PLEASE FEED ME: A Punk Vegan Cookbook

Two vibrant countercultures collide to fizzling effect in this memoir/cookbook. McGuirk was one of the founders of the Hope Collective, a long-running Dublin community that promoted punk bands in the 1980s and '90s. The evolution of the Hope Collective and McGuirk's decision to go vegan seem born from the same activist impulse, and the author tries, through his recollections here, to focus a lens on a time in his life that was both revolutionary and spiritually nourishing. Yet for all the book's name-dropping (Fugazi, Bikini Kill and Chumbawamba were among the bands involved) the punk scene just doesn't come alive on the pages of this remembrance: there are few interesting anecdotes and a decided lack of a gritty, revolutionary spirit. It's a stretch to call this a cookbook, since the recipes take up less space than the photos and blow-by-blows of various shows. The dishes McGuirk shares, however, are simple, international comfort foods like Mixed Veg Noodles, Root Vegetable Soup with Greens, Vegan Tapenade, and Maple Sweet Potato Pudding. They aren't bad, considering that they were written by rockers instead of chefs, but foodies won't find anything truly inspired. In the end, only die-hard vegan punk-fans will be entertained—and that may be all the author intended. (Mar.)