Chas Addams Half-Baked Cookbook: Culinary Cartoons for the Humorously Famished Book

Food and eating were a couple of Charles Addams's favorite subjects. Hungry cannibals, witches gathering around a cauldron, or a king over his blackbird pie often populated his celebrated cartoons. And, of course, Morticia of the "Addams Family" was an avid cook, adding a touch of eye of newt or popping over to the neighbors for a cup of cyanide. So it should come as no wonder that in the 1960s Charles Addams was dabbling with a "cookbook" idea. Addams discovered and compiled some bizarre recipes from antiquated and out-of-the-way sources. These recipes have very Addams-like names, such as "Mushrooms Fester" or "Hearts Stuffed," and serve as a perfect complement to his drawings.

Chas Addams™ Half-Baked Cookbook is a collection of his work on the world of food and eating, featuring many Addams drawings that have never been seen before, as well as some of his all-time classics.

Publishers Weekly

Legendary New Yorker cartoonist and master of the macabre Addams has clawed his way back from the sepulcher with this odd fusion of posthumously unearthed and unpublished cartoons and a cookbook liberally seasoned with the distinctive flavor of Addams's signature gallows wit. Most of the cartoons on display here are clearly late period Addams and, to be fair, appear to have been rescued from his slush pile. Sketchy, incomplete and in some cases difficult to read, the unpublished cartoons are still worth a look since even mediocre Addams is better than no Addams at all. The recipes, on the other hand, are a truly bizarre assortment, featuring such epicurean delights as macaroni and oysters, dandelion beer, stewed pigeons, potted woodland squirrel, stuffed hearts, reindeer rice curry, the children's curative "influenza punch" and the intriguing "transparent pie." The more visceral ingredients have been thoughtfully supplied with conventionally acquired substitutes if preferred and could prove a fun challenge to the adventurous kitchen witch. Despite its shortcomings, this volume is a welcome addition to the bookshelf of any Addams fan and an eyebrow-raising sight when spotted among an assortment of cooking tomes. (Oct.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.