Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Full disclosure before you read this: I'm the editor of this book and felt I had to respond to two previous reviews. One: The reviewer who said "crushed cookies, that's a recipe!?" This is absolutely not a recipe in this book. If you're interested in buying the book, click on it and take a look at the first few recipes that are shown. They are not overly simple. Two: The reviewer who said the book was outdated and the supplies aren't available in their state. Really? Ketchup is not available in California? This book was written by an actual former inmate who worked very hard on it and wrote it based on his own experiences regarding the food that he was able to obtain and, no, a wide variety of cooking supplies is not available in prison. Thus, the book is creative and innovative. I have personally tried a number of the recipes and they are excellent. This book is also the result of a smart and original idea, not to mention an attempt to help current inmates who are often given very low quality food to eat (as well as to help them combat boredom). The negative swipes at a book that was written and edited with compassion for others are pretty low, in my opinion. It's so indicative of so many customer reviews that tear books, movies and more apart without the slightest development of carefully crafted argument or regard for the feelings of others. I guess that's why so many people write reviews under a fake name or a screen name. You'll notice all my reviews contain my full name. I stand behind what I write and what I edit. Finally, the cost of this book could have been higher. It certainly has sold extremely well. But a decision was made to keep is as low as possible so that as many inmates as possible could afford it. Books are one of the few items that inmates are allowed to have and buying books to help get them through can become expensive. Look at other books for inmates. Few, if any, have set their prices so low. This largely was a project that wasn't about making money but about helping others -- not just inmates, but those who are on a budget and want to break away from the same foods over and over again. As a former struggling college student with almost no money to speak of who pretty much survived on spaghetti, I can relate to that and that's another reason I like this book. I would love to hear some thoughtful reviews from others who have tried the recipes and know what you think!!!