Have other serious eaters noticed that Waiter Rant blogger turned no-longer-anonymous author Steve Dublanica's book has become a New York Times Best Seller? Hell, they're even going to publish a Chinese version of the book. I've been reading it all week, and it's funny, revealing, and properly scathing, just like the blog. Thanks to the good folks at Ecco, we've got five copies of this bad boy to give away this weekend. Here's what you have to do to win. Some of you may recall that yesterday I asked you for your worst waiter tale of woe. Today we're going to throw you a change-up. To win a copy of the book tell us about the best waiter experience you've... More

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, great wine books for your library or that of your grapehead friend or family member. If you are an avid cook, you can probably rattle off the titles of the five cookbooks that you absolutely, positively could not live without. They are the books with the crusty pages, the singed covers, and the broken spines that you turn to again and again when looking for culinary inspiration. So what are the five wine books that I can't live without? My list includes a reference book, a tasting guide, an annual report, a catalogue of grape varieties, and an indispensable guide to food and wine... More

Emeril Lagasse has just snagged a 10-book deal with HarperCollins on its new imprint, HarperStudio. His first book of the deal, to come out next spring, will focus on indoor and outdoor grilling and will be his first in four years.... More

This is not an act. Random people in China did not know about the fortune cookie's existence. While researching for her book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, Jennifer 8. Lee educated them that yes, there is paper inside, but you should just eat the cookie part. She had to bring the treats over from Wonton Food, a distributor in the U.S., because the cookies are not readily available in China. Overall, the newly-educated citizens seem pretty pleased.... More

Illustration for a child's book, "Peter and the Moon" Story and Pictures (32 in color) by Jan Balet—not yet published. November 1946 Paul Lukas, of Uni Watch fame forwarded this awesome illustration to me. (Best children's book illustration ever? Quite possibly," he says.) He in turn got it from a friend. It appears to be from some sort of 1946 promo of a book yet to be published at the time. I can't find any mention on the web of Peter and the Moon in connection to Jan Balet, so who's to say if it ever appeared on shelves—or is so far out of print that it doesn't appear online. Balet appears to have hit his stride in the... More

If you love being sick of Rachael Ray, you need to get your hands on Every Freaking! Day with Rachell Ray. Nope, it's not a new series from the 30-minute meal goddess—it's a parody book by Elizabeth Hilts, author of the popular Getting in Touch with Your Inner Bitch. Hilt says that Rachael Ray is very easy to parody: "She has a lot of very recognizable mannerisms: talking with her hands, singing to the food, referring to food as an almost human entity." Ray has yet to comment on the parody book. Related Rachael Ray Will Endorse Your Product! Rachael Ray Launches Line of Dog Food: Nutrish Dunkin Donuts Pulls Rachael Ray Ad Due to Arab-Looking Scarf... More

Do Not Eat! is a collection of eating-themed illustrations of monsters both cute and strange created by Andrew Bell, such as this sad sausage and angry Hamburger Helper. The carrot skeleton unfortunately didn't make it to the book on time, but it would've fit in too. See more of Bell's illustrations at Creatures In My Head. [via Notcot]... More

Michael Ruhlman spotlights four food lit keepers on shelves right now. Here are our notes on his notes. The Pedant in the Kitchen (Julian Barnes): Sometimes whiney kitchen passages, but Barnes is on fire when writing about other writers writing about food. Service Included (Phoebe Damrosch): A Per Se waitress who's not as snarky as you'd think, especially for someone who didn't tell the staff she was scribing notes behind their backs. Too much of the story, though, revolves around her saucy relationship with Andre, a Per Se sommelier. The two eventually move in together. (Sau-cy!) An Edge in the Kitchen: How to Buy Them, Keep Them Razor Sharp and Use Them Like a Pro (Chad Ward): It's an... More

The above illustration comes from a 1944 pamphlet by Otto F. Fleiss titled White Art in the Meat Food Business: A Practical Handbook for Butcher, Pork Stores, Restaurants, Hotels and Delicatessens on How to Make Lasting and Transferable White Art Decorations out of Bacon Fat Back for Window Displays, Ornaments on Meat Food Cold Buffets and for Exhibits and Advertising Purposes. Enrich yourself with Personal Knowledge. [via Boing Boing]... More

The New Yorker drops a lengthy and sobering piece this week that looks at the depressing state of the world's food-supply system as detailed in four "second-wave" food-politics books. Where "first wave" books (such as Eric Schlosser's Fast Food Nation) leave off at the ill effects of junk food, the new crop of books looks at how "the entire system of Western food production is in need of radical change."... More