Intended for both the bedside table and the kitchen, this is an anthology of food writing from the classic to the curious, reflecting not merely gastronomic pleasures but also the lack of them. Aiming to illuminate readers' understanding of food and eating, the editors have plundered novels, memoirs and diaries, travel and recipe books, lectures, essays and philosophy. The book spans the pleasures of the table, culinary disasters, rivalry and snobbery, pretension and generosity, from Babylonian times to the present day.