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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Chow / Books The Words Are Illustration Enough

Posted by Paul Constant on Tue, Jan 10, 2012 at 3:07 PM

If you've made a resolution to lose weight this year, Michael Pollan's Food Rules, in theory, should be the only diet book you need. It's a tiny little wisp of a thing covering several rules of thumb for eating ("Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle;" "If you're not hungry enough to eat an apple, then you're probably not hungry") that, if followed, will help you lose weight and stay healthy.

Recently, Penguin Press produced a hardcover version of Food Rules that costs more than twice what the original did. All it adds (besides the hard cover, a few additional notes by Pollan, and a glossy paper stock) is a series of illustrations by Maira Kalman. I'm a fan of Kalman's Illustrated Elements of Style that came out a few years ago; her artwork was a witty complement to the classic text that sometimes enlivened (and sometimes snarked at) the writing.

But here, Kalman's drawings seem unnecessary and dumb. People work on farms. Families sit down for dinner. There are some kitchen utensils sitting, I guess, on a table or something. They're an intrusion to the text, not a willing partner. I feel resentful toward Kalman's illustrations because Pollan's common-sense rules feel so important and necessary—the book's approach to food feels simple, and revelatory, and revelatory in its own simplicity. I wish the publisher had gone the other way with Food Rules, and published it on rough paper stock, with no adornment, and sold it as cheaply as possible. It should be a ubiquitous pamphlet that people buy for their friends in bulk, not a bourgeois art object.

Comments (3) RSS

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How bizarre that people need to have their own hunger explained to them.

Posted by Mr. J on January 10, 2012 at 3:20 PM

I thought the whole point of Pollan's food rules were that you don't need a book. Aren't they:

1. Eat food.
2 Not too much.
3. Mostly plants.

No one needs a book for that.

Posted by the idiot formerly known as kk on January 10, 2012 at 5:24 PM

That being said, the Omnivore's Dilemma was an amazing book. I was gifted Food Rules and hated it.

The dumbed down version was like taking a great piece of art and recreating it on an Etch & Sketch.

Posted by BombasticMO