Walk into any book store and it becomes immediately apparent that there is absolutely no shortage of cookbooks from which to choose from at the present time.

Since Americans are still in a gastronomic dither, fueled by the constant barrage of television chefs and the like, choosing a recipe collection in pages on paper can be daunting. But, armed with an appetite and some basic knowledge of the style of cooking you’re interested in, success is a sure thing. There’s some great stuff out there.

However, good books are not all about food formulas. There are some excellent reads available that focus on food experiences and also books that deal with our food supply and the direction it is and should be going in.

My first suggestion for a meaty read is “The Raw and The Cooked, Adventures of a Roving Gourmand” by Jim Harrison. This book was a gift and I breezed through it like an order of fried clams at the seashore. Evidently, Harrison is a well known author, and for good reason. His gregarious style is completely successful at never using the same words twice from cover to cover to describe his gusto and zest for a good meal.

This book is a collection of short stories, or “novellas” as he calls them, each and every one a tryst divulging a book tour or hunting trip and the meals he has either cooked or ordered whilst engaged. Garlic, copious amounts of the stinking rose, is frequently employed along with jalapenos and red wine, for cooking and the glass, which seasons each story. Within the first few pages, it’s apparent that Harrison is a happy glutton, self confessed, self imposed and self proud. The man simply loves to eat. Wild game is his forte and the pages relate the trips and the meals that surround his excursions in pursuit of natures ingredients.

Suffice it to say that you’ll roar out load at his descriptions, taste in your mind some of his laborious concoctions and maybe even wind up with a tinge of envy for his literary escapades. The wit and wisdom may be a springboard for your own dietary desires. Sanity may spur you on to question the quantities he claims to ingest.

All in all, The Raw and the Cooked is a fun read; alive, well seasoned and completely satiating. It can be devoured in a day, then passed on for someone else to savor.

On a more serious note, “The Omnivore’s Dilemma” by Michael Pollan is a focused and thought provoking analysis of our food supply. With the recent spinach debacle fresh in our minds, this book is a must read for anyone who eats.

Pollan delves into our national food sources, the ins and outs of corporate and governmental involvement and the effect they have on us and future generations. Each page, composed in a very readable yet sophisticated style, manages to throw you back in your chair, questioning the common sense of the topic being discussed.

You read on, wondering how we got to a point where we’ve become so indifferent towards a diminishing group of people who supply us with our sustenance. Those people are our nations farmers, and they’re being manipulated by corporate giants who make more profits with computer screens and telephones than the people who actually produce the food. It’s a tangled web of greed and power versus hard work and basic human need.

The first section of the book examines corn and follows the recent history of the crop and how it eventually wound up effecting the size of a bottle of Coca-Cola. It’s a fascinating account of one aspect of the food chain in the United States and the ramifications on global supply and demand.

The Omnivore’s Dilemma will raise serious questions regarding the state of our sources of food. In some ways it may disgust you. In others, it will only serve to solidify the notion that the subject and it’s dirty little secrets are out of our control. Frankly, it has made me aware of a hidden desire to return to the wilds, away from the fray of civilization, and follow the back-to-the-land ethic lauded by the hippies of the 60’s.

Then, I fall prey to my appetite, check the fridge for sustenance and let it pass.