The expanded excerpt is really funny. The brunch with the Moms adds a sweet element to the sexier parts of the novel. This is so “About A Boy.” I hope it wins because Nick Hornby doesn’t write fast enough for me.

Lafemmenikita – According to your profile, your name is “Veronica Chambers.” And, according to the description of this book, Jason Clampet has a WIFE named “Veronica Chambers”! What a strange coincidence.

And I see that you are participating in this market. If you go back and look at the results of Round 1 of this contest, the authors who artificially pumped up their prices in the market didn’t do so well.

BUT IT JUST GETS WORSE! See the post, below, by “doves.” According to her profile, “doves” is a woman named “Cecilia Ortega” (and, of course, she is also participating in this market). Would you believe that Jason Clampet has a MOTHER-IN-LAW who is also named “Cecelia Ortega”? You may know her as “Mom.” Check it out:

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E5D8173AF931A35755C0A9649C8B63

I’m here to play a game and have fun. It’s a lot easier to make money when other people are cheating, but it’s also a lot less fun. This is disgusting. And I can only wonder what kind of man Jason Clampet is. Then again, for all I know he’s one of the other people posting here.

You’re an author yourself, right? I just have ask – do you know any of the people that wrote your Amazon.com reviews? Are you married to any of them? Are any of them your Mom? Friends of the family? Now, I know that you would never get someone to write a fake review on Amazon.com. But I’m having a hard time figuring out how that would be different than writing a review of your husband’s book on MediaPredict.com.

Although I’m not a foodie, I found myself drawn in by the idea of these guys who are so obsessive about the intersection of cusine and sex. Love the reference to Leon Spinx too.

It doesn’t work for me, although I can see it as a rom-com movie. I like the incongruity between the guys’ elevated culinary chitchat and their down-and-dirty goal of scoring with women. But since the narrator is a male and the audience for this kind of book is women, I don’t think it’ll have a market. The 1st chapter with the lurid tales of copulating Jane are too exaggerated to be credible and they paint the narrator in an unfavorable light, alienating any female reader. It seems too snarky, even though I guess that’s just the set-up before the narrator goes all soft and romantic.

This is a winner! I loved the dialog, and found myself wanting to keep reading at the end of this excerpt. The author has a good feel for the ebb and flow of conversation, and his wit is sharp and hip. I can’t remember when I’ve last read a book quite like it, though Nick Hornsby is a good comparison (thanks Lafemmenikita). Like Hornsby’s books, you find yourself half repelled and half fascinated by the narrator – knowing the entire time that they will redeem themselves, of course. I didn’t agree with cacs that the first chapter was too lurid, and I’m a female reader, so I suppose that just goes to show we all have different thresholds for what makes a sex scene too “spicy”. I do agree that it would make a good romantic comedy. Second helping, please!

It has date movie written all over it.

The craftsmanship of the writing are perfectly in line with the tone and plot of the story. Very well done. The comedy doesn’t connect with me. These are single guys who dress well, buy bone china, have saffron in their kitchens, and want to impress their mothers with how well they can cook. And, by the way, they have violent sex with women. What?

Look, I am Will Freeman from About A Boy. I am Rob in High Fidelity. Those books are funny and touching to me. There are also many comedies that just kill me, even though I’m totally different than the characters in them. (Clueless, for example.) But there has to be some kind of emotional connection with the characters, be it positive or negative. There’s nothing in Cookbook that I can emotionally recognize, or care about, or even be repelled by. It’s just too alien to me.

Then again, maybe I’m not the target market for this one, either!

First of all, how is breaking a few plates “violent sex”? That kinda seems odd to me. The thing is, I’m a woman and I would date any of these guys – Paul, Ted, Smitty or Lou. Well, not in that order. Probably Paul, then Lou, then Smitty, then Ted. My point is creating four appealing characters in a book is no small thing. It’s like a male Sex in the City – which was a really successful book before it became a hit TV show and (soon to be) a movie. I’m buying low and (hopefully) selling high with Dirty Cookbook, then I’m investing in Jessica Andrews. How that girl doesn’t have a record deal is a mystery to me.

So, “doves,” according to your profile your name is Cecilia Ortega. Do you have grandkids? If so, what do you tell them about cheating? For? Against? I’m curious.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9505E5D8173AF931A35755C0A9649C8B63

I guess I could ask your son-in-law (Dirty Cookbook author Jason Clampet). Or I could ask your daughter “Lafemmenikita” (Veronica Chambers, Jason’s wife – see first post in this blog). But then, what’s the point? Keep buying up those shares!

Now, I’m just guessing here … but is Jessica Andrews a friend of your daughter’s? If not, how do you know her?