The Thrill of the Grill: Techniques, Recipes, & Down-Home Barbecue

In his jacket photo, ace grill chef Chris Schlesinger has the look of Howdy Doody with a stomach full of barbecue. It's a speechless kind of look. Schlesinger, however, is not a speechless kind of guy. Starting with the motto, "Brown food tastes better," Schlesinger and his writing partner, John Willoughby, show the reader exactly why that is. The ride lasts nearly 400 pages.

It's hard to imagine a pre-Thrill of the Grill time in American culinary life, so mighty has the impact been. It's a book with a built-in virus of insidious and infecting qualities that will have even the least interested among us out at the grill, getting the fire glass-melting hot, trying a few ideas like Grilled Shrimp with Pineapple-Ancho Chile Salsa, or Grilled Chicken Rubbed with Ethiopian Berbere (hot, hot, hot), or Grilled Swordfish Steaks with Yucatan Orange-Herb Paste, or maybe Beef Heart Grilled and Marinated in the Peruvian Way (or maybe not).

Actually, that right there--beef heart--is rather telling. Who else in their right minds would include grilled beef heart in their cookbook? These guys, Schlesinger in the lead, breaking trail, will go anywhere, do anything, and bring it all home to grill and eat.

The sheer love of food pours off these pages--the way it tastes and feels, the way super spices fire up your nervous system, the way the juices run down your forearm and off your elbow--and that's the way it should be. Relaxed. Determined. Thrilled. And with Thrill of the Grill tucked under one arm, you are sure to have the time of your life every time you fire up your grill and start cooking.

Plan on buying a couple of copies. This is one of those cookbooks that will get so grease- and sauce-splattered it will become unreadable. --Schuyler Ingle