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The Gallery of Regrettable Food James Lileks 9780609607824 Books

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The Gallery of Regrettable Food James Lileks 9780609607824 Books

I found 'The Gallery of Regrettable Food' to be screamingly funny, and not just because I can recall seeing stuff like this when I was a child. I remember weirdness entrapped in jiggly gelatin that came in a variety of toxic-looking colours and scary mystery meat rolled into loaves and presented on beds of wiltiness. While I don't need to relive the meals themselves, I delight in being able to point and laugh at what used to be the height of home culinary sophistication. If you ever get the feeling your kids aren't properly appreciating their PB&J, just show them this book and enjoy their flabbergasted expressions as they realise that not only did their parents walk to school in the snow and uphill both ways, but they had to eat this nonsense when they got home.


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The Gallery of Regrettable Food James Lileks 9780609607824 Books Reviews

Had a rough day? Stressed about the looming Apocalypse and your dwindling bank balance? You need James Lileks. You need The Gallery of Regrettable Food -- actual food illustrations and photography from the Depression through the swinging 70s. There are a few recipes, but the focus is on the unappetizing pictures and Lileks's delicious commentary. Imagine the mind that could dream up hot dogs in aspic. No, don't. Not if you're eating. Or about to eat. Or ever want to eat again.

Most of the content in Lileks's books is no longer on the website, so truly the book is worth buying. He describes a loaf of mottled red meat sludge in aspic as "a core sample from a mass grave." He tells the hidden stories of the people in those illustrations. Truly, he is the MST3K of old advertisements -- and his wit is as sharp as his eye.

The effect of reading anything by Lileks is, first, laughter, tinged with horror. Then, as you read on, uncontrollable spasms of laughter. Then choking, screaming convulsions of something that might be laughter or agony, garnished by tears. Then full-fledged hysteria. It's absolutely guaranteed, and it's one of the best ways I know for dealing with a horrible day.

Why yes, I had a . . . regrettable day. Any day in which one's automobile, freshly emerged from the shelter of a warranty period, demands repairs that will cost almost a month's rent (which, incidentally, has just been raised again), that day cries out for Official Cheer.

(It worked, too.)
People think of the era covered by Lileks book as "recent history" because we have television and film from this era, but really, it's not very recent at all. Sure, there are some people alive now who were alive then, but the cultural upheavals and historical lava flows that have occurred since then make them more like visitors from a foreign country than people of our time.

Lileks answers the burning question what nameless horrors did Wally Cleaver eat, that made him think becoming a hippy and destroying Western Civilization was a good idea? This book shows some of these culinary atrocities. It was the last era where corporations were seen as more or less benign entities. You can see where Wally Cleaver got the other idea I mean, food made with 7-up? All those marshmallows? The twinkie defense was invented not long afterwords. After reading the book, you can understand why the kids were so angry in the 1960s. They'd been eating sinister marshmallow covered 7-up roasts prepared by their moms in the 1950s. Sure, they railed against sexism and racism and colonialism, but considering what the same people did in the 70s and 80s, perhaps it was just indigestion.
Nearly every page in this witty gem had me laughing out loud. The products and ads are funny enough on their own, but James Lileks's sarcastic commentary makes them all the more entertaining. I purchased this after looking at Lileks's website --

Growing up in the 60's and 70's -- and in the midwest to boot, I'm all too familiar with the jello molds and "salads" of fruit cocktail and mayonaiise and miniature marshamallow -- so this was a trip down memory lane. I'm guessing anyone over 40 would find plenty of humor herein. I honestly don't know what younger folks would think. If you're not sure whether the humor is to your liking, check out the website first. It really is the same as what is on the website.

A lot of people bemoan the highly processed, overly packaged and produced food available today -- but I'd take today's processed food over what passed for gourmet in 1960 anyday! You'd be amazed at the variety of recipes that feature hotdogs arranged in all sorts of odd and unappealing ways -- and the section on how top chefs use marshmallow is hysterical.

Get this, laugh your rear end off, and be thankful for
all of the culinary advances of the past 50 years.
With only the very best of intentions, I bought this book used for $0.04 (yes, four pennies) as a joke birthday gift for a somewhat snobbish yet affable foodie friend, but regrettably (much like subject of this book) it never made it to the intended giftee. Upon receiving the book in the mail and briefly thumbing through it before wrapping it, I started to smirk....then, the next thing I knew, an hour had gone by and tears were streaming down my face and my abs ached from HOWLING with laughter. The section on meat is particularly amusing...I don't have the book in front of me but at the introduction of the chapter he mentions something to the effect of "the charred remains of a flame blasted ignorant ruminant". James Lileks is a wordsmith of comedy GOLD.

Needless to say, I got wayyyy more than $0.04 worth of entertainment out of this book, and it now sits proudly in our guest bathroom, many a time I have since heard peals of laughter from 'the can' whilst a guest relieves themselves. Gross? Maybe. Memorable party restroom experience? Absolutely.
I found 'The Gallery of Regrettable Food' to be screamingly funny, and not just because I can recall seeing stuff like this when I was a child. I remember weirdness entrapped in jiggly gelatin that came in a variety of toxic-looking colours and scary mystery meat rolled into loaves and presented on beds of wiltiness. While I don't need to relive the meals themselves, I delight in being able to point and laugh at what used to be the height of home culinary sophistication. If you ever get the feeling your kids aren't properly appreciating their PB&J, just show them this book and enjoy their flabbergasted expressions as they realise that not only did their parents walk to school in the snow and uphill both ways, but they had to eat this nonsense when they got home.