Rating: 
Summary: Historically incorrect
Review: as a collection of recipes this book is among the best I know. As an overview of American coocking however it has some serious drawbacks.Many recipes are not strictly American but simply European recipes that became popular in America. They are good - no argument there-but i would hesitate to call them American. Most seriously, Beard completely Ignores the Native American influence on American coocking.He gives plenty of Native American recipes, but it is clear he really doesn't know their background and tends to view them as Mexican.His introduction, short as it is, also ignores the Native American contribution. This being said, there is very much to enjoy in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: The best cookbook ever!!!
Review: I am an American living in Australia and found myself really needing an American cookbook. Every dish I have made has found rave reviews from my Aussie guests. So I have one here and one in my US home too. Thankyou James
Rating:
Summary: The best of my 300 cookbooks - The Authority!
Review: I bought my hardcopy the year it was published - no fancy pictures or vivid colors - just spectacular recipes and cozy person to person conversations with the author about food. After I "met" James, he had me eating and loving things I never would have tasted except for his luscious descriptions. What I would have missed if not for him!
Rating:
Summary: Twenty Years with James Beard.
Review: I purchased my first copy of this book when it was first published in 1980. After 20 years, and much use, it has fallen apart and I'm ordering a new one. It is one of the most useful cookbooks in my library of over 100 books on cookery and I turn to it every week for a "new" idea - 20 years later, Mr. Beard's cuisine is ageless.
Rating:
Summary: The Classic American Cuisine
Review: I'm reluctant to praise the memory of James Beard for producing this excellent cookbook, as it is well known that he employed ghost writers and assistants, including Marian Cunningham and Barbara Kafka, who have since gained promenance in their own right as cookbook authors. Even such a Beard fan as Jeremiah Tower states that there may be very few of his books which he actually wrote himself. That being said, let me state that this is an excellent general purpose cookbook which should be on every American cook's shelf even in preference to some newer, trendier titles.There are two things which most clearly distinguish this volume. The first is that many of the recipes and supplementary text in this volume are superior to Beard's (sic) presentation of the same recipe in his other titles, even when the other titles specialize in a particular ingredient or method. I find, for example, his chicken recipes much more detailed in the general book than in the volume 'Beard on Birds'. The second reason for having this book is that a very large number of the recipes are relatively simple to prepare using very easily acquired ingredients. There are hunderds of recipes which can be prepared cheaply and, with a little searching, there are hundreds of recipes which can be prepared quickly. James Beard was very 'old school'. One word of warning is necessary. While Beard is not as spare in his descriptions as Elizabeth David, he is also not as full of details as Julia Child, who basically changed the entire style of American recipe writing, including the style of James Beard to some extent. There are times when Beard does assume some basic cooking knowledge, although there are fewer assumptions here than in lesser volumes.
Rating:
Summary: A joy to read!
Review: My copy was just delivered this morning. What an absolute blast to read this book. Mr. Beard's commentaries are not only insightful, but often downright funny! When writing about eating oysters on the half-shell, he advises, "If you do not like the natural flavor of oysters and find that you must cover them with quantities of red cocktail sauce (which he refers to earlier in the chapter as 'the red mennace'), then perhaps you should not be eating them." Maybe it's just me, but I find the free injection of personal taste/opinion refreshing.
Rating:
Summary: One of the essential cookbooks
Review: The recipes for Potatoes O'Brien and James Beard's Cheeseburgers alone are worth the price of the book.
Rating:
Summary: Packs a punch...Culinary America rolled up in one book
Review: This is an essential reference work. While it is a "general" cookbook, it differs from the standard BH&G and Betty Cooker-type books with its emphasis on history, culture and unwavering love of all things culinary, and of course, an incomparable narrator and food afficionado guiding the tour. This volume was originally released in 1972 so the emphasis on beef and higher-fat dishes shows, but what a crime it would be to rewrite some of these recipes for calorie/fat-sake. It's wonderful to read some of the 18th and 19th century-era recipes that populate the book. The focus is on America's deep and varied culinary culture. You quickly realize American Cookery is not so much a recipe book, but a snapshot of our food culture. I can't imagine its omission from a serious cook's bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: Packs a punch...Culinary America rolled up in one book
Review: This is an essential reference work. While it is a "general" cookbook, it differs from the standard BH&G and Betty Cooker-type books with its emphasis on history, culture and unwavering love of all things culinary, and of course, an incomparable narrator and food afficionado guiding the tour. This volume was originally released in 1972 so the emphasis on beef and higher-fat dishes shows, but what a crime it would be to rewrite some of these recipes for calorie/fat-sake. It's wonderful to read some of the 18th and 19th century-era recipes that populate the book. The focus is on America's deep and varied culinary culture. You quickly realize American Cookery is not so much a recipe book, but a snapshot of our food culture. I can't imagine its omission from a serious cook's bookshelf.
Rating:
Summary: The best of Beard
Review: What can you say about this book? It's like walking through the finest history book ever written, and being able to taste and smell everything along the way... literally. As always, you are presented with countless variations on said theme, as well as tremendous background. They say this is Beard's favorite, and I certainly would have to agree it's one of the best things he ever did. He poured his heart into this one.
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