PEOPLE OF THE COOK BOOK:

The joy of Joy: 75 years of cooking by the book (Leah Eskin, 2/01/07, Chicago Tribune)

[I]'ve come to appreciate the nuances of Joy. I like the way the copyright page dates a marriage. I respect 1953's forthright explanation of turtle soup, which begins: "Cut off the head of a snapping or soft-shelled turtle." I like 1975's knowing instructions for culturing yogurt and 1997's breezy way with balsamic. Some readers thought that edition suffered from too many chefs. But I like its pancakes and I like it for what it is--a shiny mirror mounted above the American stove.

Now we have a new bundle of Joy. The 75th anniversary edition seeks to regain the warmth and candor of 1975, which, with its Brownies Cockaigne and Rombauer specials, read like a stack of 3 x 5 cards passed along from Irma S. Rombauer.