<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>
 
Jax Peters Lowell has written, =Against the Grain= subtitled "the slightly
eccentric guide to living without gluten or wheat" a book that I would call
a survival guide. While it contains a few recipes -- one chapter includes
recipes from 12 renowned chefs, another has kid-pleasers -- this is not so
much a cookbook as a book-length pep talk and quick reference full of
resources like mail order firms, support groups, and including two
translation cards (for the wheat-free and the gluten-free consumer) in 14
languages (English, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Portugese,
Polish, Swedish, Danish, Hebrew, Russian, Greek, Japanese and Chinese).
These can be used not only for travel in foreign lands, but for excursions
to ethnic restaurants.
 
Written with a light touch and a sense of humor, Jax's book will help
newcomers to The Diet put things in perspective, and it offers strategies
you can use in your own kitchen, while dining out, at work, with friends,
and during travel.
 
I highly recommend the book with only a few small reservations:
 
(1) Sometimes her comments about restricted foods get muddy, so the
uneducated might come away confused about, for example, whether buckwheat
is on the taboo or safe lists (well, it's a difficult topic).
 
(2) I felt a little upset with Jax's chapter "Your Cheating Heart..." which
starts out: "You will want to cheat. And you will." In an earlier chapter
she briefly mentioned using affirmations and so it surprises me that she'd
apply their opposite in her book by planting such a negative suggestion
which could worm its way into my as-yet-unbreached defenses.
 
However, how can I quibble when she could write such a clear, delicate and
insightful Preface, including this:
 
 "How could I explain when friends were battling serious things such as
  breast cancer and brain injury and hearts that ticked like time bombs,
  while I had gotten off with a mere dietary restriction? I secretly
  grieved for all the foods I could never taste again . . ."
 
Her chapter on surviving in the world of business had me laughing
out loud. How refreshing to hear someone with more than a decade of
practice coping with our particular affliction, share her experiences
and insights and warm humor at length with us all. =Against The Grain=
(published by Henry Holt in the U.S.; Fitzhenry & Whiteside in Canada)
is a wonderful book, as comforting as a newly discovered recipe that
replaces the food you miss most, and like comfort food, the book would
be best shared with those you love, even if -- maybe especially if --
they don't have to live with the celiac diet.
 
The softback version is available now in or through special orders
at your local book store.
 
Linda Blanchard
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Midland TX USA