Dining with the Famous and Infamous

This is a well-researched journey into the eating habits of celebrities, artists, and public figures throughout history. Ross, an English teacher by day and freelance food writer by night, uses a simplistic tabloid tone to highlight eccentricities such as Salvador Dalí’s erotic ties to odd cuisine. The author recreates dishes, including the Spanish artist’s favorite seduction recipe: lobster in chocolate sauce. She digs into Marilyn Monroe’s ravenous appetite, claiming that the movie star “was the ultimate comfort eater,” using eggplant parmigiana as a form of protest to gain weight before auditioning for a role she didn’t want (but got anyway, curves and all) in Some Like It Hot. Instructions for Monroe’s “Chicken Cacciatore to Woo Arthur Miller” are also included. Some readers might want explanations of famous personalities and their preferences that delve deeper than Ross’s brief , often choppy, anecdotes, but Ross does offer tantalizing glimpses into private lives. (Dec.)