CORY REYNOLDS | DATE 3/8/2019

Love, pain, food, art and longing in Dorothy Iannone's 1969 Cookbook

"Sometimes I hate you so much that I must suppose I really hate you," Dorothy Iannone wrote in one of the opening spreads of her hand-written 1969 Cookbook dedicated to then-lover, Dieter Roth. "But that's only when you hurt me and just from my midget point of view. When I look at you full height I find you admirable and loveable and sort of godlike (I'm an old Catholic and have studied literature so I've got an idea what he's like—for one thing I know God is a man). Is this true? Anyway what I wanted to say the whole time is that I never would have started this recipe book if I didn't have the pleasure of cooking for you here and there. That's true." On the facing page, solid recipes for gazpacho, lentil soup and baked trout meuniere are surrounded by additional commentary, including: "I don't like to be sad. Half the time I am." "This is my ass mentally. Black + blue." "Only pain or pleasure can make art. Some people say longing too. Others say only men." And: "Dorothy's spirit is like this: green and yellow. No red?" Read more about this staff favorite facsimile edition here.