Crossroads of Twilight - Book Ten of the Wheel of Time (Downloadable audio file)

"Every once in a while a writer of particular skills takes a fresh, seemingly improbable idea and turns out a book of pure delight." That's how David McCullough described Kurlansky's Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World, a work that revealed how a meal can be as important as it is edible. Salt: A World History, its successor, did the same for a seasoning, and confirmed Kurlansky as one of the most erudite and entertaining food authors. Now, the winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing shares a varied selection of "choice cuts" by others, as he leads us on a mouthwatering culinary tour around the world and through history and culture from the fifth century B.C. to the present day. Choice Cuts features more than 200 pieces, from Cato to Cab Calloway. Here are essays by Plato on the art of cooking... Pablo Neruda on french fries...James Beard on scrambled eggs...Balzac, Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, Chekhov, and many others on the passions of cuisine. In short, this wonderful collection, like the very best meal, is both nutritious and delicious.