More than just a cookbook, a guide to entertaining at home also helps readers learn how to cook for company, from backyard barbecues to the more formal sit-down dinner, and includes menus, recipes, and game plans to make timing simple and efficient. Tour. Food columnist for the New York Times Magazine, O'Neill here offers sophisticated menus for entertaining. Unfortunately, she has chosen to set them in an awkward context, for the book follows five characters, from "Mr. D, the famous if not infamous Manhattan caterer" to "Johanna, the recovering Hostess with the Mostess," as they struggle to deal with the changing social customs surrounding the dinner party. O'Neill's intent is to show too-busy working couples and singles that they can find time to entertain, but the idea gets bogged down in the oh-so-clever agonizings of her cast?most of whom apparently can afford to hire a caterer anyway. Some of the menus are on the extravagant side, and a New Year's Eve party that consists of seven hors d'oeuvres all best served hot sounds like a nightmare. Other more useful titles in this vein include Cheryl Merser's Relax! It's Only Dinner (LJ 8/95) and, for real neophytes, Elaine Corn's Now You're Cooking for Company (LJ 9/15/96). Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Hosting a dinner party can be an exercise in hospitality, or it can result in a case of extreme anxiety. Through the use of semifictional characters, O'Neill delineates an assortment of disasters, but she also reveals her secret for successful dinner parties: recipes from up-to-the-minute American fusion cooking, filled with herbs and exotic ingredients. Moreover, these dishes are elaborate and festive enough to wow even the most sophisticated dinner guests. Still, only well-seasoned cooks are likely to be undaunted by these recipes, and O'Neill's suggested buffet centerpiece of lobster pie with shiitake mushrooms will surely strain most hosts' finances. Mark Knoblauch Molly O'Neill is the food columnist for The New York Times Magazine. Used Book in Good Condition