Did you know that corn creates vampires? Or that peas almost poisoned George Washington? Influential potatoes in the past are the reason that many of us are here although they greatly baffled the conquistadors, and once upon a time pumpkins attended the World’s Fair. All this and more can be learned from this book which takes a look at 23 of the most popular vegetables.
This little book is simply delightful, especially for veggie lovers, but possibly also for those that don’t like them. The title may be a little misleading, as it’s not all about funny and strange anecdotes, but also a short history of the vegetable’s evolution through the centuries and a ton of facts and trivia. Rupp’s style of reporting the facts and stories is humorous and often tongue-in-cheek and she revels in retelling strange beliefs and dictums of the past like the quote in the title of this review. There is also a nice little running gag about Thomas Jefferson growing virtually any and every vegetable under the sun at his plantation Monticello.
This is a book meant to entertain while also dispersing some knowledge to the audience. The chapters are by no means comprehensive looks at the individual vegetables, but there are always some interesting tidbits to take away in each one. Rupp is enthusiastic and knowledgeable about the subject and that definitely shows in her writing. Overall, I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had while reading this book, and I won’t be looking at a radish quite the same way as before, now that I know that it identifies witches.