Petrone — Curiosa historia della forchetta

Edited by Petronio Petrone, this little volume (the title in English would be “Curious History of the Fork”) brings together a number of essays on the history of the fork, a sort of anthology with a collection of photos of forks from European museums. The level of writing is up and down–there’s a short excerpt from Wikipedia, as well as an essay on the origin of pasta that uses etymology to prove the Arab origins of pasta instead of the more obvious (and reliable) historical sources–but it’s a useful little anthology of a subject not often treated. Shame it’s only in Italian.  (Alfredo Guida Editore, 2007)  ZN