Food

Let me be clear: this is a four star or potentially five star book. I'm giving this three stars because if you've heard the majority of Jim Gaffigan's standup material like I have, then you've pretty much already read this book. This book is still enjoyable to read, especially since it's been awhile since I've watched a standup special from Jim. But if you're not familiar with Jim's standup, then this read would be best experienced this way. But also... it'd be much more enjoyable if you listened to this book as an audiobook narrated by Jim himself or if you just simply watch his classic standup specials. Jim's one of my favorite comedians of all time and his many takes on food are simply a must if you aren't familiar with them.

THIS GUY DOESN'T LIKE FISH. FISH! HOW CAN HE CALL HIMSELF AN “EATIE”?!

I really wanted to like this. It's FUNNY and it's about FOOD. What could go wrong?

Turns out Jim Gaffigan and I do NOT have the same taste in food. There's an invisible Fast before Food in his book's name. We do not even look at food the same way. He says he tolerates sushi. I am sorry, Jim... but as a fellow eatie, I find that unacceptable.

Not nearly as good as his previous book. It used a lot of his bits from his shows.

Only read if you like food and like reading about food.

Following his book on parenting, Jim Gaffigan offers a book on his true strength: food.

As with Dad is Fat, a lot of this is material I've seen/heard elsewhere, but most of it isn't. I think – I don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of Gaffigan's material, as much as my children want me to (I wouldn't mind it, either).

On the whole, this is about what foods, dishes, and practices he likes – but he breaks it up with things he can't stomach or understand. Sometimes, like with the chapter on Reuben sandwiches, he handles both.

The chapters on Coffee, Steak, Doughnuts, Breakfast, Hot Dogs and Bacon stand out particularly for me. Although the pair “Nobody Really Likes Fruit” and “Even Fewer People Like Vegetables” really amused me, even beyond the great titles.

Actually, there's really nothing that didn't amuse me.

Naturally, there's an entire chapter devoted to Hot Pockets. That's all I'm going to say about that, it speaks for itself.

Because the book is pretty tightly focused, there are two ways I'd recommend to read this book: in one setting, or broken up into tiny chunks over several days. There's a danger of things getting repetitive, that either of those tacks reduces.

I'm going to limit myself to just a few highlights, there's quotable material on almost every page:

A.1. was always on the table when my dad would grill steaks. It seems everyone I knew had that same thin bottle of A.1. It always felt like it was empty right before it flooded your steak. Ironically, the empty-feeling bottle never seemed to run out. I think most people still have the same bottle of A.1. that they had in 1989. Once I looked at the back of a bottle of A.1. and was not surprised to find that one of the ingredients was “magic.”

Of course I am aware that doughnuts are bad, horrible things to eat, and according to my health-nut wife, they are not appropriate for a trail mix. I've repeatedly tried to explain to Jeannie that I'm on a different trail. Mine leads to the emergency room. Trail mixes have nuts, and my favorite nut is most definitely a doughnut.

Bill Shakespeare himself, another actor who did some writing...

Note:I received this book for free from Blogging for Books for this review, who are now responsible for me owning the complete works of Jim Gaffigan. Which was generous and cool of them, but didn't impact what I said about the book.

Though very funny, this is mostly just a rehash of his stand up performances so if you've seen them and are very familiar with them this might be a bit boring for you. There are some laugh out loud moments nonetheless and stuff I hadn't heard before so I was still thoroughly entertained.