Barry Foy, Seattle-based proofreader and copy editor extraordinaire, has worked with my articles and books over the years. So I was thrilled to learn about, then receive my very own copy, of his just-released book, The Devil’s Food Dictionary: A Pioneering Culinary Reference Work Consisting Entirely of Lies (Frogchart Press, $17.95).

It’s already received national press in the food section of the Washington Post and in The Onion, will soon be featured in Gastronomica. More good reviews will undoubtedly follow, since Barry signed up with my agent and public relations dynamo Lisa Ekus, owner of The Lisa Ekus Group, to help him promote the self-published tome. 

You’ll laugh out loud when you read “dictionary” entries such as “Cocoa nib: By far the most sensitive area of the cocoa bean.” Or “Chinese cuisine: A generic term applied to any FOOD eaten with sticks. see CORN DOGS and POPSICLES, also COOKING.” 

Foodies and winos should run, not walk, to their nearest bookstore or visit Barry’s Web site to get their hands on a copy of The Devil’s Food Dictionary.