How to Feed a Dictator by Saddam Hussein, Idi Amin, Enver Hoxha, Fidel Castro, and Pol Pot Through the Eyes of Their Cooks by Witold Szablowski

The subject matter about the personal chefs of some of the world's most evil rulers might seem taboo to many. Until about a month ago, I didn't even know that this book existed. I think it was a story on CNN that talks about the documentary movie of the same name where I learned about the book. The film was on Netflix, which of course, I don't subscribe to. But I learned in the piece that the doc was based on a book. 

Immediately I went to Amazon and placed an order. I would have finished this book a week earlier but for some reason, my first order was cancelled. I'm wondering if some other culinary teacher out there saw the news story at the same time I did and snatched the copy I ordered up before me. I hear that if a simultaneous order is made on the same item, timestamp proof gives the sale to the person who completed their order first.

It really wasn't such a big deal. I did have to pay an extra 2 bucks for my copy. But I like the faux menu cover better than the one for the used copy I first tried to obtain.

Polish writer Witold Szablowski focuses on 5 dictators: Cambodia's Pol Pot, Cuba's Fidel Castro, Iraq's Saddam Hussein, Albania's Enver Hoxha and Idi Amin, the President of Uganda and the Last King of Scotland apparently. Despite being a history major in college, I had never heard of Hoxha and though I knew a tiny bit about the Killing Fields of Cambodia, Pol Pot could have very easily been a foreign made cooking vessel for all I knew. 

None of these 5 men are going to win congeniality awards. Though if you had to force me to pick a dictator who had the best intentions based on the chefs who describe them, I would probably say that Castro is portrayed as the most sympathetic figure. Pol Pot was the most difficult to understand. Why would you want your people to be free and yet you kill millions of them? I think Idi Amin's former chef knows a lot more than he let on. Amin is rumored to have dined on the liver and flesh of his political adversaries. Hussein had a temper and could easily turn on you if you pissed him off. But he loved loyalty and would lavish his riches on those he trusted most. Plus, I do agree that his sons were both 10 times more vicious and bloodthirsty than he was. And when it comes to Enver Hoxha, a hero of his native land when it comes to his fight against the Nazis, I have 2 very distinct opinions. 1) he became corrupted by being thrust into his post-World War II leadership role and 2) based on talk about a head injury sometime in the 50s or 60s, I think Hoxha suffered from the later CTE effects of post-concussion syndrome. Perhaps had he not been injured, he might not have been so ruthless. 

You might think that the 6 total chefs interviewed by the author deserves zero sympathy or care for the mere fact that they feed some of the 20th century's most diabolical leaders. But you got to realize that these chefs were literally cooking not just for their lives but for the lives of their spouses, children and family members. Did some of them financially benefit? No doubt. But there were times where they were a hair breath away from being executed because they over-salted the soup or burnt the bread. As to paraphrase one of the chef's: your role in an authoritarian government goes out of play when your very survival is on the line. And from what I gathered, only Castro's 2 surviving cooks and Pol Pot's chef choose their professions. The other 3 literally had no say in the matter or it was too late to back out once their clients were revealed to them 

This is a compelling book. I'm not sure why the story Pol Pot's chef is broken into 4 chunks in between chapters before she's given a chapter of her own. It really disrupts the flow of the narratives. Also, there's not really any standardized recipes in the book. A lot of them cooked based on the personal preference or whims of their employers. Though I would be interested in trying the ceviche techniques discussed that were a favorite of Castro's. The steak dish made of grapefruit, during a time of severe Cuban beef shortages also look interesting. But the goat pilaf recipe that Saddam Hussein loved so well, forget it! Once you've kissed a goat and her babies, you can never eat of their relatives ever again. I might have a morbid curiosity about the dining habits of dictators. But I'm not a monster.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Captain America and the Falcon, Vol. 1: Two Americas

The Falcon has gone rogue!

Sam Wilson has infiltrated Guantanamo and broken out a prisoner. Now reports have it that the Avenger has taken the escapee to a known drug lord's Cuban compound. What's going on here? Has Wilson reverted back to his Red Skull evil origins?

Captain America has been granted 24-hours to locate the Falcon and get to the bottom of the rogue hero's actions. When his time is up, SHIELD will neutralize the Falcon without prejudice. Normally, such an assignment is easy peasy for the Sentinel of Liberty. But an incoming hurricane to the Caribbean is making it difficult for Steve Rogers to safely arrive on Cuban shores. 

Eventually, the Captain catches up with Sam Wilson and the escaped prisoner. It turns out that the fugitive is a reporter for the Daily Bugle who uncovered a biological weapon in one of the operations of the drug cartel. Post-9/11, the kingpin has been providing key information on terrorist cells to the American intelligence community in exchange for immunity. To wipe out such valuable Intel would severely hamper the new war on terror. 

Thus, the CIA or some other clandestine government agency has sought to silence the reporter who happens to be a close associate from Sam Wilson's past. With Captain America now on the scene, it appears Sam's friend will return to the Big Apple to reveal the scoop of the century. But when Captain America slaughters the drug lord's entire headquarters of bodyguards and lieutenants, it's revealed that something is seriously wrong. There's an impostor Cap assigned to terminate all parties related to the blotched biological weapon, including the real Steve Rogers!

This 2004 book was one of the worst Captain America and the Falcon volumes that I have ever read. Actually, the writing was pretty good. Christopher Priest, going just by his last name at the time pens an Ed Brubaker level story of espionage, betrayal and conspiracy. It was the art and the layouts that were a hot mess. So maybe this is one of the worst stories starring some of my favorite characters that I have ever looked at.

First is the artwork by Bart Sears. The heroes look ridiculous. Overly muscular. Proportions are all wrong. The eyes look googly, like they're all cross-eyed. And the body language is rather silly looking like our heroes have to pee really bad. It would be funny if this was a work of parody like MAD or Not Brand Echh.

Then there's those layouts. They're all over the place. Several pages are framed with unnecessary posed images of Cap and the Falcon. Then there's those 2-page splashes that are supposed to go from left to right and somehow end up those wandering paths taken by Billy in The Family Circus. If ever those black trail dashes were needed to guide the reader's eyes as to where to travel, it was here in the pages of this opening salvo. 

The first of 2 volumes, other than what was the truth behind the super bug bio-weapon that Falcon and his reporter friend discovered, I've no interest in knowing what happens next. That's how awful Sear's art was. Maybe if I found a copy for $3 or less. Otherwise, a quick search on Wikipedia should suffice. This one is definitely getting turned back in for trade credit.

Not Worth Consuming!

Rating: 3 out of 10 stars.

Che- A Graphic Biography

Underground comix legend Spain Rodriguez pens and illustrates this graphic novel biography of revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guavara. It's an interesting look at a character of the 20th century that I really knew very little about. 

I found this book at an independent bookstore (on discount, of course!) Being a former history major with a focus on 20th century history (especially pop culture), I figured why not learn something new. 

Here's the thing, I realize that the US has it's faults. Our country isn't perfect because it's run by imperfect people. All nations are this way. But I feel that Spain Rodriguez' view is way more skewed to being anti-American and anti-capitalism than I am pro-American. 

For example, Rodriguez mentions a couple of times how some Cuban newspapers are imprisoned or worse for making anti-Castro statements. For all that Donald Trump hates our liberal media, he's not stooped to the actions of those glorified revolutionaries that Rodriguez so hails. 

It troubled me how Spain Rodriguez maintained blinders to such actions. I appreciate that he mentions them in this historical account. But unlike all the times where he makes commentary against the US for it's dirty deeds, Rodriguez never condemns the Castro regime for their atrocities.

The art was pretty good. It had a very similar style to Rick Geary, which I rather like. But the editing of the art was not all that great. Some panels still has pencil marks that weren't properly erased during the inking process. So in some instances, the art looks blurry when it just ghosted by pencil markings not properly vanquished.

I also had some issue with how Spain Rodriguez executed his footnotes. Some are done properly in a small text box on the bottom right of the inside panel. Both about half of the footnotes were placed vertically to the right of the outside of the panel. It took me several pages to figure this inconsistency out and I had to reread several pages. 

An interesting read that is skewed way too far to the left. There's nothing centric here. Great art but the editing is irregular.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.