TV chefs with their posturing books might beat a few eggs but can’t beat notorious cooks

Now we bring our 2012 schedule to a close with the compendious tour of culinary history and legend, Lives of Notorious Cooks, by Brendan Connell. In Metrophilias, published in 2010, Connell set about laying before the reader thirty-six tales of sexual obsession in thirty-six cities around the world. In Lives of Notorious Cooks he pulls off another such stupendous feat, this time with cuisine, presenting fifty-one fictional biographies of great and notorious cooks (some of them saints, some of them crooks) from pre-history to the last days of the First World War. Informative, sly, uproarious, Lives of Notorious Cooks is a peek behind the scenes of the kitchens of history and a claret call to season the day! Book a table at the banquet by picking up a book here.

Here are one or two comments already scribbled on the napkins of satisfied diners:

Avid foodies may exploit Connell’s fantasies as entertainment to regale fellow diners following an especially boozy repast.

- Mark Knoblauch, Booklist

Historical fantasy at its best.

- Risingshadow.net

A dessert to take to a party: loaded with chocolate edifices, secret-recipe kimchis, ortolans, the never before sighted ‘paradise in Illinois’ and a host of other surprises—this is the pièce de résistance of information and misinformation. To be scattered as clusterbonbons or consumed at your risk, in bed. Each story is packed with wit and a quite dangerous amount of erudition. I would be willing to eat a serve of Maincave’s ‘cosmic breasts’ (order by the pair) if Le Cubisme Culinaire isn’t cited authoritatively in some future tome.

- Anna Tambour

We are also pleased to announce, limited to one hundred copies, the availability of a signed edition (the standard edition but with one hundred signed and numbered bookplates). This signed edition is available from Ziesing Books, Cold Tonnage, Fantastic Literature, and Jeff ‘n’ Joys. Other outlets may be announced later. For further information, please enquire by e-mail at info at chomupress dot com.

The winner of last month’s prize draw is Jeff Matthews, of the Sunshine State, to whom a specially inscribed copy of Crandolin shall before long be making its trans-global way. In the meantime, this month’s prize draw:

Prize Draw for uniquely inscribed copy of Lives of Notorious Cooks

The prize this month is a uniquely inscribed copy of Lives of Notorious Cooks. Here are the rules for anyone unfamiliar with them: To be entered for this draw, please sign up here to our mailing list (or using the ‘Free updates’ widget on our home page) and send an e-mail with the subject heading ‘No.1 Thick Soup in the Universe’ to info at chomupress dot com. If you are already on our mailing list, of course there is no need to sign up again – simply send an e-mail with the ‘No.1 Thick Soup in the Universe’ subject heading to the address mentioned. Only one entry allowed per person. Deadline for draw, the 4th of January, 2013.

Those on our mailing list can also expect exclusive interviews from Chômu authors. The next interview will be with Anna Tambour, author of Crandolin.