What would you like to read in a Barbecue Book?

I just came back from a visit with Danny Gaulden, of Danny's BBQ in Carlsbad, NM. (you can search for reviews on this site.)
He's quite well-respected in the bbq world--Paul Kirk, renowned pit-man and most recently of RUB in New York--had recently come down before said RUB opened to gain some extra pointers on running the pit as a business from Danny.
Danny told me he has interest in doing a book for the home cook--he's such a fount of cue knowledge that it was hard to see how to encapsulate it all for the home cook.
Given that there's no dearth of cue how-to books out there, some good some laughable, and not a few websites (including Gwiv's venerable and much-used, by me, www.wiviott.com for the WSM), I thought I'd put it to LTH to ascertain just what was lacking, if anything, in most books on barbecue.
What sort of things do people enjoy reading about when it comes to pit-smoking your own meat, or would enjoy were there a book out containing such?
anyway, hope all is well with those on the Forum,
parker

What I'd like in a barbecue book is less debating about the best style of barbecue and more detail about different local and regional varieties. Part of what I enjoy about barbecue is that the slow cooking process gives you the chance to shoot the breeze. So, what I'd like in a barbecue book is more of the sort of thing that you find in the best writing about barbecue (the link below is to Cornbread Nation II: The United States of Barbecue):

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/regi ... irteen.htm

But that would be my idea for a book about barbecue, not for a barbecue recipe book. javascript:emoticon(':D')

MariaTheresa wrote:What I'd like in a barbecue book is less debating about the best style of barbecue and more detail about different local and regional varieties. Part of what I enjoy about barbecue is that the slow cooking process gives you the chance to shoot the breeze. So, what I'd like in a barbecue book is more of the sort of thing that you find in the best writing about barbecue (the link below is to Cornbread Nation II: The United States of Barbecue):

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/regi ... irteen.htm

But that would be my idea for a book about barbecue, not for a barbecue recipe book. javascript:emoticon(':D')

It's funny that you should post a link to a book edited by Eric Lolis Eli. His first book "Smokestack Lightning" is exactly about the topics you describe. He and a photographer friend traveled to all the great Barbecue regions, visiting many of their best and least known outposts to produce a book that reads like "On The Road" if Jack Kerouac had been a 'Que fiend.

It's a great read. You're more likely to find it on ebay than Amazon; I'm pretty sure even the paperback version has been out of print for quite some time. If you can find a hardcover version for a reasonable price, snap it up!

Buddy

BuddyRoadhouse wrote:

MariaTheresa wrote:What I'd like in a barbecue book is less debating about the best style of barbecue and more detail about different local and regional varieties. Part of what I enjoy about barbecue is that the slow cooking process gives you the chance to shoot the breeze. So, what I'd like in a barbecue book is more of the sort of thing that you find in the best writing about barbecue (the link below is to Cornbread Nation II: The United States of Barbecue):

http://www.olemiss.edu/depts/south/regi ... irteen.htm

But that would be my idea for a book about barbecue, not for a barbecue recipe book. javascript:emoticon(':D')

It's funny that you should post a link to a book edited by Eric Lolis Eli. His first book "Smokestack Lightning" is exactly about the topics you describe. He and a photographer friend traveled to all the great Barbecue regions, visiting many of their best and least known outposts to produce a book that reads like "On The Road" if Jack Kerouac had been a 'Que fiend.

It's a great read. You're more likely to find it on ebay than Amazon; I'm pretty sure even the paperback version has been out of print for quite some time. If you can find a hardcover version for a reasonable price, snap it up!

Buddy

I concur, Smokestack Lightning is my favorite BBQ book. I know longer purchase for recipes, but for the read. Having said that, Danny is one of the few people who I would pre-order a BBQ book from. Of course, I've read about 30 books, cookbooks, and watched innumerable TV shows and videos.

I hope Danny goes for it. His knowledge is great.

If Danny can transfer the nuances of his experience to the written word, he's got a great market for the book.