Customer Rating: 
Summary: Public lending libraries, even those with other pie cookbooks on their shelves, will find it filled with appeal.
Comment: There are so many pie cookbooks on the market that one might wonder at the need for yet another - but you won't find most of these pie recipes in competing titles. They are compiled from some fifty expert bakers across the U.S. and Canada, and feature small color photos, clear directions, and introductions on the pie makers and recipe origins. From Plum-Strawberry Crumb Pie to Chocolate-Covered Cherry Pie, these are decadent dishes packed with flavor and appeal. Public lending libraries, even those with other pie cookbooks on their shelves, will find it filled with appeal.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Killer Pies is a very appropriate name for this book
Comment: It has an appealing layout and is interesting to READ, but beware of some of the recipes if you are at all health conscious. For example, "Sour Cream Raisin Pie" on p. 37, which makes one 9-inch pie, has a filling made from 4 cups raisins, 1 cup cornstarch, 12 egg yolks, 5 cups packed brown sugar and 4 cups sour cream. Whew! Another example, "Johnny's Cafe Pecan Pie" on p. 45, also a 9-inch pie, has 12 eggs in the filling! Not all the recipes are as rich, but a good many are.
I know that pies are not diet food but these are really over the limit. I was disappointed with this cookbook.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Like a meringue that collapsed....
Comment: I wanted to like this book. Just look at the yummy pie featured on the cover!
....But wait, that pie is nowhere to be found in the book!
And if you wondered what makes these pies the best in North America, keep on wondering -- it's never revealed what makes these restaurants/diners the "best" (and I doubt that they are). I looked forward to a tale of the author eating her way across the country, but instead the book begins with a tale about her pie-eating as a child, and the claim that people like to eat pie mostly for nostalgic reasons. Why doesn't anyone ever say that about cookies, muffins, or cakes, I wonder?
Examining these pictures, and the somewhat anemic pies shown in them, I realized the unlikelihood that the photos were taken by the same person; many of the photos depict the pie whose recipe is on the page (from a variety of unflattering angles, and two of dark-colored berry pies are shown on blue plates, making it impossible to really see them), but some photos show the outside of the restaurant. Some show the seating area in the restaurant, or the pie case. One shows a waitress holding a pie. Several of the photos are blurry. I suspect the restaurants submitted their own photos; thus, there is a disjointed feel to the photography, leaving me wondering if the author of this book has eaten any of the pies shown in the book.
The pies were mostly uninspired, and on close inspection, don't even look appetizing. I was disappointed to discover there is not a single recipe I wanted to eat, much less bake.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You can never know too much about pies
Comment: This was purchased as one of the Christmas gifts for my wife. She is an accomplished baker of pies, but I felt that even if she knows 99% of what's included in the book, she might still pick up a hint or new idea by looking through the book. And, she did pick up new ideas as she skimmed through it on Christmas morning.
Customer Rating:
Summary: One hip cookbook!
Comment: I already own a copy, and decided to purchase another as a gift for a family member who is a whiz in the kitchen and it was a smash hit!! There are so many different recipes you won't know where to start--and reading the story behind each pie is just as enjoyable as tasting the end product itself. Highly recommend!! A hip, quirky, fun pie cookbook.
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