BOOKS: How to Devour a Good Book

Well, the six crackers I ate yesterday conspired to ruin my entire night, but I have emerged the victor. Not only am I feeling much improved, I'm back to write about food. How do you like them apples?

At first I wasn't sure the Books 2 Eat: The Seventh International Edible Books Festival was for real, since it starts tomorrow, which is of course April 1st. But I checked out the official site (ups to Karen for emailing me the link!) and it looks legit. Woot!

You can't blame me for being a bit suspicious of this event, but in retrospect it really shouldn't have seemed like such a weird idea. You'd think I, of all people, would know what fuh-reaks book lovers are.

The premise of the festival is to celebrate great works of literature and the joy of the written word... in food form. (Take note of the edible dioramic homage to James and the Giant Peach to the right.)

Past entries have included: a likeness of Francis Bacon constructed entirely of bacon (also pictured right); William Blake's "Memorable Fancies" rendered as gorgeous pastries; and a guacamole book, which -- I won't lie to you -- kind of frightens me. (Go here to see a pretty nifty slideshow of dozens of participating edibles.)

This festival isn't kidding when it calls itself international. It's pretty much the Olympics of edible books, with nations as far-flung as India, Luxembourg, Russia, and Delaware reprazenting.

I got all hopped up when I began scrolling down the impressive list of events happening around the world and spied Canada. I scanned through the small but respectable list (hey, we're only got around 33 million people up here) of Canadian events, which starts on the east coast and moves west. Hey there, Cape Breton! Top o' the morning to you, St. John's. Nice to see you, Montreal. Toronto, always a pleasure. Howdy, Saskatchewan! How's it hanging, British Colu--

Well, dang.

It appears I've discovered yet another cultural weakness of the west coast. And yet I can't say this surprises me, given how few people I know out here who read seriously (and those of you who do read know who you are, god bless you). I know a lot of smart people, mind you, but reading is just not a major topographical element on the cultural map of these parts.

Maybe I'll have to host my own Edible Book Festival event next year. Who's with me?

So I'm already starting to give some thought to how I would create an edible book. Mine would have to be sweet, rather than savoury, because that's just the way I roll (and dude, a GUACAMOLE BOOK? Wrong, wrong, wrong). I thought perhaps a cookie codex. Or maybe a marzipan diorama of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Or maybe I'd go all pomo and get some candy-filled pens and edible paper and transcribe the entire text of Margaret Atwood's The Edible Woman. Hmmmaybe not. But I've got a year to work on it.

[Candicraft link via Pop Culture Junk Mail]