1926, kill'em big mob my country." A central theme in theplay, and of much of thewriting in the anthol ogy, is the loss of language and awareness of traditional culture. Another remarkable piece, among many, is "The Boomerang Racket," by JoeTimbery (1912-78), a poet and world-champion boo merang thrower.As with many of the early letters and petitions in theanthology, one initially wonders why the editors chose to include what at firstglance appears tobe a nonliterary piece: awarning against purchasing cheap, inauthentic boo merangs. But "The Boomerang Racket" quickly reveals deep meta phorical undercurrents. From the invigorating chantlike poems of Oodgeroo Noonuccal to David Unaipon's detailed study of Aboriginal culture and his collec tion of stories fromdreamtime, this anthology presents a panorama of indigenous Australia's most pow erful voices. It covers all forms of Aboriginal English writing and is a treasuryboth literaryand historical. ShonArieh-Lerer Brooklyn, New York HerveThis& Pierre Gagnaire.Cooking: The Quintessential Art. M. B. DeBe voise, tr.Berkeley. University of Califor nia Press. 2008. 355 pages. $27.50. isbn 978-0-520-25295-0 Like a well-crafted, savory meal, Cooking: The Quintessential Art is composed with careful planning, unique ingredients, and an element of novelty that will leave your taste buds in awe. Yet this is neither a typical novel on gastronomy nor a cookbook. Divided into five sec tions, the novel features a dramatic, mysterious, yet light-hearted nar rative between fourFrench friends, who apply elements of art history and theory to the essential question of culinary beauty. This element of thebook could stand on itsown, yet Herve This teams up with award winning chef Pierre Gagnaire to illustrateartistictheories with exqui site, unusual, and challenging reci pes, incorporatingartisticnotions to help readers discover the quintes sential artof cooking. The book makes frequentuse of philosophers, artists, and scientists fromevery corner of theglobe and throughouthistory toexplain art the ory,using thecleverdevice of amys teriousnovel thatfalls into thechar acters' hands, coincidentally named Cooking:TheQuintessentialArt.With the help of the mysterious book, the characters,especially theFrench chefCecile, apply art's aesthetics to cooking, resulting in mouthwatering combinations, which are elaborated and explained by Gagnaire. In each section he provides a commentary on inspirationsbehind cooking, and what makes certain flavors and tex tures desirable in a dish. He pro vides recipes thatquestion old com binations and suggests daring and provocative ingredients to not only impress guests at dinner parties but E to challenge longstanding traditions E in cooking. Each recipe comes with E a challenge to the reader: takingaes- E thetictheoriesand applying them to = the art of cooking through flavors, E techniques, and creative methods E to find the quintessential art in the E preparation of food. E Since Gagnaire includes recipes E with names such as "Hell," "The E Three Disks ofSpring," and "A Rata- E touille of Chanterelles, Eggplant, E and Apricots," the reader expects a E lengthy description of ingredients E and preparation. Interestingly?and E somewhat disappointingly?how- E ever, thebook doesn't articulate any E specific recipes but rather gives a E basic idea of a dish's ingredients, E allowing readers tobecome theartist E and experimentwith thepreparation E of food in theirown way. But this E is hardly problematic. The "mini- E drama" between the four characters E keeps the reader who knows noth- E ing about thepreparation of lobster E bisques, duck foie gras, or raspber- E ry camembert entertained with an E intriguingplot and a dash of detec- E rive story that is indubitably French. E Who else would worry about cook- E ingdinner aftertheir house had been E robbed? E Herve This and PierreGagnaire E have certainlyconcocted a sensation E with thisbook. Gagnaire challenges E cooks to be artists rather than arti- E sans?not just mastering the tech- E niques of cooking but constantly E experimenting and inventing new E flavors theworld has never expe- E rienced. This proves to be an artist 5 too,challenging the formof a typical E cookbook and using elements unlike E any other novel on gastronomy to E date. E Callie Yeager E Universityof Oklahoma E THEQUINTESSENTIAL ART THIS and PIERRE GAGNAIRE January-February 2009 i79 H ...