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The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies
 
 
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The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies [Paperback]

Barry Foy (Author), John Boesche (Illustrator)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)

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Book Description

September 2, 2008
The Most Unreliable Food Book Ever!

Food writing has at last begun to devour itself. Nearly every culinary topic worth covering has been covered, and the well of dependable, interesting information on food, once thought inexhaustible, is beginning to run dry. In circumstances like these, author Barry Foy believes that an honorable writer has nowhere to go but sideways, into the realm of lies, misleading claims, and baseless speculation.

With nearly 1,100 entries on subjects ranging from ingredients to utensils to history to techniques, plus 246 footnotes, an extensive fraudulent bibliography, and 26 very peculiar illustrations, The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies promises much-needed relief to the foodish reader who is sagging under the burden of reality-based, verifiable fact. Uniquely loony, edgy, and funny, The Devil's Food Dictionary is the most creative food writing of the 21st century!

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Hilariously skewers food writers, cuisines and sacred culinary traditions."---Jane Black, The Washington Post
"Among the funniest satires I have ever read, period."---Ken Albala, Gastronomica
"Some of the funniest, most wickedly witty writing...on the shelves today."---Laurel Gladden, SantaFeNewMexican.com

"Foy has lowered the bar for food writers everywhere (for which we should all be grateful)."---Gary Allen, LeitesCulinaria.com
"One of my favorite food-related books released this year. A wry take on food that is equal parts pure nonsense, good clean fun, and sharp send-up of foodie pretension."---Adam Kuban, SeriousEats.com

From the Back Cover

"Worth every second you'll spend in Hell for reading it!"--His Eminence Tomas de Torquemada, CEO, Spanish Inquisition; "A must-have! The Devil's Food Dictionary deserves a place in every food-obsessed person's particular place for keeping things of that nature."--Oscar Wilde, author; "I never thought something in alphabetical order could be so hilarious . . . I mean informative!"--Dorothy Parker, probably; "You'd have to be dead not to enjoy The Devil's Food Dictionary. Luckily for me, I am!"--Ambrose Bierce, author

Product Details

  • Paperback: 268 pages
  • Publisher: Frogchart Press (September 2, 2008)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0981759009
  • ISBN-13: 978-0981759005
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,087,550 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Barry Foy was born in a small town in Quebec's asbestos-mining belt in 1954. His family emigrated to a small town in central Indiana when he was three years old. The move guaranteed that he would never progress beyond a rudimentary command of French; on the other hand, it also guaranteed he'd never work in an asbestos mine.

As part of a very Catholic family in a sea of Hoosier WASPS, Foy had a rather insular upbringing, its boundaries dictated for the most part by the parish church, the attached primary school, and the Knights of Columbus hall. Childhood accomplishments included testing into first grade before he was really ready for it, designing a float commemorating John F. Kennedy for the Memorial Day parade, and winning a then-staggering $18 in a cover-all round at the parish bingo game. The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" topped the charts at the time, so there was no question but that the money would go toward buying Foy's first guitar.

Eventually, the family moved to Indianapolis, a much bigger place. It was the era of Flower Power, the civil rights movement, and the Vietnam War, and the young brainiac sought to engage with the wider world in whatever way he could. Sometimes this meant gathering signatures for an anti-war petition, sometimes picketing a substandard ghetto grocery store; at other times it meant hitchhiking long distances or simply cultivating as colorful and unkempt an appearance as possible. And all of it was set to music, from Cream to Little Walter to Albert Ayler.

A thing or two has happened since. A stint as an avant-garde composer at a Chicago college ended abruptly in 1975, when Foy discovered Irish traditional music. That began more than three decades' involvement in the music, leading to the writing of FIELD GUIDE TO THE IRISH MUSIC SESSION (pub'd in 1999 by Roberts Rinehart Publishers, reissued in 2008 by Frogchart Press). Other musics made appearances during those years as well, notably rock and Brazilian, played on various instruments.

Late in a five-year New York City residency in the early 1980s, Foy developed a sudden, baffling interest in China. Visits to the region followed, and on the second of them, a planned three-month sojourn in Taiwan stretched out to a full year, 20 minutes of which were occupied by a ceremony at Taipei City Hall that left him married to a Taiwanese woman. They are still together after 22 years.

With Seattle as headquarters, Barry Foy has cluttered up the last two decades with national and international travel, music playing, reading, writing, and strong coffee in the afternoon. He is, by his own sheepish admission, in thrall to an uncontrollable food mania, which explains his devoting three or four of the new millennium's first years to writing THE DEVIL'S FOOD DICTIONARY: A PIONEERING CULINARY REFERENCE WORK CONSISTING ENTIRELY OF LIES (issued under the Frogchart Press imprint in September 2008). Barry Foy is proud to note that this singular book incorporates everything he has ever known about food, none of which is demonstrably true.

 

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Incredibly Funny!, October 22, 2008
By 
C. McGowan (Rockville, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies (Paperback)
With the 2008 election in its final weeks and the economy in a shambles, this book is the best medicine. Nothing like a good (really, really good) laugh to take the edge off. Foy is brilliant. Every entry made me laugh out loud...and I'm not much of a laugh-out-louder.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The Funniest Thing I Have Ever Read, August 19, 2008
This review is from: The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies (Paperback)
Who is this guy and how did he get so funny? Nearly every page has had me doubled over in laughter. A brilliant satire of food reference works, food history, food writing in general.
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5.0 out of 5 stars Laughed 'till I could laugh no more, July 5, 2009
By 
Eugene Dimarsky (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Devil's Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies (Paperback)
This was/is a great present for anybody that enjoys food or cooking. It is also a fun gift to get for yourself if you're into that.

The definitions are strange, funny, and yet just plausible enough that you can use them to fool somebody who knows little about cooking.

Remember, use it for good not evil!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
fifth flavor, metric tsp, rival brand
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
United States, North America, Did You Know, Land of the Incas, Middle Eastern, New World, American South, World War, Civil War, Daft Desi, New York Times, Southern Hemisphere, Golden Goblet of Icelandic Reconciliation, Healthful Hint, Northern Hemisphere, Southern American
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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