Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I received this book as an Xmas gift - if I had looked through it at a bookstore I probably would not have purchased it. I agree with the reviews given by those giving it 3 stars, but I rate it lower for the following. While an author is entitled to his own quirks, I question the author's credibility because of his erratic writing style. Parts of the book are informative and professionally written (salt reference guide, individual salt descriptons, the section on brining,) yet other portions (parts of the guide and descriptions) make me think someone else wrote them, or the author was on medication, or he was trying to be artistic/poetic, wanted to include private jokes, or was just 'creative' with his descriptors. A few examples: there is no need to list a chemical compound as a flavor, as most consumers have no idea of flavor chemistry; while I can tolerate a "vibration of nectarine" for a flavor descriptor, I cannot give any credibility at all to the use of "snake venom," "wild horse sweat," "a young pangasinan?" "sucking a knife," "unfermented mares' milk," and "drying spray paint?" (There are more.) He also provided useless/vague use descriptors; e.g., use on "dynamited carp," as well as totally over the top descriptions of shape and color: "translucent ice-colored crystals in miniature jewel boxes?" "Pale flamingo colored?" Give us a break! IMO he insults his readers with this drivel, especially since he is not consistent - other descriptors are accurate and objective. He apparently makes no attempt to insure his writing was teaching his reading audience. IF there is a second edition, I constructively suggest he get some real editors to look through it and remove the creative writing and describe the tastes, appearances, and uses of these unique salts consistently and objectively. I end by stating I did look through the author's website for his Oregon business (worth a look,) and I did call them to ask some questions about their stocks, etc. The gent I spoke with was enthusiastic, professional, and very helpful; in that regard his book's introduction rang true.