"Real Barbecue" returning to print!

[fchrisgrimm]

My favorite food book of all time, Real Barbecue, has been revised and will be released near 20 years after the original publication, later this summer.

I've traveled with my dog-eared copy forever. I swear, the three contemporary books that have had the most influence on my life are Ball Four, Deliverance, and Real Barbecue!

For those who haven't seen it, the book's a guide to 100 BBQ joints nationwide - more or less Jane & Michael Stern style.

FULL DISCLOSURE - I've worked in publishing most of my professional career and was somewhat instrumental in the book's impending return. But I'm here to tell you that books like this are why I'm in the business and that I can help to bring this jem back gives me an immense degree of pleasure.

Would love to hear other's thoughts on this long out-of-print classic. I once heard John Martin Taylor say he had a big backlog of names trying to get the old edition (from which a third of the restaurants had closed). Mine's stuffed full of menus, notes, and ephemera.

[MarketStEl]

I still have my copy of the first edition in my cookbook collection and consult it often for inspiration, if not necessarily for guidance about where to eat. It's a wonderful, and wonderfully written, introduction to the world of barbecue.

I hope the list of the 100 BBQ Joints has been revised and updated. Many have gone, and many worthy newcomers have opened, since the book first appeared.

I have whipped up a few of the rubs and sauces from the recipe section in the back, but I have yet to attempt a batch of Barbecue Honey. I think I need to invest in asbestos gloves first.

[WBBear]

Happy Dance!! Happy Dance!! Happy Dance!!

This is usually one my guides during a driving vacation. When Mrs. Bear and I reach a barbeque restaurant we'd like to try, we'll get this book out and see if its listed.

As you said more and more of the places that were listed in the old edition aren't there anymore.

The new edition along with the Stern's Roadfood will hold a special spot on the bookshelves. (More than likely both will be spotted in grease and covered in sauce!

[zoe b]

what great news--and pat yourself on the back for being instrumental in the return of RB--a treasure of a book.

It has traveled with us for many years! And i look forward to an update--and possibly some new, great BBQ spots.

Zoe

[MarketStEl]

Forgot to mention my favorite quote in the book, from their section on my hometown:

"What other city can say it has 'the single best restaurant in the world' -- and it's not even the best in town?"

This, of course, is Arthur Bryant's, which Calvin Trillin famously referred to as "The Single Best Restaurant In The World" in a New Yorker essay many, many, many moons ago, reprinted in American Fried, I believe.