Author: Elizabeth Karmel
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470186488
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Presents recipes for marinades, sauces, glazes, salsas, relishes, and jellies which can be used either to prepare foods for grilling or for dipping, along with advice on grilling basics and techniques.
Soaked, Slathered, and Seasoned
Author: Elizabeth Karmel
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470186488
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Presents recipes for marinades, sauces, glazes, salsas, relishes, and jellies which can be used either to prepare foods for grilling or for dipping, along with advice on grilling basics and techniques.
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 0470186488
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Presents recipes for marinades, sauces, glazes, salsas, relishes, and jellies which can be used either to prepare foods for grilling or for dipping, along with advice on grilling basics and techniques.
Taming the Flame
Author: Elizabeth Karmel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780470048375
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
"Having grown up in a barbecue restaurant family, I bond immediately with anyone who has a master's touch at the grill and barbecue pit. Elizabeth Karmel is the genuine article, understanding (and able to clearly articulate) that delicate interplay between food and fire, flavor and finesse." —Rick Bayless, chef and owner of Frontera Grill/Topolobampo and host of Public Television's Mexico: One Plate at a Time "Elizabeth Karmel was born in North Carolina, weaned on pulled pork, and has spice and smoke in her bones. This authoritative, opinionated, and just plain mouth-watering book will tell you everything you need to know about barbecue from someone who's spent a lifetime walking the walk and talking the talk." —Steven Raichlen, author of How to Grill and BBQ USA and host of Barbecue University on PBS "Finally, the woman who has taught me everything I know about grilling has come out with her own book. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned grillmeister, Taming the Flame is the book for you." —Sara Moultonhost, Food Network's Sara's Secrets, and executive chef, Gourmet magazine "Just when you thought grilling could not get any more straightforward or delicious, Elizabeth Karmel shows you what you were missing: skillful techniques and remarkable flavors. Great grilling starts here!" —Chef Charlie Trotter, Chicago "Elizabeth Karmel is a breath of fresh air on the barbecue circuit. In Taming the Flame, she gives expert instruction and she tells all the barbecue secrets we boys tend to keep to ourselves." —Mike Mills four-time World Champion, Memphis in May BBQ competition
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780470048375
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 48
Book Description
"Having grown up in a barbecue restaurant family, I bond immediately with anyone who has a master's touch at the grill and barbecue pit. Elizabeth Karmel is the genuine article, understanding (and able to clearly articulate) that delicate interplay between food and fire, flavor and finesse." —Rick Bayless, chef and owner of Frontera Grill/Topolobampo and host of Public Television's Mexico: One Plate at a Time "Elizabeth Karmel was born in North Carolina, weaned on pulled pork, and has spice and smoke in her bones. This authoritative, opinionated, and just plain mouth-watering book will tell you everything you need to know about barbecue from someone who's spent a lifetime walking the walk and talking the talk." —Steven Raichlen, author of How to Grill and BBQ USA and host of Barbecue University on PBS "Finally, the woman who has taught me everything I know about grilling has come out with her own book. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned grillmeister, Taming the Flame is the book for you." —Sara Moultonhost, Food Network's Sara's Secrets, and executive chef, Gourmet magazine "Just when you thought grilling could not get any more straightforward or delicious, Elizabeth Karmel shows you what you were missing: skillful techniques and remarkable flavors. Great grilling starts here!" —Chef Charlie Trotter, Chicago "Elizabeth Karmel is a breath of fresh air on the barbecue circuit. In Taming the Flame, she gives expert instruction and she tells all the barbecue secrets we boys tend to keep to ourselves." —Mike Mills four-time World Champion, Memphis in May BBQ competition
Steak and Cake
Author: Elizabeth Karmel
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
ISBN: 0761185747
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Discover just how luscious and indulgent both steak and cake can be with Elizabeth Karmel, Southern baker extraordinaire and one of America’s leading pitmasters. Let them eat cake—and steak! This unique cookbook shares more than 100 recipes that beg to be prepared, paired, and eaten with pure joy. How about a Cowboy Steak with Whiskey Butter followed by a Whiskey Buttermilk Bundt Cake? Or a Porterhouse for Two with My Mother’s Freshly Grated Coconut Cake? Or mix and match yourself—maybe an Indoor/Outdoor Tomahawk Steak paired with a Classic Key Lime Cheesecake? Not only will you find some of the best recipes ever for steak—and steakhouse sides and sauces—and those all-butter-eggs-and-sugar cakes, but you will also pick up tips and tricks for choosing and cooking steaks and baking cakes. The result is an instant dinner party, the kind of universally loved meal that makes any and every occasion special.
Publisher: Workman Publishing Company
ISBN: 0761185747
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 273
Book Description
Discover just how luscious and indulgent both steak and cake can be with Elizabeth Karmel, Southern baker extraordinaire and one of America’s leading pitmasters. Let them eat cake—and steak! This unique cookbook shares more than 100 recipes that beg to be prepared, paired, and eaten with pure joy. How about a Cowboy Steak with Whiskey Butter followed by a Whiskey Buttermilk Bundt Cake? Or a Porterhouse for Two with My Mother’s Freshly Grated Coconut Cake? Or mix and match yourself—maybe an Indoor/Outdoor Tomahawk Steak paired with a Classic Key Lime Cheesecake? Not only will you find some of the best recipes ever for steak—and steakhouse sides and sauces—and those all-butter-eggs-and-sugar cakes, but you will also pick up tips and tricks for choosing and cooking steaks and baking cakes. The result is an instant dinner party, the kind of universally loved meal that makes any and every occasion special.
My New Roots
Author: Sarah Britton
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
ISBN: 0804185395
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 585
Book Description
At long last, Sarah Britton, called the “queen bee of the health blogs” by Bon Appétit, reveals 100 gorgeous, all-new plant-based recipes in her debut cookbook, inspired by her wildly popular blog. Every month, half a million readers—vegetarians, vegans, paleo followers, and gluten-free gourmets alike—flock to Sarah’s adaptable and accessible recipes that make powerfully healthy ingredients simply irresistible. My New Roots is the ultimate guide to revitalizing one’s health and palate, one delicious recipe at a time: no fad diets or gimmicks here. Whether readers are newcomers to natural foods or are already devotees, they will discover how easy it is to eat healthfully and happily when whole foods and plants are at the center of every plate.
Publisher: Clarkson Potter
ISBN: 0804185395
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 585
Book Description
At long last, Sarah Britton, called the “queen bee of the health blogs” by Bon Appétit, reveals 100 gorgeous, all-new plant-based recipes in her debut cookbook, inspired by her wildly popular blog. Every month, half a million readers—vegetarians, vegans, paleo followers, and gluten-free gourmets alike—flock to Sarah’s adaptable and accessible recipes that make powerfully healthy ingredients simply irresistible. My New Roots is the ultimate guide to revitalizing one’s health and palate, one delicious recipe at a time: no fad diets or gimmicks here. Whether readers are newcomers to natural foods or are already devotees, they will discover how easy it is to eat healthfully and happily when whole foods and plants are at the center of every plate.
Lateral Cooking
Author: Niki Segnit
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1526604140
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 614
Book Description
'You could cook from it over a whole lifetime, and still be learning' Nigella Lawson 'A rigorous, nuts-and-bolts bible of a book' Jay Rayner, Observer 'Lateral Cooking...uncovers the very syntax of cookery' Yotam Ottolenghi 'Astonishing and totally addictive' Brian Eno The groundbreaking book that reveals the principles underpinning all recipe creation, from the author of the bestselling The Flavour Thesaurus Do you feel you that you follow recipes slavishly without understanding how they actually work? Would you like to feel freer to adapt, to experiment, to play with flavours? Niki Segnit, author of the landmark book The Flavour Thesaurus, gives you the tools to do just that. Lateral Cooking is organised into 77 'starting-point' recipes, including plenty of tips for substituting ingredients and reducing the phenomenal variety of world cuisine down to its bare essentials – and then building it back up again. So, under 'Bread', we learn that flatbreads, oatcakes, buckwheat noodles, chapattis and tortillas are all variations on one theme. A few simple tweaks and you can make soda bread, scones or cobbler. And so on, through breads and batters, broths, stews and dals, one dish leading to another. Lateral Cooking is as inspirational and entertaining a read as it is a practical guide. Once you have the hang of each starting point, a wealth of new flavour combinations awaits, each related in Niki's signature combination of culinary science, history, chefs' wisdom and personal anecdote. You will realise that recipes that you had thought were outside of your experience are reassuringly similar to things you've made a dozen times before. It will give you the confidence to experiment with flavour, and the variations that follow are a springboard of inspiration to the contents of your fridge and kitchen cupboards. You will, in short, learn to cook 'by heart'– and that's where the fun really begins.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1526604140
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 614
Book Description
'You could cook from it over a whole lifetime, and still be learning' Nigella Lawson 'A rigorous, nuts-and-bolts bible of a book' Jay Rayner, Observer 'Lateral Cooking...uncovers the very syntax of cookery' Yotam Ottolenghi 'Astonishing and totally addictive' Brian Eno The groundbreaking book that reveals the principles underpinning all recipe creation, from the author of the bestselling The Flavour Thesaurus Do you feel you that you follow recipes slavishly without understanding how they actually work? Would you like to feel freer to adapt, to experiment, to play with flavours? Niki Segnit, author of the landmark book The Flavour Thesaurus, gives you the tools to do just that. Lateral Cooking is organised into 77 'starting-point' recipes, including plenty of tips for substituting ingredients and reducing the phenomenal variety of world cuisine down to its bare essentials – and then building it back up again. So, under 'Bread', we learn that flatbreads, oatcakes, buckwheat noodles, chapattis and tortillas are all variations on one theme. A few simple tweaks and you can make soda bread, scones or cobbler. And so on, through breads and batters, broths, stews and dals, one dish leading to another. Lateral Cooking is as inspirational and entertaining a read as it is a practical guide. Once you have the hang of each starting point, a wealth of new flavour combinations awaits, each related in Niki's signature combination of culinary science, history, chefs' wisdom and personal anecdote. You will realise that recipes that you had thought were outside of your experience are reassuringly similar to things you've made a dozen times before. It will give you the confidence to experiment with flavour, and the variations that follow are a springboard of inspiration to the contents of your fridge and kitchen cupboards. You will, in short, learn to cook 'by heart'– and that's where the fun really begins.
Prune
Author: Gabrielle Hamilton
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0812994108
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 622
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Gabrielle Hamilton, bestselling author of Blood, Bones & Butter, comes her eagerly anticipated cookbook debut filled with signature recipes from her celebrated New York City restaurant Prune. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE SEASON BY Time • O: The Oprah Magazine • Bon Appétit • Eater A self-trained cook turned James Beard Award–winning chef, Gabrielle Hamilton opened Prune on New York’s Lower East Side fifteen years ago to great acclaim and lines down the block, both of which continue today. A deeply personal and gracious restaurant, in both menu and philosophy, Prune uses the elements of home cooking and elevates them in unexpected ways. The result is delicious food that satisfies on many levels. Highly original in concept, execution, look, and feel, the Prune cookbook is an inspired replica of the restaurant’s kitchen binders. It is written to Gabrielle’s cooks in her distinctive voice, with as much instruction, encouragement, information, and scolding as you would find if you actually came to work at Prune as a line cook. The recipes have been tried, tasted, and tested dozens if not hundreds of times. Intended for the home cook as well as the kitchen professional, the instructions offer a range of signals for cooks—a head’s up on when you have gone too far, things to watch out for that could trip you up, suggestions on how to traverse certain uncomfortable parts of the journey to ultimately help get you to the final destination, an amazing dish. Complete with more than with more than 250 recipes and 250 color photographs, home cooks will find Prune’s most requested recipes—Grilled Head-on Shrimp with Anchovy Butter, Bread Heels and Pan Drippings Salad, Tongue and Octopus with Salsa Verde and Mimosa’d Egg, Roasted Capon on Garlic Crouton, Prune’s famous Bloody Mary (and all 10 variations). Plus, among other items, a chapter entitled “Garbage”—smart ways to repurpose foods that might have hit the garbage or stockpot in other restaurant kitchens but are turned into appetizing bites and notions at Prune. Featured here are the recipes, approach, philosophy, evolution, and nuances that make them distinctively Prune’s. Unconventional and honest, in both tone and content, this book is a welcome expression of the cookbook as we know it. Praise for Prune “Fresh, fascinating . . . entirely pleasurable . . . Since 1999, when the chef Gabrielle Hamilton put Triscuits and canned sardines on the first menu of her East Village bistro, Prune, she has nonchalantly broken countless rules of the food world. The rule that a successful restaurant must breed an empire. The rule that chefs who happen to be women should unconditionally support one another. The rule that great chefs don’t make great writers (with her memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter). And now, the rule that restaurant food has to be simplified and prettied up for home cooks in order to produce a useful, irresistible cookbook. . . . [Prune] is the closest thing to the bulging loose-leaf binder, stuck in a corner of almost every restaurant kitchen, ever to be printed and bound between cloth covers. (These happen to be a beautiful deep, dark magenta.)”—The New York Times “One of the most brilliantly minimalist cookbooks in recent memory . . . at once conveys the thrill of restaurant cooking and the wisdom of the author, while making for a charged reading experience.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0812994108
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 622
Book Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From Gabrielle Hamilton, bestselling author of Blood, Bones & Butter, comes her eagerly anticipated cookbook debut filled with signature recipes from her celebrated New York City restaurant Prune. NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE SEASON BY Time • O: The Oprah Magazine • Bon Appétit • Eater A self-trained cook turned James Beard Award–winning chef, Gabrielle Hamilton opened Prune on New York’s Lower East Side fifteen years ago to great acclaim and lines down the block, both of which continue today. A deeply personal and gracious restaurant, in both menu and philosophy, Prune uses the elements of home cooking and elevates them in unexpected ways. The result is delicious food that satisfies on many levels. Highly original in concept, execution, look, and feel, the Prune cookbook is an inspired replica of the restaurant’s kitchen binders. It is written to Gabrielle’s cooks in her distinctive voice, with as much instruction, encouragement, information, and scolding as you would find if you actually came to work at Prune as a line cook. The recipes have been tried, tasted, and tested dozens if not hundreds of times. Intended for the home cook as well as the kitchen professional, the instructions offer a range of signals for cooks—a head’s up on when you have gone too far, things to watch out for that could trip you up, suggestions on how to traverse certain uncomfortable parts of the journey to ultimately help get you to the final destination, an amazing dish. Complete with more than with more than 250 recipes and 250 color photographs, home cooks will find Prune’s most requested recipes—Grilled Head-on Shrimp with Anchovy Butter, Bread Heels and Pan Drippings Salad, Tongue and Octopus with Salsa Verde and Mimosa’d Egg, Roasted Capon on Garlic Crouton, Prune’s famous Bloody Mary (and all 10 variations). Plus, among other items, a chapter entitled “Garbage”—smart ways to repurpose foods that might have hit the garbage or stockpot in other restaurant kitchens but are turned into appetizing bites and notions at Prune. Featured here are the recipes, approach, philosophy, evolution, and nuances that make them distinctively Prune’s. Unconventional and honest, in both tone and content, this book is a welcome expression of the cookbook as we know it. Praise for Prune “Fresh, fascinating . . . entirely pleasurable . . . Since 1999, when the chef Gabrielle Hamilton put Triscuits and canned sardines on the first menu of her East Village bistro, Prune, she has nonchalantly broken countless rules of the food world. The rule that a successful restaurant must breed an empire. The rule that chefs who happen to be women should unconditionally support one another. The rule that great chefs don’t make great writers (with her memoir, Blood, Bones & Butter). And now, the rule that restaurant food has to be simplified and prettied up for home cooks in order to produce a useful, irresistible cookbook. . . . [Prune] is the closest thing to the bulging loose-leaf binder, stuck in a corner of almost every restaurant kitchen, ever to be printed and bound between cloth covers. (These happen to be a beautiful deep, dark magenta.)”—The New York Times “One of the most brilliantly minimalist cookbooks in recent memory . . . at once conveys the thrill of restaurant cooking and the wisdom of the author, while making for a charged reading experience.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
The Sugar Hit!
Author: Sarah Coates
Publisher: Hardie Grant Books
ISBN: 174358346X
Category : Baked products
Languages : en
Pages : 391
Book Description
Sarah Coates, blogger behind the award-winning thesugarhit.com, is a baking genius. Sarah’s first book, The Sugar Hit!, introduces us to her fabulous cookies, cakes, pancakes, doughnuts, ice creams, brownies, drinks, cupcakes, pies and heaps more. She’s compiled her most ass-kicking recipes with the goal of bringing ridiculously spectacular, chocolate-coated, sprinkle-topped, pastry-wrapped, deep-fried, syrup-drizzled sweets into your life and kitchen. Sarah’s got you covered from first thing in the morning to the middle of the night. Wake up to Blueberry Pancake Granola, take a break with a couple of Choc Chip Pretzel Cookies, or recharge with a Cherry Hazelnut Energy Bar. Or hey, why not just blow the lid off the place with a Filthy Cheat’s Jam Donut? The Sugar Hit! is divided into 6 fun chapters: Breakfast & Brunch Coffee Break Healthy Junk Midnight Snacks Party Time Happy Holidays Grab some sugar, butter, flour, chocolate and eggs and you’re just a cream, sift, melt and crack away from creating delicious snacks, cakes and desserts.
Publisher: Hardie Grant Books
ISBN: 174358346X
Category : Baked products
Languages : en
Pages : 391
Book Description
Sarah Coates, blogger behind the award-winning thesugarhit.com, is a baking genius. Sarah’s first book, The Sugar Hit!, introduces us to her fabulous cookies, cakes, pancakes, doughnuts, ice creams, brownies, drinks, cupcakes, pies and heaps more. She’s compiled her most ass-kicking recipes with the goal of bringing ridiculously spectacular, chocolate-coated, sprinkle-topped, pastry-wrapped, deep-fried, syrup-drizzled sweets into your life and kitchen. Sarah’s got you covered from first thing in the morning to the middle of the night. Wake up to Blueberry Pancake Granola, take a break with a couple of Choc Chip Pretzel Cookies, or recharge with a Cherry Hazelnut Energy Bar. Or hey, why not just blow the lid off the place with a Filthy Cheat’s Jam Donut? The Sugar Hit! is divided into 6 fun chapters: Breakfast & Brunch Coffee Break Healthy Junk Midnight Snacks Party Time Happy Holidays Grab some sugar, butter, flour, chocolate and eggs and you’re just a cream, sift, melt and crack away from creating delicious snacks, cakes and desserts.
Pizza on the Grill
Author: Robert Blumer
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781600858284
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"Now with gluten-free dough recipe"--Cover.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781600858284
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"Now with gluten-free dough recipe"--Cover.
The Bob's Burgers Burger Book
Author: Loren Bouchard
Publisher: Disney Electronic Content
ISBN: 1368074286
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 205
Book Description
The hand-written, pun-packed “Burger of the Day” special on the Belcher’s restaurant chalkboard is one of the show's best sight gags and a fan favorite. Now, Bob’s Burgers fans can grill up 75 of the best burgers Bob Belcher ever created with this hilarious cookbook. This fantastic collection of recipes lists which season and episode each burger comes from, and it also includes original artwork exclusive to the cookbook, plus all-new character commentary from the entire Belcher family as well as beloved characters including Teddy, Jimmy Pesto Jr., and Aunt Gayle. Along with some general cooking tips on how to turn out the best burgers and fries, a selection of the recipes included are: The "Bleu is the Warmest Cheeseburger" The "Bruschetta-Bout-It Burger" The "Texas Chainsaw Massa-Curd Burger" The "We’re Here, We’re Gruyère, Get Used to It Burger" The "I Know Why the Cajun Burger Sings Burger" The “Final Kraut-Down Burger” All recipes originated from Cole Bowden’s wildly popular "The Bob’s Burger Experiment" blog and were further developed together with Bouchard and the rest of the Bob’s Burgers writing team. Ravenous Bob’s Burgers fans can now create the ultimate Bob’s Burgers experience at home—why not make the burger, then put on the episode where it appears!
Publisher: Disney Electronic Content
ISBN: 1368074286
Category : Cooking
Languages : en
Pages : 205
Book Description
The hand-written, pun-packed “Burger of the Day” special on the Belcher’s restaurant chalkboard is one of the show's best sight gags and a fan favorite. Now, Bob’s Burgers fans can grill up 75 of the best burgers Bob Belcher ever created with this hilarious cookbook. This fantastic collection of recipes lists which season and episode each burger comes from, and it also includes original artwork exclusive to the cookbook, plus all-new character commentary from the entire Belcher family as well as beloved characters including Teddy, Jimmy Pesto Jr., and Aunt Gayle. Along with some general cooking tips on how to turn out the best burgers and fries, a selection of the recipes included are: The "Bleu is the Warmest Cheeseburger" The "Bruschetta-Bout-It Burger" The "Texas Chainsaw Massa-Curd Burger" The "We’re Here, We’re Gruyère, Get Used to It Burger" The "I Know Why the Cajun Burger Sings Burger" The “Final Kraut-Down Burger” All recipes originated from Cole Bowden’s wildly popular "The Bob’s Burger Experiment" blog and were further developed together with Bouchard and the rest of the Bob’s Burgers writing team. Ravenous Bob’s Burgers fans can now create the ultimate Bob’s Burgers experience at home—why not make the burger, then put on the episode where it appears!
Why Visit America
Author: Matthew Baker
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 125023719X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Equal parts speculative and satirical, the stories in Why Visit America form an exegesis of our current political predicament, while offering an eloquent plea for connection and hope. The citizens of Plainfield, Texas, have had it with the broke-down United States. So they vote to secede, rename themselves America in memory of their former country, and happily set themselves up to receive tourists from their closest neighbor: America. Couldn’t happen? Well, it might, and so it goes in the thirteen stories in Matthew Baker’s brilliantly illuminating, incisive, and heartbreaking collection Why Visit America. The book opens with a seemingly traditional story in which the speculative element is extremely minimal—the narrator has a job that doesn’t actually exist—a story that wouldn’t seem much out of place in a collection of literary realism. From there the stories get progressively stranger: a young man breaks the news to his family that he is going to transition—from an analog body to a digital existence. A young woman abducts a child—her own—from a government-run childcare facility. A man returns home after committing a great crime, his sentence being that his memory—his entire life—is wiped clean. As the book moves from universe to universe, the stories cross between different American genres: from bildungsroman to rom com, western to dystopian, including fantasy, horror, erotica, and a noir detective mystery. Read together, these parallel-universe stories create a composite portrait of the true nature of the United States and a Through the Looking-Glass reflection of who we are as a country.
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 125023719X
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354
Book Description
Equal parts speculative and satirical, the stories in Why Visit America form an exegesis of our current political predicament, while offering an eloquent plea for connection and hope. The citizens of Plainfield, Texas, have had it with the broke-down United States. So they vote to secede, rename themselves America in memory of their former country, and happily set themselves up to receive tourists from their closest neighbor: America. Couldn’t happen? Well, it might, and so it goes in the thirteen stories in Matthew Baker’s brilliantly illuminating, incisive, and heartbreaking collection Why Visit America. The book opens with a seemingly traditional story in which the speculative element is extremely minimal—the narrator has a job that doesn’t actually exist—a story that wouldn’t seem much out of place in a collection of literary realism. From there the stories get progressively stranger: a young man breaks the news to his family that he is going to transition—from an analog body to a digital existence. A young woman abducts a child—her own—from a government-run childcare facility. A man returns home after committing a great crime, his sentence being that his memory—his entire life—is wiped clean. As the book moves from universe to universe, the stories cross between different American genres: from bildungsroman to rom com, western to dystopian, including fantasy, horror, erotica, and a noir detective mystery. Read together, these parallel-universe stories create a composite portrait of the true nature of the United States and a Through the Looking-Glass reflection of who we are as a country.