COOKBOOK COLLECTOR

"NEW YORK TIMES" BEST SELLING AUTHOR AND US NATIONAL BOOK AWARD SHORTLISTED NOVELIST ALLEGRA GOODMAN RETURNS WITH HER MOST ACHIEVED NOVEL TO DATE, A SENSE AND SENSIBILITY FOR THE INTERNET AGE. TWO SISTERS, OPPOSITE IN EVERY WAY TWENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD EMILY IS A CFO OF AN INTERNET START-UP, TWENTY-THREE-YEAR-OLD JESS IS A GRADUATE STUDENT IN PHILOSOPHY. PRAGMATIC EMILY IS MAKING A FORTUNE IN SILICON VALLEY, ROMANTIC JESS WORKS IN AN ANTIQUARIAN BOOKSTORE. EMILY'S BOYFRIEND IS FANTASTICALLY SUCCESSFUL. JESS' BOYFRIEND IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL ACTIVIST. BUT THE DOT-COM BUBBLE MUST BURST, WHILE JESS' WORK ON A CACHE OF RARE COOKBOOKS UNCOVERS STRANGE EROTIC DRAWINGS AND MARGINALIA THAT BRING HER CLOSER TO THEIR MYSTERIOUS COLLECTOR...RICH IN IDEAS AND CHARACTERS, "THE COOKBOOK COLLECTOR" IS A NOVEL OF SUBSTITUTIONS READING COOKBOOKS INSTEAD OF COOKING, SPECULATING INSTEAD OF CREATING, COLLECTING INSTEAD OF LIVING. BUT ABOVE ALL IT IS ABOUT HOLDING ON TO WHAT IS REAL IN A VIRTUAL WORLD LOVE TH