Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The contents are great. The binding is ... well, this is supposed to be a hardcover book and something you'd want to keep a long time. I can't really describe this cheap binding as hardcover. It's a blend of soft and hardcover. The spine is nothing but layers of thick paper, and not heavy-duty paper at that. The cardboard is the thinnest that might qualify as hardcover. The first volume is bound improperly so that there are wrinkles and gaps between the cover paper and the front cover cardboard. I'm sending it back, but even if the binding wasn't done wrong the book will have to be handled delicately, and that definitely does not meet expectations for a hardcover cook book. The version I received is a 2-volume set in a cardboard set box. There are more than one two volume sets on Amazon so it may be hard to find the best product. The title of this inferior item is "Mastering the Art of French Cooking (2 Volume Set)" The outer box is white with red fleur-de-lis, and matches volume 1. Volume 2 in this set is white with teal fleur-de-lis. There is another set named (2 Book series) which I'm going to try instead.