From The Atlantic Monthly, a review of The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan. A review of Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated into What America Eats by Steve Ettlinger; In Bad Taste? The Adventure and Science Behind Food Delicacies by Dr. Massimo Francesco Marcone; and A Moveable Feast: Ten Millennia of Food Globalization by Kenneth F. Kiple. A review of Stuffed and Starved: Markets, Power and the Hidden Battle for the World Food System by Raj Patel. Putting Cambodian cuisine on the map: Little Miss Muffet might go for fried spiders, but most everybody else will go for whatever is more appealing on the menu.

From TNR, Gourmet's restaurant columnist defends gluttony. Our diets

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