The Pedant in the Kitchen

First edition. Small 8vo, [viii (last blank)], 136 pp., 17 colour plates. Black cloth boards, blocked in silver to spine; burgundy endpapers. Jacket design and illustrations by Joe Berger (priced £9.99 to front flap). Published in a print run of 15,000 on behalf of The Guardian, where these essays originally appeared.

Signed by Author to title page. Deep yellow dust jacket faded to spine, else Fine.

A witty and practical account of the author's search for gastronomic precision, aimed at anyone who has ever been defeated by a cookbook. It is a quest that leaves him seduced by Jane Grigson, infuriated by Nigel Slater and reassured by Mrs Beeton's Victorian virtues. "Fizzing with decades of pent-up frustration and creative rebellion, this is a tiny masterpiece of observational wit". –The Herald (Glasgow)