as some of his all-time classics.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743267753
• ISBN-13: 978-0743267755
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 0.6 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #657,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Legendary New Yorker cartoonist and master of the macabre Addams has clawed his way back from the sepulcher with this odd fusion of posthumously unearthed and unpublished cartoons and a cookbook liberally seasoned with the distinctive flavor of Addams's signature gallows wit. Most of the cartoons on display here are clearly late period Addams and, to be fair, appear to have been rescued from his slush pile. Sketchy, incomplete and in some cases difficult to read, the unpublished cartoons are still worth a look since even mediocre Addams is better than no Addams at all. The recipes, on the other hand, are a truly bizarre assortment, featuring such epicurean delights as macaroni and oysters, dandelion beer, stewed pigeons, potted woodland squirrel, stuffed hearts, reindeer rice curry, the children's curative "influenza punch" and the intriguing "transparent pie." The more visceral ingredients have been thoughtfully supplied with conventionally acquired substitutes if preferred and could prove a fun challenge to the adventurous kitchen witch. Despite its shortcomings, this volume is a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any Addams fan and an eyebrow-raising sight when spotted among an assortment of cooking tomes. (Oct.)
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About the Author

Chas Addams was the creator of the "Addams Family" cartoons, which first appeared in The New Yorker and were the inspiration for the popular The Addams Family television show and movies. He has been honored with the Yale Humor Award (1954) and a Special Edgar Award for "Cartoonist of the Macabre" from the Mystery Writers of America. Addams died in 1988 in New York City.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (September 27, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743267753
• ISBN-13: 978-0743267755
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 0.6 x 9.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #657,727 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Addams a la mode! November 2, 2005

By repelli

Format:Hardcover

It's nice to have Charles Addams back in print. Addams' original Simon and Schuster collections are classics and now long out-of print, not to mention pricey on the secondary market. This book brings together some classic cartoons, plus some newly-published material, interlaced with creepy, but very real recipes from obscure vintage publications. Addams would most definitely have approved these selections, they are so precisely in tune with the Addams sensibility - reminiscent of his book "Dear Dead Days" which combined Addams cartoons with a scrapbook of macabre photos and clippings. This is just the culinary version! I'm not bothered by the fact that many of the new cartoons are "roughs", it provides a fascinating glimpse into Addams' work process. It's about time that new Addams product was put out, and this plus the recent reissue of "Chas. Addams' Mother Goose" are encouraging. Highly recommended, I'm off to make Mushrooms Fester!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Cure for the macabre. October 15, 2007

By A. C. Herrick

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This little book with fill your hunger for the macabre and your stomach at the same time. What a deal. Good Eats!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars FOODIE ANTIDOTE January 7, 2009

By M. H. Catholic Worker

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Charles Addams has provided the perfect antidote to those whose endless (and too serious) pontifications about food, recipes, and cooking bore the rest of us to tears. Not for him the variously colored broccollis and pan sauteed almost-extinct weird fish of the day! Addams' recipe for wild squirrel is a fine counterpoint to all the hoopla surrounding fine food. And the cartoons, which document the foibles of us all as we gather and prepare our nourishment (the Addams, of course, eat Eye of Newt, etc.) are priceless.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars A book full of leftovers December 24, 2007

By Eric J. Oliphant

Format:Hardcover

This is a fun little book showing off Chas Addam's morbid sense of humor. There are a few of his famous cullonary cartoons, but most of the cartoons are previously unpublished rough drafts. This is definately a from the personal archives and not a best of book. My main gripe about this tome is that it only features 10 pages of odd-ball recipes. I was hoping for something a little meatier in depth.

5.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully funny for the dark humored foodie April 19, 2013

By Amanda

Format:Kindle Edition

I love this book. The comics in it are hilarious and are relevant to the modern foodie. There are even some recipes!

1.0 out of 5 stars Much ado about not much January 9, 2013

By Donald

Format:Kindle Edition

I love Charles Addams and everything he has ever done. His wit and humor and insight are comparable to no one. The book was none of these and so I returned it. I will stick to anthologies of cartoons where I know I will be provoked and entertained.

4.0 out of 5 stars Cute little collection January 2, 2010

By Steven Abercrombie

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

This is a cute book, with several new cartoons and some unique recipes. It would be a really nice gift book for someone who likes dark humor.

4.0 out of 5 stars A great book to have. September 20, 2009

By Kimberley E. Bush

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

If you are into cooking, the Addams Family or just all things possessed of a dark and slightly twisted sense of humor then this book is for you. You will love the cooking themed cartoons and the fact that the recipes (no matter how many oddly named) are indeed real recipes. The only fault that I can find is that there are fewer recipes than cartoons. Even so I would defiantly recommend this book to any home cook with a sense of humor.