Dining with the Famous and Infamous

Fiona Ross, like most of us, leads a double existence: In her “normal” life as a writer of fiction and freelance food writer in a gloomy, rainy corner of the United Kingdom called Bishop’s Stortford, she keeps company with two meat-eating chickens and her dog, Parsnip. Meanwhile, her glamorous double works as a gastro-detective whose headquarters is the famous Bodleian Library in Oxford; there she spends her time on the trail of gastronomes and investigating such sticky issues as how much jam Marx liked on his tarts.

• INTRODUCTION TABLE OF CONTENTSDINING WITH FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS ARTISTSSalvador DalíMark RothkoGauguin and Van GoghAndy WarholAuguste RenoirDiego Rivera and Frida KahloPablo PicassoDINING WITH FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS MOVIE STARS Joan CrawfordMichael CaineLaurel and HardyCary GrantMarlene DietrichAlfred HitchcockLiz TaylorJohn WayneMarilyn MonroeBogart and BacallWoody AllenDINING WITH FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS MUSICIANSThe BeatlesLouis ArmstrongFrank Sinatra Woody GuthrieBob DylanBob MarleyMichael JacksonThe Rolling StonesDINING WITH FAMOUS AND INFAMOUS WRITERSEvelyn WaughC.S. LewisErnest HemingwayF. Scott FitzgeraldJohn SteinbeckJ.D. SalingerIan FlemingW.H. AudenGeorge OrwellAgatha ChristieOscar WildeSylvia PlathFINALLY, THE NUTSCasanovaSybil LeekNostradamusAleister Crowley

This is a well-researched journey into the eating habits of celebrities, artists, and public figures throughout history. Ross, an English teacher by day and freelance food writer by night, uses a simplistic tabloid tone to highlight eccentricities such as Salvador Dalí’s erotic ties to odd cuisine. The author recreates dishes, including the Spanish artist’s favorite seduction recipe: lobster in chocolate sauce. She digs into Marilyn Monroe’s ravenous appetite, claiming that the movie star 'was the ultimate comfort eater,' using eggplant parmigiana as a form of protest to gain weight before auditioning for a role she didn’t want (but got anyway, curves and all) in Some Like It Hot. Instructions for Monroe’s 'Chicken Cacciatore to Woo Arthur Miller' are also included. . . .Ross . . . offer[s] tantalizing glimpses into private lives.